User:Bukkia/sandboxVIII
Nouns
The noun cluster is formed by a noun, carrying the main meaning, and by other noun-type forms, namely adjectives, which specify this meaning or add other meaning to the main noun. Inside of a noun cluster, the noun can be replaced by a pronoun.
The noun usually introduces the noun cluster, being followed by every other specifying form. Thus, other elements conveying possession and belonging are always placed after the noun, as well as every attributive adjective.
sóɣə ô îrəre the man’s house
lě ô ònəre my hand
ône šô jóβé a young woman
As it can be notices, specifying elements are preceded, in most cases, by a pronoun-type particle, called prepositive article.
The role of the noun cluster in the sentence and its number are marked by case and number endings. The endings, however, do not mark and they do not realize any nominal agreement on these form, neither on attributive or on predicative adjectives. The agreement with the noun is realized, conversely, by the prepositive article.
lîβò sóɣə ô îrəre ôr óɣé I see the old man's house
îrə ô jóβé ímè kô sóɣəre the young man is going home
sóɣə ô ònəre our house
ônenə ôn jóβé the young women
ônenə ánon (ôn) jóβé the women are young
Non-qualifying adjectives display, however, an irregular behavior about their positioning inside the noun cluster. The indefinite adjectives are nearly always placed before the noun.
hēsəw līro no man
The interrogative adjectives tend to be placed before the noun, but this is not a strict rule. In complex sentences they appear to be placed after the noun:
ʂəko sōgo? which house?
līloṕer sōgo fūkara ʂākor? which man's house do you see?
The demonstrative adjectives, conversely, display a variable diachronic tendency. In texts from the earlier period, they are almost always placed before the noun, while in later texts they almost always placed after the noun.
niəhtəw sopa / sopa niəhtəw this dog
The grammar role of noun clusters can be further specified by prepositions, which are placed before the cluster. Thus, it can be stated that the noun cluster can be introduced by a preposition.
ʔiəmēhol kōl sōgoxə I am going home
