Difference between revisions of "Possessives with Adjectives"
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| + | This section illustrates the interesting interaction between modification morphology and the possessive suffix. |
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Possessive pronoun clitics can attach to any of the words in a string of noun-modifications. |
Possessive pronoun clitics can attach to any of the words in a string of noun-modifications. |
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| − | wiin <b>es</b> faaxu we |
+ | <i>wiin <b>es</b> faaxu we</i> ‘the my good people’ |
| + | people my good Det |
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| − | wiin faaxu <b>es</b> we |
+ | <i>wiin faaxu <b>es</b> we</i> |
| + | people good my Det |
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| + | women my five thin beautiful Det |
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| + | women five my thin beautiful Det |
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| + | women five thin my beautiful Det |
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| + | women five thin beautiful my Det |
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| + | tea spicy my Det |
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| + | tea my spicy Det |
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| + | teas my spicy Det |
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| + | teas spicy my Det |
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| − | + | fañiik <b>es</b> fambarʄu fe ‘the my ugly elephant’ |
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| − | + | fañiik fambarʄu <b>es</b> fe |
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| − | + | fañiik <b>es</b> fambarʄu famaak <b>es</b> fe ‘the my ugly big elephant’ |
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| − | + | fañiik fambarʄu <b>es</b> famaak fe |
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| − | + | fañiik fambarʄu famaak <b>es</b> fe |
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| − | + | pañiik <b>es</b> parʄu maak ke ‘the my ugly big elephants’ |
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| − | + | pañiik parʄu <b>es</b> maak ke |
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| − | + | pañiik parʄu maak <b>es</b> ke |
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| − | + | pañiik <b>es</b> parʄu maak saƭku <b>es</b> ke‘the my ugly big strong elephants’ |
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| − | paniik parju <b>es</b> maak ke |
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| − | paniik parju maak <b>es</b> ke |
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| − | + | xa nafad <b>es</b> xa lakas <b>es</b> axe ‘the my other shoes’ |
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When this happens, in some word-final phonological environment there is contraction of the possessive clitic: |
When this happens, in some word-final phonological environment there is contraction of the possessive clitic: |
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| − | ojafes oɗomu le ‘the my painful leg’ |
+ | ojafes oɗomu le ‘the my painful leg’ |
| − | ojaf |
+ | ojaf odom<b>es</b> ole |
| − | ojaf |
+ | ojaf odom<b>s</b> ole |
There are some modifiers for which the possessor clitic attachment cannot occur: |
There are some modifiers for which the possessor clitic attachment cannot occur: |
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| − | fideles sumu fe ‘the my hot fire’ |
+ | fideles sumu fe ‘the my hot fire’ |
| − | *fidel sumes fe |
+ | *fidel sumes fe |
| + | It is unclear to how many modifiers the possessive can attach before it stops being odd or unacceptable to the speaker. A threshold test definitely shows that a possessive on ALL modifiers is unacceptable, but any combination more than just two is not as clearly unacceptable: |
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| − | + | rew es daduk es xoju mosu we ‘the thin beautiful women’ |
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| + | #rew es daduk es xoju es mosu es we |
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| + | Back to: [[Adjectives]] |
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| − | It is unclear what the maximum threshold for repeated clitic attachment is, but the consultant confirms that a clitic on ever element in the phrase is not acceptable. |
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Latest revision as of 21:34, 15 May 2013
This section illustrates the interesting interaction between modification morphology and the possessive suffix.
Possessive pronoun clitics can attach to any of the words in a string of noun-modifications.
wiin es faaxu we ‘the my good people’ people my good Det wiin faaxu es we people good my Det
rew es daduk xoju mosu we ‘the five thin beautiful women’ women my five thin beautiful Det rew daduk es xoju mosu we women five my thin beautiful Det rew daduk xoju es mosu we women five thin my beautiful Det rew daduk xoju mosu es we women five thin beautiful my Det
ataaya fañaayu es fe ‘the my spicy tea’ tea spicy my Det ataaya es fañaayu fe tea my spicy Det
ataaya es ñyaayu ke ‘the my spicy teas’ teas my spicy Det ataaya ñyaayu es ke teas spicy my Det
fañiik es fambarʄu fe ‘the my ugly elephant’ fañiik fambarʄu es fe
The possessive clitic can even occur on multiple of the modifiers, as well as to the noun itself:
fañiik es fambarʄu famaak es fe ‘the my ugly big elephant’ fañiik fambarʄu es famaak fe fañiik fambarʄu famaak es fe
pañiik es parʄu maak ke ‘the my ugly big elephants’ pañiik parʄu es maak ke pañiik parʄu maak es ke
pañiik es parʄu maak saƭku es ke‘the my ugly big strong elephants’
xa nafad es xa lakas es axe ‘the my other shoes’
When this happens, in some word-final phonological environment there is contraction of the possessive clitic:
ojafes oɗomu le ‘the my painful leg’ ojaf odomes ole ojaf odoms ole
There are some modifiers for which the possessor clitic attachment cannot occur:
fideles sumu fe ‘the my hot fire’ *fidel sumes fe
It is unclear to how many modifiers the possessive can attach before it stops being odd or unacceptable to the speaker. A threshold test definitely shows that a possessive on ALL modifiers is unacceptable, but any combination more than just two is not as clearly unacceptable:
rew es daduk es xoju mosu we ‘the thin beautiful women’ rew daduk es xoju mosu es we ?rew es daduk es xoju es mosu we #rew es daduk es xoju es mosu es we
Back to: Adjectives
