|
592. |
|
puni cui
mamüi kazhü saba |
| |
|
puni sister beautiful
shawl |
| |
|
|
| |
|
ambiguous between
the readings of |
| |
|
|
|
|
a. |
Puni’s beautiful
sister’s shawl |
|
|
b. |
Puni’s sister’s
beautiful shawl. |
|
The general order of noun-noun attribute
construction is as follows for human head nouns
|
| + dem + subst + / substantive
/ + adj + noun + dem + qnt |
|
for nonhuman animate head nouns
|
| dem + subst + / substantive / +
adj + dem + noun + qnt |
|
Note the order of demonstrative
vis-a-vis numerals. The order regarding the two is not rigid for inanimates,
but for human and nonhuman animates, the above is the preferred order.
Demonstratives in short noun phrases follow the head noun invariably :
|
|
|
Examples :
|
|
594 |
1. |
ocü |
‘house’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
cek cü |
‘brick house’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
|
‘strong brick house’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
kajü |
‘strong big brick
house’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
kajü pongo |
‘five strong big brick
houses’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
kaju lokhru |
|
| |
|
pongo-hi |
‘those five strong
big brick houses’ |
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
kaju |
|
| |
|
pongo thopfü-hi
lokhru |
|
| |
|
cek cü kokhro
kajü |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
pongo  hopfü-hi
|
‘all these five strong
big brick houses’ |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
2. |
ovo |
‘pig’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ovo kajü |
‘bulky/big pigs’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ovo kajü lokhru
|
‘those bulky pigs’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ovo kajü lokhro
pongo |
‘those five bulky
pigs’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ojü pfoki |
‘mountain’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ojü pfoki atokru
|
‘high mountain’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
ojü pfoki atokru
madi |
‘high green mountain’ |
| |
|
ojü pfoki atokru
madi |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
lokhru kosü |
‘those three high
green mountains’ |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
3. |
pfoona
|
‘boy’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
pfoana
kazhü |
‘good boy’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
pfoana
kazhü pongo |
‘five good boys’ |
| |
|
hihkhru pfoana
kazhü pongo |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
hikhru hopfü-hi
|
‘all these five good
boys’ |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
4. |
mikrü deni
|
‘mikrü deni, a kind
of knife’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
mikrü deni kati
|
‘small mikrü deni’ |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
mikrü deni kati
ohrü kazhü |
‘short sharp mikrü
deni’ |
| |
|
mikrü deni kati
ohrü |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
kazhü hikhru |
‘these short sharp
mikrü denis’ |
| |
|
|
{hikhru
pongo-hi} |
| |
|
mikrü deni kati
ohrü kazhü |
{
} |
| |
|
|
{*pongo
hikhru-hi} |
| |
|
|
|
| ‘these
five short sharp mikrü denis’ |
|
3.3.9.5.
|
Concord |
Prima
facie, it may appear as though the adjective may be
marked for gender-number in agreement with the semantic,
not the formally marked, number of the head noun. This is
incorrect because, since typically a Mao adjective is a
deverbal, gender number markers only close the deverbal
converting it into a noun.
|
lokhruhi 
