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Adjectives and Adverbs
Garazinoki ki Nunhernoki
Contents:
Adjectives
Possessive Adjectives
Adverbs
Adverbs that Modify Adverbs
Comparison
Comparative and Superlative
Comparative
Structure
Equative
Structure
Used as Nouns
Postposed "Adverbs"
Rhean adjectives like noon 'big', midir 'green', cumez 'cold' come before the noun they modify, and do not take any ending when used this way:
noon draaz
a big house
midir afte
green cars
cumez šula
cold water
föz glüp pöki
young stupid people
The prefix an- added to an adjective makes it mean "very...". Fina, vadin, šöl, 'bad', 'smart', blue', become anfina, anvadin, anšöl, 'very bad', 'very smart', and 'very blue'. Another way to do this is with the suffix -ai: vadinai, finai. Sometimes this is combined with an- for double emphasis: anhuyuzai. Yet another way to say this is to use daǧie "very": daǧie vadin. An adjective does not take declension endings when modifying a noun, but it does when used on its own as a noun (see here).
Possessive Adjectives
Dovruni Garazinoki
As mentioned in the section on pronouns, each pronoun also has a possessive form. These correspond to the English my, (thy,) his, her, its, our, your, their. These are:
yai | my | yei | our |
lai | your (sg. "thy") | lei | your (pl.) |
tai | his/her/its | tei | their |
These are used just like adjectives before a noun:
yai pioz
my apartment
lai bazuka
your bazooka
These can take the gender prefixes too:
bantai | his |
jortei | their (fem.) |
Adjectives become adverbs by taking an ending. The ending -em replaces -i when it occurs at the end of adjectives. If this -i follows a vowel, the adverb ending is -yem. All other adjectives (except aya) add -ie to form adverbs.
melun | slow |
melunie | slowly |
melunie anduak | to walk slowly |
rasni | serious |
rasnem | seriously |
rasnem palbak | to speak seriously |
somui | late (adj) |
somuyem | late (adv) |
somuyem ftukek | to arrive late |
One irregular exception: the adverb form of aya
"good" is ajie or aye
"well".
Kaz anajie dvaduiš.
kaz(-ACC) very-well play-3SG
He plays the kaz (a Rhean stringed instrument) very well.
There are other adverbs not formed from adjectives, like viom 'already', wastat 'completely', cita 'downwards'. Nouns related to time, like pilonk 'today', umaš '(in the) future', yelšemanz 'last week', are also often left unmarked and treated as adverbs.
ADVERBS THAT MODIFY ADVERBS
Nunhernokin Jitrizna Nunhernoki
Adverbs can modify other adverbs. When used this way, they usually take no adverb ending and look like their adjective form.
Huyuzie tafaim.
fast-ADV eat-1SG:PAST
I ate quickly.
Skijie tafaim.
too-much-ADV eat-1SG:PAST
I ate too much
Skij huyuzie tafaim.
too-much fast-ADV eat-1SG:PAST
I ate too fast.Eya otoǩ hila vurhusie palbaš.
that man ridiculous fast-ADV speak-3SG
That man speaks ridiculously fast.
COMPARATIVE AND
SUPERLATIVE
Gomostnok ki Suzostnok
There are suffixes for -er and -est as in English, and these can be added to any adjective:
vuneč | old | čevez | expensive |
vunečyan | older | čevezyan | more expensive |
vunečtaš | oldest | čeveztaš | most expensive |
There is also a way to say "little", "less", and "least" using the adverb haz which means "little, not very much".
šaut | tall | vurhus | loud |
haz šaut | not very tall | haz vurhus | not very loud |
hazyan šaut | less tall | hazyan vurhus | less loud |
haztaš šaut | least tall | haztaš vurhus | least loud |
These forms can also become adverbs:
huyuzie hažam
I run fast
huyuzyanie hažat
you run faster
huyuztašie haža
he/she runs fastest
COMPARATIVE STRUCTURE
Gomostni Hatiko
Comparison is expressed with a preposition dla "(more) than" and the comparative form. The construction is different from English -- in Rhean, the comparison comes first, and the adjective comes after it.
dla heliko noonyan
THAN helicopter big-COMP
bigger than a helicopterEya tizmuǩ dla heliko noonyan če!
that mosquito THAN helicopter big-COMP be-3SG
That mosquito is bigger than a helicopter!
This of course leaves the adjective at the end, so the whole phrase can go in front of a noun to modify it:
Dla heliko noonyan tizmuǩ mirim.
THAN helicopter big-COMP mosquito(-ACC) see-1SG
I see a mosquito (that is) bigger than a helicopter.
While dla takes the nominative case here, it can take other cases too. Compare these two sentences:
Warnan dla Toman ǧasie ǧalaš.
war-ACC THAN Toma-ACC
more-ADV hate-3SG
He hates war more than Toma. (= more than he hates Toma)
Warnan dla Toma ǧasie ǧalaš.
war-ACC THAN Toma-ACC
more-ADV hate-3SG
He hates war more than Toma. (= more than
Toma hates war)
And also:
Nap telovukrom dla nap lekužadom kurak huyuzyan.
by airship-INST THAN by train-INST come-INF quick-COMP
(It is) quicker to come by airship than by train.
EQUATIVE STRUCTURE
Datubani Hatiko
To compare things that are the same degree, or to say that one thing is not the same degree as another, you can use nubie or yud. The adverb nubie is one of the correlative words and means 'to the extent/degree which...' or 'as much as...'. Nubie is "correctly" only used to refer to verbs ("as much as" one does X), but is often used where yud should be. The preposition yud means pretty much the same thing as nubie but refers only to nouns ("as much as" X is/does something).
Nubie auror datu tažlosta čevez če.
as-much-as gold-GEN same weight expensive be-3SG
It is as expensive as the same weight in gold.
yud stuub balda
as-much-as steel strong
strong as steelJaa, yud heliko noon deǧe.
"jaa", as-much-as helicopter big not-be-3SG
Aww, it's not as big as a helicopter.
Toman nubie Kizin mu kunim.
Toma-ACC as-much-as Kizi-ACC NEG like-1SG
I don't like Toma as much as (I like) Kizi.
Adjectives Used as Nouns
Šid Menzit Mašabza Garazinoki
There is a suffix -urz which turns any adjective into a noun meaning 'a ... one' or 'the one that is ...' but this is not necessary. An adjective on its own can be a noun; any adjective with a plural or case ending on it will be understood as a noun.
Oleci todom ivriz.
old-PL here-INST live-3PL
Old (people) live here.Šinivin danǧömmiomu.
dead-PL-ACC unbury-1PL:PAST
We dug up the dead (ones).Lük ftakye ve.
onion(-ACC) fetch-2SG:IMP "EH"
Fetch (me) an onion.
żO firfan?
OBJ purple-ACC
A purple one?
Mai, o bešer kraza.
no , OBJ white(-ACC) please
No, a white one please.
Postposed "Adverbs"
Timekodeč "Nunhernoki"
There are a few words that come after the word they modify, like postpositions, but I am including them with the adverbs. These include bile "even", zar "only", egva "except", ški "also". They do not affect the case of the noun.
Loz egva paikure edom aše že!
you except everyone there-INST be-3SG:PAST EMPH
Everyone was there except you!
żAi Jeram bile?
SUBJ Jeram even
Even Jeram (was there / did it / etc)?Šurken ški vendimu.
bullets-ACC also sell-1PL
We also sell bullets.
These postposed adverbs can even be used on verbs.
Tirzaim zar.
watch-1PL:PAST only
We only watched.
De že. Böraiǩ ški.
no EMPH . fight-2PL:PAST also
No. You also fought.
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