Re: Typologic survey, part II

taliesin the storyteller <taliesin@...> writes:

> ---- PART II Conlang Typlogic Survey 2001 ----
>
> House-keeping data
>
> Name of the participating conlang:
> (same as on part I please :) )
Germanech

> 2: Order of genitive (G), and noun (N)
> That is: Possessor/owner and possession/owned thing
NG

There is a preposition (_de_, eliding to _d'_ if the next word begins
with a vowel or _h_) before the possessor.

Example: _la cas d'il major_ "the mayor's house"

> 3: Order of adjective (A) and noun (N)
Mostly NA, but some exceptions.  Placing the adjective before the noun
often infers a more abstract, metaphorical meaning.  Example:

_un hom grand_ "a big man" (physically, e.g., 2 metres tall)

_un grand hom_ "a great man" (judged by his achievements)

> Does the language have a closed class of adjectives?
Not that I knew of.

> If there is not a separate open adjective-class, what type of words do
> the work of adjectives, verbs or nouns?
There is a separate open adjective class.

> Regardless of being a separate class or not:
> How are they similar, how do they differ from verbs and nouns?
They are similar to nouns in being inflected for number, agreeing with
the noun, in both attributive and predicative use.  Adjectives can also
be used like nouns, e.g. _ils grands_ "the great ones".

> Can they take a copula (that is: need/don't need equivalent of "to be")?
Yes, they take a copula when used predicatively.

> ---- END part II ----
And again for a second language:

> ---- PART II Conlang Typlogic Survey 2001 ----
>
> House-keeping data
>
> Name of the participating conlang:
> (same as on part I please :) )
Nur-ellen

> 2: Order of genitive (G), and noun (N)
> That is: Possessor/owner and possession/owned thing
NG

There are two types of genitive: possessive and partitive.

The possessive genitive has the possessor in agentive case; it is used
for alienable possession.  The possessor must always be animate.  The
partitive genitive has the possessor in objective case; it is used for
inalienable possession, whole-part relations, etc.  The possessor may be
inanimate.

Both genitives are marked by the preposition _e_ (_en_ before vowel)
before the possessor, but this is optional.  The possessed noun takes no
article (sort of a construct state).

Examples:

Possessive: _bar (en) i kondir_ "the mayor's house"
Partitive:  _dol (en) i gondir_ "the mayor's head"

> 3: Order of adjective (A) and noun (N)
Usually NA.

> Does the language have a closed class of adjectives?
No that I knew of.

> If there is not a separate open adjective-class, what type of words do
> the work of adjectives, verbs or nouns?
There is a separate open adjective class.

> Regardless of being a separate class or not:
> How are they similar, how do they differ from verbs and nouns?
Adjectives in Nur-ellen take a middle position between verbs and nouns.
When used attributively, adjectives inflect like nouns, agreeing in
number and case.  When used predicatively, adjectives inflect like
verbs, case being the objective.  Predicative adjectives are treated as
stative verbs and take their subject in the objective case.  This not
only applies to adjectives, but to nouns as well.  (They too are
inflected like verbs if used predicatively.)

> Can they take a copula (that is: need/don't need equivalent of "to be")?
There is no copula in Nur-ellen.

> ---- END part II ----
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