134 Yan mumkek
la han-di
yana mu-m-keka
la han-di
do not 2s-STAT-see
at here
‘Do not look here.’ 135 A-m-pa-tiawu
han-de a-m-wa-tiawu
han-de 1pe-1pe-MULT-come from
there ‘We come from there.’
3.3 Adjectives
Although many of the words that we consider adjectives in English occur as stative verbs in Luang, there is a small set of adjectives in Luang that follows the noun and modify it see NP in §4.1. A number of
these can also function as stative verbs when the pronominal prefix set is attached. Some can also function as predicates in semi-verbal and non-verbal clauses see §6.4.2. Some of these can also be
nominalized. The adjectives are often modified by the p or m see §3.6.1.5 stative marker or the involuntary k see §3.6.1.4. They are also often reduplicated.
Adjectives Stative Verb
Noun 136 wehla m-nar-narta
na-m-nar-narta knife STAT-RDP-sharp
3s-STAT-RDP-sharp ‘sharp knife’
‘it is sharp’ 137 koka m-nur-nuhru
na-m-nur-nuhru cloth STAT-RDP-silky
3s-STAT-RDP-silky ‘silky cloth’
‘it is silky’ 138 ihru k-deha
na-k-deha k-deha-ni
chest INVOL-dirty 3s-INVOL-dirty
INVOL-dirty-POS ‘sinful’ lit. dirty chest
‘it is dirty’ ‘dirt’
139 ralam-ni werta-werta n-werta
insides-POS RDP-heavy 3s-heavy
‘worried’ lit. heavy insides ‘it is heavy’
There is a small set of adjectives which function as quantifiers see §3.5.3. These include: 140 harahu
‘many’ inpona
‘much’ honnona
‘all’ kuku’a
‘small bit’ oke’a
‘little bit’ ida-woru
‘one or two’ nenena
‘one or two’ momuou
‘all’ rehenu
‘more than’ etamni
‘many’ lawna
‘much’ 141 La’pa
ra-wel-niana warehera
oke’a
La’pa ra-weli-nana
warehera oke’a
Then 3p-buy-ABIL
provision little
‘Then they went and bought some provisions.’
142 Noka a-wuwlu de sawra
harahu
then 1s-dive
then seaweed
lots ‘When I dove there was lots of seaweed.’
Some of these can function as indefinite pronouns:
143 Noka honnona rewre’wa
ra-woka
Noka honnona re’wa-re’wa
ra-woka
Then all RDP-together 3p-gather
‘Then they all gathered together.’ 144 Demade honnona
ra-mtatna. Then
all 3s-sat
‘Then they all sat.’
145 Ra-wkikni-ra-plialin momuouwa
ra-kikni-ra-plialni mou-mou-wa
3p-float-3p-float RDP-all-PERF
‘Every single one floated away.’
Compound adjectives occur in ritual speech see §9.5. They are formed when several adjectives combine together in a word pair or phrase, sometimes with other word classes as well, resulting in one
overall meaning. Although the word pair is made up of adjectives, they tend to function as predicate in semi-verbal clauses see §6.4.
146 La’pa a-m-ler-la m-to’a-p-pe’a
nih-tuini-morti-hamra Till
1pi-1pi-reach-to STAT-old-STAT-old
teeth-fallen-hair-white
‘Till we become very old.’
147 Me mel-u’uta-mel-kautu
And night-dark-night-thick
‘And it was pitch black out.’
Other word class roots including precategoricals can be reduplicated to form adjectives. 148 gai-ni
mokla-mokla face-POS
RDP-smoke ‘dizzy’
149 pon-pona RDP-blind verb
‘grey’ 150 wa-wahra
RDP-clear verb ‘white’
3.4 Adverbs
