Home

Adjectives

Adjectives are modifiers, used to describe or limit nouns, which they behave similarly to. They likewise have the attributes of case and number. A few adjectives have the same form of nouns, like seni, novo, alvo, and are indistinguishable from nouns except by their usage. These are often names of directions (nirto, suno, deşo, layu), colors (rúdho, vlego), or natural antonymic pairs (çermo, gelu, tenu, tegu). Most adjectives are formed by adding suffixes to the combining form of nouns. The most common of these is -nyo. For more on adjective formation, see the section on derivational morphology.

Most adjectives must change endings to reflect the case and number of the nouns to which they refer, known as their heads. (This is known as agreement.) They follow the same declension patterns as nouns. (You may also want to note that adjectives usually follow their heads, and a noun, together with any and all adjectives accompanying it, forms a "noun phrase".)

The point is that although nouns and adjectives may not function the same, they are sometimes indistinguishable in form, and they are treated the same inflectionally, as far as case and number are concerned.

One last thing to remember about concordance is the "A exception". This rule essentially states that when modifying a noun in -a, a adjective in -o changes its o-ending to -a and declines like an a-stem too. This is the last modern-day relic of the gender-system that flourished in Old Çomyopregi and still flourishes in many other European languages. If you forget this small exception, you will still be understood, but you will sound like an idiot. So practice with these examples:

Comparison

When comparing two things, adjectives change their forms. The comparative ("more," "-er") form, which adds -tero, is used for comparing two things. In a sentence like "The horse is faster than John", the adjective "fast" (ócu) must take the comparative form. The expression "than John" is then translated by putting John in the genitive case with . Therefore, "the horse is faster than John" would be Sa ecu ócutero eş Yohannyos esti. The superlative ("most," "-est") form is used when there are more than two things, and one is of the greatest degree. It adds -isto. A statement such as "She is the oldest of the women" is said Ci senísto eş guinávom esti. Note that with the superlative, "of the" or "in the" is expressed by putting the following noun in the genitive with .

Note that when these suffixes are added to adjectives, they follow the rules of combination. Thus, we have these forms:

The Ersatz Adverb

In English, adverbs are used to modify adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs, and they are often formed from adjectives. Çomyopregi does not have a distinct class of adverbs, but one form equivalent to an English adverb ending in "-ly" or "-wise" is the instrumental singular of an adjective. Some adverbial functions are likewise filled by nouns in the non-nominative cases, and several particles with adverbial functions exist.
Cin moripeye ócué.
"He killed them quickly."

Numerals

The digits in Çomyopregi are zéro, oyno, duó, trís, quitur, penquo, suiş, sefta, oştó, neva. The higher numbers are deca, "ten", çinto, "hundred", and ghello, "thousand". The corresponding combining forms for each of these numbers is zéro-, oyno-, dui-, tri-, quitro-, penquo-, suişo-, sefto-, oşto-, nevo-, deco-, çinto-, ghello-. When prefixed to a root or suffix beginning with a vowel, the combining form's final vowel is dropped. Note, however that tri- becomes trey- and nevo- becomes neun-. (Combining forms in general are discussed fully under derivational morphology, but combining forms of numbers will be discussed here.)

In the creation of higher numbers, like the teens, the element that is the greater number is prefixed to the one that is the lesser number: decoyno, "eleven", decoduó, "twelve"....deconéun, "nineteen". (Note it is actually the number's combining form that is prefixed.) To form multiples, the lesser number, or multiplier, is prefixed to the base: duideca, "twenty", trideca, "thirty", duiçinto, "two hundred", triçinto, "three hundred". (Here, the number that is multiplied takes the combining form.) These two methods of formation may be combined, as in "fifty three", penquodecotrís. So, when a smaller number is joined to a larger number, if it comes in front, it multiplies the larger number; if it comes after, it is added to the larger number. The base number is multiplied before anything is added (just like order of operations in high school math — P.E.M.D.A.S.)

Except for oyno, none of the cardinal numerals are declined when used adjectivally, but only when they stand by themselves, to designate a group, i.e., when we say "eight" to mean "a group of eight" or "eight of the people". There are certain irregularities in numeral declension, so check here first. Despite its seemingly obvious affiliation with the singular, oyno, which is declined like a regular o-stem noun, actually does have plural forms. These are used adjectivally with the meaning of "some," e.g. guenás oynós, "some women."

Numerals have several derivative forms unique to them. The aggregate forms of the numerals ("one by one," "by twos," etc.) are simply the instrumental plural forms. The adverbial forms are derived from the aggregate forms by adding -r. Ordinal numerals (first, second, third, fourth...) are formed by addition of -to to the combining form. Fractions (whole, half, third, quarter...) are formed by addition of -ón to the combining form.

Possessive Adjectives

Another group of adjectives are the possessive adjectives, which correspond to the personal pronouns. (See Pronouns.) They are: -min, "my," -tin, "your/thy," -nos, "our," -us (-vos after vowels), "your (pl.)," and -sin, "one's own". Like numerals, and unlike most adjectives, they do not decline to agree with their heads. They are invariable, and are appended to the end of their heads.

Articles

Çomyopregi has two articles, both definite, which are always placed first in a noun phrase and do not decline. The more common is sa, which is a general definite article. It is used to designate something that was mentioned previously, essentially sorting old information out from new information. Its usage differs from the English "the". Çomyopregi does not use an article before something of which only one exists, such as suyli, "the sun," or çemya, "the earth", but occasionally it adds one for no purpose other than emphasis. In contrast to sa, oy is not used with nouns that were simply mentioned before, but specifically with nouns previously referred to as "this". Sometimes it is used to mean "this" itself, but the demonstrative pronoun is almost universally preferred. Sa is commonly used with a regular adjective to name a quality or group exhibiting that quality, as in sa rúdho, "the red, (that which is) red."

Adjectives and Case Usage

Certain kinds of adjectives require nouns in certain cases. Among these are adjectives with a partitive sense, which indicate an amount or degree of something, e.g., "all, a few, many." They require that their head noun be in the genitive case. They will take whatever case is appropriate given the head's syntactic role, but the actual head does not change case — it is always genitive. Some common adjectives with this sense are: panto, "all," paucho, "a few," milto, "many."

Other adjectives do agree with their head in the regular sense, but often are "completed" by another noun, in a different case, that indicates a measure, point of reference, etc. Thus, you may say, "a full cup," but you could also say, "a cup full of water," in which case "of water" completes the meaning of "full" by specifiying how or what something is full with. You can also say, "I am angry," or "I am angry at the government," where "at the government" completes the meaning of "angry" by telling where the "angry" feeling is directed. In Çomyopregi, these adjectives require that the complementary noun be in a specific case, usually the dative or instrumental. Adjectives that take the dative include:

Adjectives that take the instrumental include:

Reguándóy domum
© 2005 by Damátir Ando