 dy in red

2. A term is particular if it stands for an indefinite part of a whole. In Logic, a term is

considered particular if it represents “at least one but not all” of the individuals composing a class. The
following indicates particularity:

a. indefinite pronouns/adjectives (some, many, several, few, most, certain) e.g. some singers, several
songs, many questions, few answers

b. indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ used in particular contexts, e.g. a helicopter, an airplane

c. number modifiers, e.g. 7 dwarfs, 2 princesses

d. modifiers such as majority, almost all, generally all, nearly all, e.g. majority of the congressmen,
almost all administrators, generally all believers

e. Subject terms in propositions that are true to only some of the denotations of the term, e.g. Belgians
are religious; Men have sense of chivalry.

3. A term is general or universal if it refers to all individuals signified by the term.The following indicates
universality:

a. universal affirmative quantifiers such as, all, each, every, any, everything, everyone, anything, anyone,
whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever, whoever, e.g. all countries, every citizen, each blogger, any
amount, anything new, whatever answer

b. universal negative modifiers such as, no, none, no one, nothing, nobody, never, etc., e.g. no American,
nothing small, nobody wise

c. indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ (when taken to refer to all denotations of the term), e.g. A man is a
rational being.

4. A term is collective if itrefers to a group of individuals considered as a single unit. Collective nouns
such as audience, committee, crowd, flock, government, jury, gang, and orchestra are collective terms. A
collective term may be universal, (e.g. squad, all squads, every squad), particular (e.g., some family,

several crowds), or singular (e.g. this jury).

Collective term is not applicable to the objects taken singly and individually, unless
used figuratively. The term family, as an example, is collective, since it is predicable of the family
members taken collectively, and not individually.

B. According to quality: affirmative and negative

1. A term is affirmative or positive if it expresses what is real, true, or essential of a thing, e.g. existence,
life, and optimism. A term is also affirmative when it affirms the presence of desirable traits, e.g. just,
honest, and active.

There are two kinds of affirmative term: a) positive in form, positive in meaning (the above-
mentioned examples fall under this kind); and b) negative in form, positive in meaning, e.g. blameless,
spotless, unblemished, untarnished, infinite, immortal, guiltless

2. A term is negative if it indicates the non-appearance of some trait, e.g. unjust, sickly, inactive, death,
immorality.

There are two kinds of negative term: a) negative in form, negative in meaning, e.g. unjust,
inactive, immoral, impotent; and b) positive in form, negative in meaning, e.g. mistake, death, evil,
oppression, chaos.

C.According to Origin: Immediate and Mediate

1.Immediate terms are formed through direct perception of things.

e.g. bag, pencil, ball pen, yellow paper, cellphone

2. Mediate terms are formed indirectly, that is, through the mediation of other ideas.

e.g. God, soul, spirit, universe

D.According to the nature of referents: Concrete, Abstract, Logical, and Null

1. A term is concrete if its referent is tangible or can be perceived by the senses.e.g. tree, chalk, spoon,
belt, pants, arms. Concrete term also refers to that which indicates a quality or characteristic as inherent
in a subject. eg.: black, big, tall.

2. A term is abstract if its referent is intangible or can be understood only by the mind and cannot be
perceived by the senses. e.g. freedom, democracy, faith, love, patriotism, compassion, sacrifice. Abstract
term also refers to the quality or characteristic considered independently from the subject in which it
inheres. e.g. blackness, redness, kindness

3. A term is logical if it was formulated to serve as linguistic device to aid learning. e.g. copula, subject,
predicate, velocity, momentum, phylum
 4. A term is null or empty if it has no actual or real referents but is
only imaginary. e.g. unicorn, fairy, elf, dragon, batman, spiderman, superman, x-men, dragon

E. According to definiteness of meaning: Univocal, Equivocal, and Analogous

1. A term is univocal if it exhibits exactly identical sense and meaning in different incidents. For example,
we say Canines are dogs and Dalmatians are dogs. Theterm dogs is univocal, unless we give a different
meaning in any of the term dogs in the statements.

Ex. Peter is a man. – Paul is a man; teacher’s table – dining table; leaves of coconut – leaves of
mahogany.

2. A term is equivocal when it indicates entirely different meanings in different occurrences.In the
statements, Stars are heavenly bodies and Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt are stars, the
term stars is equivocal for the meaning of the term stars in the first statement is different from that of
the second. An equivocal term thus is not one but two terms.

Other examples: pitcher (player) – pitcher (water container); base (camp) – base (lower part);
spring of water – spring of a machine; bark of a tree – bark of a dog

3. A term is analogous when it shows partly identical and partly distinct meanings in different
occurrences. In the phrases head of a man and head of a family, the terms head in some sense are
similar but nonetheless different in some aspects.
 Other examples: healthy man – healthy diet; leg of man – leg of a chair; foot of a man – foot of a

mountain

F. According to relation: Compatible and Incompatible (Contradictory, Contrary, Relative, andPrivative)

1.Compatible terms are terms that can coexist in a subject, that is, there is no logical obstacle for them
to be present in a subject at the same time.

e.g. tall and handsome, dark and rich, slowly and surely, simple and elegant, sweet and sour

2. Incompatible terms are terms that cannot coexist in a subject for they rule out each other. The
following are kinds of incompatible terms:

a) Contradictory terms are two terms, one of which negates the other. Contradictories are so mutually
exclusive that there is no middle ground or third possibility between them.

e.g. edible – non-edible; being – nothing; existent – non-existent; life – lifeless

b) Contrary terms are terms that belong to the same class but deny each other. Between these terms,
there is/are middle ground/s.When some said that her girlfriend is not black, it is not safe to conclude
that he must be white, for he may be brown or yellow. White and black therefore are contrary (not

contradictory) terms.

Other examples: elated—depressed, hard—easy, hot – cold, happy – sad, long – short, genius—idiot.

c) Privative terms are terms wherein one indicates the presence of a quality or perfection while the
other signifies the absence or lack of it.
e.g. good – evil, truth—falsity, health – sickness, wealth – poverty, sight – blindness

d) Correlative terms are two opposed terms wherein one cannot be understood without the other.In
their meaning, they imply reference to one another.

e.g. husband – wife, interviewer – interviewee, parent – child,

master – servant, teacher – pupil, leader – follower