Els Noms et els Agzeitivs
▲
0▲ 0 ▼ 0
Nouns and Adjectives
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 14 Jun 2016, 04:31.
[comments] adjectivedeclensiongrammarnounsselood
4. Experiment 2
?
?
6. Nombres Selvescs
?
?
7. Verbes Irregolars
?
?
Nouns and adjectives are somewhat interchangeable in Silvish, and accordingly they pattern nearly the same in declension.Silvish has two genders: masculine and feminine. It isn't always possible to tell based on word shape what gender a word is, but there are some patterns. These patterns are divided into three numbered declensions:
The first declension contains almost exclusively masculine nouns. It isn't distinct from the third declension in nominative case. All words in this declension end in consonants or <e> /ə/ in the nominative. The /ə/ is epenthetic, so it is removed before adding an ending that begins with a vowel.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | -∅ | -s |
| OBL | -∅ | -is |
Examples using "ópal" (opal) and "gzorne" (day):
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | ópal | ópals |
| OBL | ópal | ópalis |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | gzorne | gzornes |
| OBL | gzorne | gzornis |
The second declension comprises almost exclusively feminine nouns ("aira" [air] being a notable exception). All words in this declension end in <a> /a/ in the nominative. An epenthetic <e> is inserted in the oblique singular, if the word would otherwise end in 1) a consonant cluster with a final voiced consonant, or 2) a lone /dʑ/.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | -a | -as |
| OBL | -∅ | -is |
Examples using "figla" (girl), "maralda" (emerald) and "plagza" (beach)
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | figla | figlas |
| OBL | figl | figlis |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | maralda | maraldas |
| OBL | maralde | maraldis |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | plagza | plagzas |
| OBL | plage | plagis |
The third declension contains both masculine and feminine nouns. All nouns in this category end in consonants or epenthetic <e> in the nominative, making them difficult to distinguish from first-declension nouns. Like with first-declension nouns, the <e> is removed when the suffix begins with a vowel.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | -∅ | -s |
| OBL | -i | -is |
Examples using "aczón" (action) and "ambre" (tree)
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | aczón | aczons |
| OBL | aczoni | aczonis |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | ambre | ambres |
| OBL | ambri | ambris |
The behavior of adjectives can be described in terms of the three declensions. Many, though not all, adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. If an adjective declines for gender, the masculine forms follow the first declension and the feminine forms follow the second declension.
Here is an example using "albe" (white), which declines for gender:
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| NOM | albe | albes | alba | albas |
| OBL | albe | albis | albe | albis |
Adjectives that don't decline for gender follow the third declension.
An example using "verde" (green), which does not dot decline for gender:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| NOM | verde | verdes |
| OBL | verdi | verdis |
Comparative of Superiority
Comparatives of superiority (i.e. She is stronger than me.) are formed by surrounding the adjective with mais … ca. Nouns following "ca" take the nominative case, while pronouns take their disjunctive forms.
La femma es fuorta. - The woman is strong
La femma es mais fuorta ca l'uom. - The woman is stronger than the man.
La femma es mais fuorta ca mé. - The woman is stronger than me.
A few adjectives have suppletive comparatives. These adjectives are as follows:
- grand "big, tall" > mair "bigger, taller"
- nugl "small" > mendre "smaller"
- buon "good" > meglor "better"
- mal "bad" > peir "worse"
When they are used in formal contexts, "mais" is deleted. However, in informal language, it is common to keep "mais".
La femma es granda. - The woman is tall.
La femma es maira ca mé. - The woman is taller than me. (formal)
La femma es mais maira ca mé. - The woman is taller than me. (informal)
Comparative of Inferiority
Comparatives of inferiority (He is less intelligent than me.) are formed by surrounding the adjective with mens … ca. In formal registers, they are more regular than comparatives of superiority.
L'uom es intelligient. - The man is intelligent.
L'uom es mens intelligient ca la femma. - The man is less intelligent than the woman.
L'uom es mens intelligient ca mé. - The man is less intelligent than me.
In formal registers, the adjectives with irregular comparatives are regularized when expressing inferiority. But informal registers usually use the irregular form.
L'uom es grand. - The man is tall.
L'uom es mens grand ca mé. - The man isn't as tall as me. (formal)
L'uom es mens mair ca mé. - The man isn't as tall as me. (informal)
Comparative of Equality
Comparatives of equality (She is as fast as me) are formed by surrounding the adjective with tant … com. Comparatives are fully regular in all registers.
La femma es rápida. - The woman is fast.
La femma es tant rápida ca l'uom. - The woman is as fast as the man.
La femma es tant rápida ca mé. - The woman is as fast as me.
Relative Superlative of Superiority
Relative superlatives of superiority (He is the tallest.) are formed by adding the definite article before the comparative of the adjective.
Es lo mais fuort. - He is the strongest.
Es lo (mais) mair. - He is the tallest.
The attributive use is more complex. If the adjective follows the noun, the noun also takes the definite article. If the adjective goes before the noun, no article is added.
Es lo paget lo mais fuort. - He is the strongest boy.
Es lo mair paget. - He is the tallest boy.
Relative Superative of Inferiority
Relative superlatives of inferiority (I am the least intelligent.) pattern the same way as those of superiority, but with mens.
Es lo mens fuort. - He is the least strong.
Es lo mens grand/mair. - He is the least tall.
Absolute Superlative
Absolute superlatives (The art is most beautiful. Think Italian -issimo) can be formed in either of two ways. The most common way is with viv:
L'art es viv biell. - The art is most beautiful. / The art is extremely beautiful.
In another form, more literary than the first, one suffixes the adjective with -íssim.
L'art es bellíssim. - The art is most beautiful.
Certain adjectives, particularly ones describing positive personality traits, don't always negate normally. Instead of just negating the verb, one leaves it in the affirmative and prefixes the adjective with po(g)-. Verbal or derivational negation is considered rude. The common model for this practice is "maür":
Nen es maür. - He is not mature. (rude)
Es immaür. - He is immature. (rude)
Es pomaür. - He is immature. (polite)
Adjectives that commonly take the polite negative include:
- diversiv "fun, funny" (> podiversiv)
- gentill "nice" (> pogentill)
- grand "tall" (> pogrand)
- intelligient "intelligent" (> poguintelligient)
- maür "mature" (> pomaür)
Excessive use of the polite negative is associated with politicians and high society. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
Comments
