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.)’