Re: Typologic survey, part II

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

> 2: Order of genitive (G), and noun (N)
> That is: Possessor/owner and possession/owned thing
> Is the order GN, NG or both?
> How is it shown?
Within the NP, the preferred word order is N [Gen] [Adj] [PP], where Gen
represents an associative (Genitive) relation, N represents the head noun,
Adj represents any adjective modifiers of the head noun and PP represents an
optional postposition, thus,

i linnar ainurrion inainien
The holy song of the Ainur

i linnar ainurrion    inainien
  N      Gen          Adj
the song of the ainur holy

The Possessor takes the Genitive case marking (-ion) .

> 3: Order of adjective (A) and noun (N)
See previous example, i.e. NA.

NPs containing multiple adjectives are formed using conjoined adjectives,
thus:

i gurlavan debaran
The brown fox

i gurlavan velim
The quick fox

i gurlavan debaran na lim vas
The quick, brown fox
(lit. the brown fox is quick)

i gurlavan debaran na velim na orneth las
The old, quick, brown fox
(lit. the brown and quick fox is old)

An alternative form of the second example has been attested in some
dialects, i.e.

i gurlavan debaran na velim
the quick, brown fox
(lit the brown and quick fox)

This form, however, is always limited to two adjective modifiers and one
would never hear an alternate of the third example above. i.e.

*i gurlavan debaran na velim na lorneth
the old, quick, brown fox
(lit. the brown and quick and old fox)

> Does the language have a closed class of adjectives?
> - If yes,
>     - how are they shown? (see question 2 above)
>     - list them
Not anymore, but a previous incarnation of the language did include a small
closed set of productive adjectival suffixes that included the following
set:

Large,Small
Dark,Light
Old,New
Bad,Good

Some of these have been lexicalized in the current language, but they are no
longer productive.  Adjectives in the current language are an open class.

> Regardless of being a separate class or not:
> How are they similar, how do they differ from verbs and nouns?
When used attributively, adjectives are distinguished by a unique prefix
that defines the semantics of the relationship with the nouns that they
modify.  Many of these are deverbal, consisting of the verb root and the
adjective prefix.  The prefixes include:

descriptive     ve-     describes what the noun is like.                (riel vemarlis,
beautiful woman)
purposive               pa-     describes what the noun is used for.    (tornil pamurmlir,
sleeping bag)
material                ge-     describes what the noun is made from.   (teleg galdar, wooden
leg)
size ma- describes how big or small the noun is. (caras mabeleg, large
house)
color           de-     describes the color of the noun.                (curunar demith, gray
wizard)
shape           ta-     describes the shape of the noun.                (palag tacom, round table)
count be- describes how many of the noun. (lhibai becaer, ten fingers)
age la- describes how old the noun is. (cair lorseinnon, ancient ship)
origin          ha-     decribes where something comes from.    (sinair harhun, eastern
manners)

Predicate Adjectives also follow the noun, but the adjectival prefix
detaches from the adjective and is placed at the end of the adjective
phrase. In this position, the adjectival particle takes auxiliary verb
inflections.

i gurunaran demith
The Gray Wizard

i   gurunaran de- mith
              ADJ
The wizard    gray

i gurunaran mith das
The wizard is gray.

i   gurunaran mith de-     -0   -as
                   AP:     :DEF :PRES
the wizard    gray colored is

> Can they take a copula (that is: need/don't need equivalent of "to be")?
Yes, see predicate adjectives in previous example.

David

David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
www.graywizard.net

Wisdom begins in wonder!