Adjective derivations: view article

Adjectives, when derived from nouns, simply get the emphatic form of their corresponding noun. A diachronic vision enlightens us as to why.

importəncyə (importance, NNeuter (gender)
neutral or neuter)
cu'importəncya (important, with-importance-EMPEmphatic
stressed or emphasised)
importəncya (important, importance-EMPEmphatic
stressed or emphasised)

First derived periphrastically, the adjective then embraced the EMPEmphatic
stressed or emphasised ending as its own, allowing it to trigger the initial prefix and emphatic trigger. While this difference might seem hardly audible, it is important to keep in mind that emphatic forms are oxytonic as well, in turn, as all the forms of the adjective.

importəncyə /imporˈtɲ̩çə/ - importance
importəncya /importɲ̩ˈça/ - important
importəncyě /importɲ̩ˈcɨ/ - of important...

Some older adjectives, usually those reprised in the Bible, retain "c-" from the "cu-" prefix.

csoña /ksoɲa/ - sleepy

Such adjectives are always in the third adjectival declension, which is the same as the second one but with oxytonic forms. Some nouns that have a syncopated stress-initial form keep their initial stress form as adjectives in the masculine singular nominative, such as zahər /ˈzax̞ɾ̩/ (but zahəra /zaˈx̞ɾa/ in the feminine or accusative singular). Unsyncopated adjectives have homographic and homophonous oxytonic forms for NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male, NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female, ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male and ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female, but gender is dialectally distinguished by stress : csoña /ˈksoɲa/ (sleepy.MMasculine gender (gender)
masculine or male), csoña /ksoˈɲa/ (sleepy.FFeminine gender (gender)
feminine or female).

Comments