Re: Cases and adpositions

Jaím Grossmann <steven@...> ecríp:

> Felíp Neuton <Philip.Newton@...> ecríp:
>> I saw one web site by a Finn which proposed the
>> "adjective test": if the adjective takes the same
>> case ending as the noun it modifies, it's
>> a real case; otherwise, it's probably something
>> like an adverb or adposition or whatever.
>> Philip
> The adjective agreement test is useful.
For languages whose adjectives require noun agreement!
English adjectives, for example, don't agree with the
noun. In "The blue boxes' hinges don't work", blue
neither agrees with the possessive nor the plural
marking on box.

The test also fails for languages that don't have
adjectives. A number of our conlangs have verbs that
do the adjectival job (stative verbs, etc.) or
attributive nouns. Talarian has the latter especially,
so all "adjectives" are really nouns in the possessive
(or rarely other) case: fawemta(r) fflaawusha = box of
blueness [actually, box of brightness, on account of
their colour scheme].

> Jim
Padraic.
--
Come zanahorias.


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com