Derivational operators that produce adjectives from nouns, postpositions, and adverbs

8.9 u-ki phu-mu di-la saŋ-mu sik-ken bet. that-GEN son-F1 DEF-DAT copper-F1 say-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘That girl is called Sangmu.’ As the previous examples show, the gender markers -pu and -mu and the human classifier -pa, HUM1 are no longer productive in adjectives but have become grammaticalized. From now onwards I do not always treat them as separate suffixes but often lump them to the preceding morpheme, unless there is a clear reason to keep them separate.

8.2 Derivational operators that produce adjectives from nouns, postpositions, and adverbs

There are quite a few derivational suffixes which attach to noun stems and verb roots and produce an adjective. I have called them adjectivizers and label them as ADJVZR. There are five among them which are also inflectional suffixes but all others are derivational only. Table 8.2. Some nouns, adverbs, and postpositions that can be adjectivized thaŋ ‘strength, health’ t ɕhuk ‘cattle’ ʈhim ‘law, administration’ ʈha ‘tiny precious stone’ t ɕaŋ ‘alertness’ maŋ ‘large amount’ nuŋ ‘small amount’ pam ‘dignity’ golo ‘beauty’ jok ‘servanthood, service’ en- ‘before, ahead’ tiŋ- ‘after, behind’ The following pairs of examples illustrate first the noun and then the derived adjective: N-stem+pokma derivational and inflectional operator 8.10 gem-pu t ɕaa-la ʈhim ɕu=tu ɖo-ken bet. responsibility-M1 to-DAT law request=PURP go-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘He goes to the village headman to file a court case.’ The term ʈhim has wide semantic coverage but it certainly is a noun. 8.11 mi ʈhim-pokma dʑim-pokma mit-na ni man law-ADJVZR skill-ADJVZR NEG.EXIST-NFNT1 DM ka t ɕøt mit-tshuu-ken bet. TE32 order stop NEG-be.able-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Unless there is a smart and skillful man, no one is able to stop it yak.’ Speaker tells how to raise yaks. N-stem + - paa-yaa-aa-a COMP2, derivational and inflectional operator 8.12 dzo ʈhim-paa juŋ-ken bet. TE32 dzo law-COMP2 come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Dzo is smarter than other hybrids.’ Speaker is telling about various crossbreedings of cow and yak. There is implicit comparison in this example of predicate adjective see also section 8.4. N-stem + -puwa ADJVZR, derivational and inflectional operator 8 .13 ŋa thaŋ tɕhet-tɕuŋ. 1SG strength become.snapped-PST.EXP ‘I lost my strength e.g. after a long walk.’ 8.14 khit- raŋ thaŋ-puwa jøp-pa toŋ. 2PL-self strength-ADJVZR EXIST-NMLZ;Q send;VBZR[IMP] ‘May you remain healthy’ The sense of this adjective varies depending on the noun it modifies and which derivational suffix is used. This is a predicate adjective of the complement-clause verb. N-stem + - netmu, -etmu following stem-final nasals ADJVZR, derivational and inflectional operator 8.15 bu ʈʈa tøt-na sø-p-e sir-la decoration carve-NFNT1 make-NMLZ;Q-GEN gold-DAT ʈha tɕik luk-pa bet. tiny.precious.stone INDF put-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘He mounted a small precious stone to golden frame which was decorated.’ The noun ʈha refers to any small precious stone which may be mounted to a ring or a silver frame or a bracelet which Lhomi ladies wear. 8.16 s ʏ ʈha-netmu body tiny.precious.stone-ADJVZR ‘Skinny, small body’ This adjective modifies nouns like finger, body, voice, etc. The meaning is small, tiny, weak. N-stem + -si INTNS, derivational and inflectional operator 8.17 hunto u-ni t ɕaŋ thoo-tɕuŋ now that-ABL alertness gain-PST.EXP ‘I gained watchfulness from it.’ The noun refers to smartness, intelligence, alertness, etc. 8.18 u-p-e roo- raŋ-so tɕaŋ-si hin that-PL2-ERG 3SG-self-PL1 alertness-INTNS COP.EXP sik-ken ni ma di khurt ɕak jøk-ken bet. say-NMLZ;CONJ DM CONTR1 DEF stupid EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘They are the ones who say about themselves, “We are very smart” but in fact they are stupid.’ N-stem AdvPP+ -maa ADJVZR, derivational operator 8.19 mi go-maa lit-t ɕuŋ. man head-ADJVZR come-PST.EXP ‘The first man arrived.’ This refers to time and order. 8.20 tiŋ-maa-ki sa pimpa juŋ-ken bet. after-ADJVZR-GEN weekday Saturday come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘He comes next Saturday.’ In this example -maa adjectivizes the postposition tiŋ-. The derived adjective is the complement of the noun sa. 8.21 thaŋpuu ŋa tshi em-maa di-la TE21 long.time.ago 1SG incarnation early-ADJVZR DEF-DAT ‘long time ago in my previous life’ The stem of the adjective em-maa is en-. This is not a free morpheme but an adverb stem which is adjectivized in this example. Its meaning is ‘early, before.’ Typically it follows the lexical head tshi. N-stem + -tu COMP1, derivational and inflectional operator 8.22 mi maŋ ʈhaa-soŋ. man large.amount become-PST.VIS ‘There turned out to be a large crowd of men.’ 8.23 d ʑintak di-ki tɕha di u-la maŋ-tu owner DEF-GEN trust DEF that-DAT large.amount-COMP1 phii ɖo-ken bet. TE49 increase go-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The trust of the ownerhost toward the shaman will increase more.’ Shaman is trying to heal a sick man whose relative does not trust him. Maŋ-tu is a predicate adjective. N- stem + - ɕo SUP, derivational and inflectional operator 8.24 ʈhoŋ-ki ama di-la hak maŋ-ɕo family-GEN mother DEF-DAT authority large.amount-SUP juŋ-ken bet. TE52 come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The housewife has more authority than anybody else in the family.’ N-stem + -løt ADJVZR, derivational and inflectional operator This adjectivizer occurs in questions. The meaning of the -løt marker includes the idea of ‘how’, e.g. ‘how long, how tall, how good’, etc. 8.25 pam- taŋ dzii-la khø-tɕe-m-e tɕalak dignity-COM beauty-DAT use-SBJV-F2-GEN thing ‘A thing which is used for beauty with dignity’ 8.26 nit ɕa-raŋ-ki amtɕok-ki aloŋ uko ŋa-la pam-løt 2SG[HON]-self-GEN ear-GEN earring that 1SG-DAT dignity-ADJVZR juŋ-kuk=ka ŋ-e taa-na te-ki=te. TE66 come-PROG;VIS=Q 1SG-ERG wear-NFNT1 look-1SG.HORT=EMPH ‘Let me wear and see how proper your earring would be for me’ Speaker wants to try on someone else’s earring to see if it fits him.

8.3 Derivational operators that produce adjectives from verbs