User:Bukkia/sandboxVIII: Difference between revisions
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<small>the young man (lit. the man, the young one)</small> | <small>the young man (lit. the man, the young one)</small> | ||
As these pronominal forms mandatorily convey a number distinction, by having a specific plural, also the specified noun can distinguish a plural form by using these plurals: | |||
ɔ̄̀nhɛ̱ tɪ̂ hat | ɔ̄̀nhɛ̱ tɪ̂ hat | ||
<small>the young men (lit. the men, the young ones)</small> | <small>the young men (lit. the men, the young ones)</small> | ||
This construction, called ''definite construction'', is completely optional and can be expressed only by qualifying adjectives. Every other adjective is sistematically placed before the noun. | |||
Revision as of 05:17, 1 June 2025
Adjectives and pronouns
Adjectives closely resemble the noun form, not displaying any morphological change for either number, case or definiteness. Pronouns, while also morphologically unchanging, may exhibit different forms in the root form.
Adjectives
Attributive adjectives are always placed before the nouns they specify, while predicative adjectives are always placed after them.
χat nɔ̀χɛ̱́ a young man
nɔ̀χɛ̱́ ɟē χat the man is young
However, if the specified noun is sintactically definite in the sentence (i.e., it has been already mentioned or it is an already known information to the speaker), it adjective can be placed after it, while being introduced by the demonstrative pronoun tı̱̋, that one, (or rarely by pı̱̋, this one):
ɔ̄̀nhɛ̱ tı̱̋ hat the young man (lit. the man, the young one)
As these pronominal forms mandatorily convey a number distinction, by having a specific plural, also the specified noun can distinguish a plural form by using these plurals:
ɔ̄̀nhɛ̱ tɪ̂ hat the young men (lit. the men, the young ones)
This construction, called definite construction, is completely optional and can be expressed only by qualifying adjectives. Every other adjective is sistematically placed before the noun.