An
adjective can be the nucleus of an adjective phrase consisting of
an adjective and one or more intensifiers, as in |
chilo
kt |
`too
much’ |
yFono
yFono
qhemay |
`very
very tall’ etc. |
|
|
An
adjective can be formally defined as that sub-class of indeclinable
which at the syntagmatic level functions as an attributive of a noun
and is capable of functioning as the nucleus of an adjective phrase
and is also capable of occurring in NP2 position in a NP1 NP2 type
of sentence. When occurring in the NP2 position of a NP1 NP2 sentence,
it is capable of taking the past tense marker kč. |
Adverbs
|
An
adverb can occur either as an attribute as a verb or as a nucleus
of an adverb phrase consisting of itself and one or more intensifiers.
When an adverb occurs as an attribute it invariably precedes the verb
concerned and when it occurs as a nucleus of an adverb phrase, it
follows the intensifier, as in : |
anuye
papasi po |
`the
child ran quickly’ |
1
2 3 |
1
3 2 |
anuye
hile anģ |
`the
child is here’ |
1
2 3 |
1
3 2 |
anuye
isi tile papasi po |
`today
the child ran there quickly’ |
1
2 3 4 5 |
(lit.
the child today, there quickly ran |
|
1
2 3 4 5 |
yFono
papasi |
`very
quickly etc. |
1
2 |
1
2 |
|
|
Intensifiers
|
Intensifiers
are a closed class of indeclinable that are capable of occurring in
attributive construction with both the adjectives and the adverbs.
They always precede the adverb and may follow or precede the adjective
with which it is in construction with, as in : |
anuye
yFono
papasi po |
`the
child ran very quickly |
|
(lit.
child the very quickly ran) |
asbo
yFono
kize lakhi |
`a
very big tree’ |
|
(lit.
tree very big one) |
anu
kutomo kt |
`too
many children’ |
|
(lit.
child many too) |
|
|
An
intensifier may be formally defined as that sub-class of indeclinable
which is capable of forming an immediate constituent of both an adjective
and an adverb and modify the adjective/adverb with which it is in
construction with. |
Postpositions
|
The
postpositions are a small closed sub-class of indeclinable which occur
after a noun/demonstrative/adjective as in : |
yekube
saw |
`on
the table’ |
alono |
`from
the tree’ |
yekubeqaw |
`below
the table’ |
paye
kaku hupaw pe hé |
`he
was hit with that book’ |
1
2 3 4 5 6 |
(lit.
he(specific) book that with hit) |
|
1
2 3 4 5 6 |
|
|
A
post position as well as an adjective/particle can follow a noun.
However, when a postposition follows a noun, the combined form, viz.,
the noun plus the postposition, functions as an adverb. Thus at the
functional level, the combined form ceases to be a noun, as in : |
kakuhu
yekube qaw anģ |
`the
book is below the table’ |
kakuhu
tile anģ |
`the
book is there’ |
|
|
In
the pair of sentences given above, tile `there’ substitutes yekube
qaw `on the table’, hence the phrase is a functional adverb whereas
when an adjective, plural marker or an article follows a noun by forming
an i/c of the noun concerned, the grammatical class of the noun is
not affected, as in : |
kaku
Fi hile anģ |
`the
book is also here’ |
1
2 3 4 |
(lit.
book also here is) |
|
1 2 3 4 |
kakuqó
hile anģ |
`the
books are here’ |
kaku
kusuoqó hile anģ |
`the
big books are here’ etc. |
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|