Greenberg's Universals applied to Lyanjen

All of the answers were either "true" or "mu", with the following
exceptions:

>20. When any or all of the items -- demonstratives, numeral, and
>descriptive
>adjective -- precede the noun, they are always found in that order.  If
>they
>follow, the order is either the same or its exact opposite.
Uh oh. When a demonstrative is applied to a noun, it does so as a suffix,
thus:

sau izadace        ðalyard
two spouse-PL-PROX be-happy-PrIndPart
"these two happy spouses"

Of course, the adjective isn't an adjective as such but a participle of a
verb.

Is this a problem?

>22. If in comparisons of superiority the only order or one of the
>alternative
>orders is standard-marker-adjective, then the language is postpositional.
>With
>overwhelmingly more than chance frequency, if the only order is
>adjective-marker-standard, the language is prepositional.
I don't understand...

>23. If in apposition the proper noun usually precedes the common noun, then
>the
>language is one in which the governing noun precedes its dependent
>genitive.
>With much more than chance frequency, if the common noun usually precedes
>the
>proper noun, the dependent genitive precedes its governing noun.
Uh, either is possible:

teje     ias    Trele
daughter me-GEN Trele
"my daughter Trele"

Áudrid ñugeact
Audrid cook-worker
"Audrid the cook"

>24.  If the relative expression precedes the noun either as the only
>construction or as an alternative construction, either the language is
>postpositional or the adjective precedes the noun or both.
I don't understand this either.

>26. If a language has discontinuous affixes, it always either prefixing or
>suffixing or both.
What's a discontinuous affix?

>28. If both the derivation and inflection follow the root, or they both
>precede
>the root, the derivation is always between the root and the inflection.
>29. If a language has inflection, it always has derivation.
What's a derivation? *more and more embarrassed*


>40. When the adjective follows the noun, the adjective expresses all the
>inflectional categories of the noun. In such cases the noun may lack overt
>expression of one or all of these categories.
Well, as above, no adjectives; just participles of adjectival verbs.





Blessed be,                        Écartons ces romans
Matt McLauchlin                          qu'on appèle systèmes,
GM18, Montreal, Canada             Et pour nous éléver
English/français/esperanto               descendons dans nous-mêmes.
icq: 4420218                               -Voltaire
http://www.crosswinds.net/~montrealais

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.