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Re: Dalmatian grammar, an outline

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Monday, March 26, 2001, 8:35
En réponse à Frank George Valoczy <valoczy@...>:

> > THE ADJECTIVE > > Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they > modify. Adjectives are placed after the noun in the singular and > before > the noun in the plural. >
Is there any reason for that? And is the reverse order possible, even if it's marked (like in French)?
> > The definite article is generally attached only to the noun and not > the > adjective, (poanul buanu "the good bread"). However, when the possessor > of > the noun is indicated (poanul da nos "our bread"), then the enclitic > definite article is attached to both the noun and the adjective (poanul > da > nos buanul). >
interesting...
> Comparison of Adjectives > > positive (m ~ f): grandu ~ granda > comparative: plu grandu ~ plu granda > superlative: naygrandu ~ naygranda >
Where does the superlative prefix come from?
> > POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS > > Possessive pronouns in Dalmatian are archaic and not in use, though > occasionally they may occur in liturgical use. > > Possession is shown by the construction da + pers.prn, e.g. baca da go > (my > cow), matru da tu (your mother). >
Well, my Reman doesn't feel lonely anymore :) . Until now, I think it was the only Romance language to have no possessive adjectives (it uses a construction noun + dy /dy/ + indirect personal pronoun, quite like yours). It still has possessive pronouns though. How do you translate "mine", "yours", etc...?
> NUMERALS > > CARDINAL NUMERALS > > 1 unu/una; un/una > 2 du/dua > 3 trai > 4 catru > 5 chencia > 6 sciache > 7 sciapte > 8 optu > 9 nua > 10 dziace > > 11 to 19 formed: unit + spra + dziace: 11 = unspradziace >
Looks definitely Eastern Romance to me :) . Doesn't Romanian do the same? By the way, where does the "spra" come from? "supra"? (giving 11: one "above" ten, one "over" ten?)
> (Verbs and Adverbs will come in a next post) >
I can't wait for them :) . Christophe. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Replies

daniel andreasson <daniel.andreasson@...>
Frank George Valoczy <valoczy@...>