B. INVARIABLES :
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It was mentioned earlier that
in this language the adjectives, demonstratives, adverbs,
intensifiers, post-positions and particles form a class of words
incapable of taking suffixes. Since all of them are invariables, only
on the syntagmatic axis these grammatical classes could be
distinguished from one another. The criteria for setting up of these
grammatical classes are given below.
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Adjectives:
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On the syntagmatic axis, the
adjectives can be the nucleus of an adjective phrase having an
intensifier as its satellite but incapable of forming construction with
a post position and/or be a satellite in a noun phrase, as in:
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| etom patla |
‘very lean’ |
| patla manu |
‘lean man’ |
| etom patla manu |
‘very lean man’ etc. |
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The adjectives in this
language can now be formally defined as belonging to that grammatical
class which on the syntagmatic axis functions as the nucleus of an
adjective phrase consisting of an adjective and an intensifier and/or
functions as the satellite only in a noun phrase.
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Demostratives :
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The demonstratives in this
language are invariables and a closed set of grammatical class which
on the syntagmatic axis functions as the satellite in a noun phrase.
Since an adjective also functions as a satellite of a NP, the two can
only be distinguished on the basis of their relative place in the NP,
for instance:
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| otu manu |
‘that man’ |
| ukho
manu |
‘tall man’ |
| etom ukho
manu |
‘very tall man’ |
| otu etom ukho
manu |
‘that very tall man’
etc. |
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The illustrative examples
given able reveal that whereas an adjective can be expanded so as to
function as the nucleus of an adjective phrase, a demonstrative
cannot. Secondly when both an adjective and a demonstrative co-occur in
a noun phrase the demonstrative is proposed to the adjective including
the adjective phrase and that the demonstrative is functionally an
adjective.
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A demonstrative can not be
formally defined as that sub-class of adjective which on the
syntagmatic axis can function as the satellite in a noun phrase but if
a NP has both an adjective including an adjective phrase and a
demonstrative, the demonstrative would inveriably be preposed to the
adjective/adjective phrase.
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Internsifiers:
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Like the demonstratives, the
intensifiers in this language are also invariables forming a closed
set of grammatical class. They differ from the other invariables in
that they can be a satellite in both adjective and adverb phrases, as
in :
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| etom ukha |
‘very tall’ |
| etom joldi |
‘very quickly’1 |
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The intensifiers in this language can now be formally
defined as a closed set of an variables which on the
syntagmatic axis can function as a satellite both of
the adjective and adverb phrases.
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Adverbs:
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An adverb in this language
is an invariable which on the syntagmatic axis functions
as the nucleus of an adverb phrase and/or be a modifier
of a verb including the participal form of a verb2;
as in:
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| etom joldi |
‘very quickly’ |
| joldi dowrise |
‘ran quickly’ |
| etom joldi dowrise |
‘ran very quickly’ etc. |
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An adverb in this language can be formally defined as
that invariable which on the syntagmatic axis can function
as the nucleus of an adverb phrase and/or as the modifier
of a verb including the participal form of a verb, but
not of any other grammatical class.
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Post positions:
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The post positions in this
language are function words showing the case relationship and hence
postponed to the nominal viz., nouns, pronouns, and numerals, as in:
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| dukan pora |
‘from the shop’ |
kukurl got |
‘with the dog’ |
| sari pora |
‘from four’ etc. |
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When a noun/pronoun/ numeral
is in construction with a post position, the combined form ceases to
belong to the noun/pronoun/numeral grammatical classes, rather
functionally they would be an adverb3, for instance, in the sentence:
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tay dukan pora jayse ‘he/she
went from the shop’
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Though etom joldi can also be translated to mean ‘very fast’, joldi in
this language does not have the same semantic range as that of fast in
English and as such joldi cannot be used as an adjective in a
construction like joldi kukur of a verb functioning as an adjective,
as in: joldi dowera kukur ‘a quickly running dog’ etc.
2 In the latter role, an adverb could modify
an adjective as functionally, the participial forms of verbs are
adjectives.
3 Functionally Noun+genitive case is an
adjective. But in this language, the genitive case relation is not
indicated by any suffix, rather by the word order.
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