Re: verbs = nouns?

From: "H. S. Teoh"

> On Fri, Jan 01, 1999 at 05:42:32AM -0500, DOUGLAS KOLLER wrote:
> [snip]
> > Indeed, placing the progressive verbal particle "-zhe" or the
experiential
> > "-guo" on an adjective would be nonsensical and ungrammatical  (hong2zhe
"it
> > is redding"?; hong2guo4 "it has redded before"?). (H.S., if you come up
with
> > a counter-example, I will have to hurt you ;)  )
>
> Actually, "hong2guo4" *is* valid!!! It means, as one might expect, "it has
> been red before" (though the more literal translation "it has redded
> before" probably is nonsensical). You can use this in a question, e.g.:
>         you3 mei2 you3 hong2guo4?       "Has it (ever) been red before?"
Be afraid, H.S., be very afraid. :)

Okay, admittedly I had weird sentences like "Che1 hong2guo4 mei2 you3?" (Has
the car been red before?) in mind. I suppose sentences like:
"Ni3 yi3qian2 he1 jiu3, lian3 you3 mei2 you3 hong2guo4?" (When you drank
wine before, did your face turn red?) are more than possible, if uncommon
and a bit forced.

> OTOH "hong2zhe" sounds a little weird, unless "hong2" is being used in an
> unusual way. But it's not inconceivable, though. If you were describing
> something like, say, the reddening of chemical or something, and it has
> not completely reddened, you *could* describe it as "zhen4zhai4 hong2zhe"
> ("it's being reddened", or "it's in the process of becoming red".)
All righty then, if these affixations *are* possible with a word like
"hong2", it only goes to further show that adjectives are more verb-like
than you've given them credit for.

Kou