Noun Phrases

overview

Agreement

Adjectives and determiners agree in noun class with the noun that they modify. Agreement is indicated on adjectives by initial consonant alternations, as well as prefixes. The following NPs show the adjective xoƈu 'thin' and the determiner agreeing with various nouns:

Sg. Noun	Adjective	Det.		Pl. Noun	Adjective	Det.
otew	oqoƈu	oxe		rew	xoƈu	we		‘woman’
ofiɗ	oxoƈu	ole		xapiɗ	xaqoƈu	axe		‘butterfly’
ojaf	oxoƈu	ole		acaf	aqoƈu	ake		‘leg’
xomb	xoƈu	le		aqomb	aqoƈu	ake		‘turtle’
xaarit	fanqoƈu	fe		qaarit	qoƈu	ke		‘friend’
nqoox	nqoƈu	ne		qoox	qoƈu	ke		‘bull’
ambeel	aqoƈu	ale		peel	qoƈu	ke		‘lake’
akoong	aqoƈu	ale		akoong	aqoƈu	ake		‘gorilla’
ondew	onqoƈu	onge		fondew	fonqoƈu	ne		‘woman (dim.)’
(g)andew	anqoƈu	ale		(g)andew	anqoƈu	ake		‘woman (aug.)’

Noun-Adjective Order

Adjectives must follow the noun that they modify.

muus	maak
cat	big

'a big cat'

Multiple adjectives can modify a noun, and there are no restrictions on the ordering of these adjectives, even in the case of numerals.

muus	maak	mayu		OR	muus	mayu	maak
cats	big	many			cats	many	big

'many big cats'

tiiƭ	ƭik	yaxgu		OR		tiiƭ	yaxgu	ƭik
birds	two	red				birds	red	two

'two red birds'