Derivational operators that produce adjectives from verbs

8.3 Derivational operators that produce adjectives from verbs

The following pairs of examples illustrate how the derivational operators produce adjectives from verbs. Reportedly Yohlmu, a closely related language, also derives a lot of adjectives from verbs. see Hari 2010:27. Typically more than just one of the adjectivizers can be attached to a verb root. The resulting adjectives may modify different nouns or there may be a slight semantic shift but I leave those details out from this sketch. The first example illustrates the use of the verb and the second example illustrates the use of the derived adjective. V-root + -si INTNS, derivational and inflectional operator 1. 8 .27 ŋa ki u-la dʑii-tɕuŋ. 1SG dog that-DAT become.afraid-PST.EXP ‘I got afraid of that dog.’ 8.28 mi d ʑii-si tɕik juŋ-ken bet. man fear-INTNS INDF come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘A formidable man comes.’ Others are afraid of him. V-root + -pokma ADVZR, derivational and inflectional 2. 8.29 luk tshaŋ-tuk=ka? sheep become.perfect-PRF.VIS=Q ‘Has the full number of sheep come?’ Or: ‘Is the fold complete?’ 8 .30 oŋpu tshaŋ-pokma duk. physical.health become.perfect-ADJVZR EXIST.VIS ‘His health is perfect. He is perfectly well.’ This is a predicate adjective. V-root + -pøtma ADJVZR, derivational only 3. 8 .31 raŋ mat-thak-soŋ. 2SG NEG-become.cleansed-PST.VIS ‘You did not tell the whole truth’. Or: ‘You did not turn out morally clean, e.g. in court. 8.32 khulak thak-pøtma ʈʏ. clothes become.clean-ADJVZR wash[IMP] ‘Wash the clothes clean’ V-root + -ntikma ADJVZR, derivational only 4. 8 .33 ŋa le-la lo di-tɕuŋ. 1SG work-DAT will warm.up-PST.EXP ‘I became happy about the work.’ Lit. ‘My heart warmed up towards the work.’ This is a predicate nominal. 8 .34 ŋa lo di-ntikma duk. 1SG will warm.up-ADJVZR EXIST.VIS ‘I am happy and free of worries.’ Lit. ‘My inner being is warm.’ The NP which has the noun and adjectivized verb is the predicate nominal of this descriptive copular clause. V-root + -ntiya ADJVZR, derivational only 5. 8.35 ŋa u-la ga-tɕuŋ. 1SG that-DAT be.pleased-PST.EXP ‘I got pleased about himthat.’ 8.36 khim ga-ntija duk. house be.pleased-ADJVZR EXIST.VIS ‘The house is good, or well built.’ V-root + -tɕetma ADJVZR, derivational only 6. 8.37 ŋa tsheppa tsha-kuk. 1SG heat feel.hot-PROG;VIS ‘I feel hot.’ This is referring to hot weather when one is sweating. 8.38 u-tu røt-ni mimi thaŋ ŋa-la tsha-tɕetma that-LOC heat.up resp.lama and 1SG-DAT feel.hot-ADJVZR keŋ-tɕuŋ. TE42 fill.up-PST.EXP ‘After she had heated up the liquor right there, she poured out the hot liquor to the lama’s cup and mine.’ This is elliptical since the previous sentence provides the missing information. Therefore the noun head liquor of the NP hot liquor is missing. V-root + -ntiŋma ADJVZR, derivational only 7. 8.39 hi-la ŋa ŋuu tsha mit-gø-pa jøt. this-DAT 1SG face become.hot NEG-need.to-NMLZ;Q EXIST.EXP ‘For this I have no need to feel hot on face.’ Or: ‘I have no need to be embarassed for this.’ 8.40 ɕar-ni tshul-la luŋpu tsha-ntiŋma east-ABL toward-DAT wind become.hot-ADJVZR dʑap-a bet. VBZR-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Very hot wind blew from east towards us.’ The adjectivized verb modifies the noun ‘wind’ in this example. V-root + -pu or -mu, derivational only 8. These adjectivizers are illustrated in section 8.1. Though they have been grammaticalized, I have included them in table 8.1. V-root + -ɕo, SUP, derivational and inflectional 9. 8.41 papa ta-la ɕøŋ-kuk. father horse-DAT ride-PROG;VIS ‘Father is riding a horse.’ 8.42 mi ɕøn-ɕo di su pek=ka man ride.on-SUP DEF who COP=Q ‘Who is the youngest man?’ Also ɕøm-pokma, ɕøm-pøtma and ɕøm-puwa occur. The verb ɕøn also refers to a sexual act of cattle and perhaps therefore the derived adjectives mean ‘young’. This is my assumption and I have no backing for this from native speakers at the moment. For more about superlatives see section 8.5. V-root + -tu COMP1 comparative process 10. 8.43 u-ko tɕhøt-ni neppa mat-ʈhak-pa that-head sacrifice-NFNT2 sick.person NEG-be.healed-NMLZ;Q na-tu na-tu phin-na... TE49 be.sick-COMP1 be.sick-COMP1 go.come[PST]-NFNT1 ‘Having sacrificed it, the sick person is not healed but becomes more sick V-root + -paa, -jaa, -a, -aa, -waa COMP2 comparative state 11. This suffix is phonologically conditioned by the stem-final phoneme in the following way: -jaa occurs after i, k, o; -a occurs after a; -aa occurs after ŋ, r; -waa varies freely with -jaa; -paa occurs elsewhere. 8.44 khit-raŋ ʈhak-paa mat-ʈhak-paa 2PL-self become.well-COMP2 NEG-become.well-COMP2 tɕhukpu ʈaŋpu su-raŋ hin-na ak ga-ntikma nen. rich poor who-self COP-NFNT1 INCLN be.pleased-ADJVZR listen[IMP] ‘You higher and lower ones, you rich and poor ones, whoever you might be, listen carefully’ Thak-paa refers to those who are healthier and also wealthier than others. When the standard in comparison is left implicit as it often is in Lhomi, the comparison is to others in a group, in a village, or any others nearby. For more examples about comparatives see section 8.4. V-root + -løt ADJVZR, derivational and inflectional 12. This adjectivizer occurs in questions. The meaning of this marker includes the idea of ‘how’, e.g. ‘how long, how tall, how good’. 8.45 ŋa ga-tɕuŋ. 1SG become.pleased-PST.EXP ‘I really got pleased.’ 8.46 mø-la ga-løt ɖo-køtaŋ ploughing-DAT be.pleased-ADJVZR go-NMLZ nam tɕøt=tu ɖo go-køt. darkness cut=PURP go have.to-PROG;EXP ‘I have to go and find out how good they are in ploughing.’ Speaker wants to test the bulls how they are doing in ploughing.

8.4 Comparative degree of adjectives