Feature GB068: Do core adjectives (defined semantically as property concepts such as value, shape, age, dimension) act like verbs in predicative position?

Patrons: Jeremy Collins and Jay Latarche

Description ⇫

Summary

Do property words used as predicates take on verbal morphology? The predicative property word need not take exactly all verbal marking. If there is at least some marking that verbs and predicative property words share, this counts as 1 (for example, if a language has he runs and he greens). However, if there is additional morphology or there are additional elements that the property word requires, then this feature should be coded as 0. This should apply to most property words in the language. Property words semantically roughly correspond to adjectives in those languages that have a separate adjective word class. We want to include elements that mark ‘adjectival’ function but that might not be described as ‘adjectives’.

Procedure

  1. Code 1 if most property words used predicatively receive markers which are used on verbs.
  2. Code 1 if neither property words nor predicative verbs receive marking.
  3. Code 1 if property words receive the same marking as stative verbs.
  4. Code 0 if property words are obligatorily accompanied by elements which are not obligatory with verbs.
  5. Code 1 if most examples of property words follow this pattern; code 0 if most do not; code ? if property words are split between this and another pattern.

Examples

Hano (ISO 639-3: lml, Glottolog: hano1246)

See Vari-Bogiri (2011: 62). Coded 1.

“Adjectives behave like verbs when they function as predicate, preceded by subject marker and TAM category and they function as stative verbs when they refer to state or process.”

Bororo (ISO 639-3: bor, Glottolog: boro1282)

The example below is taken from Stassen (2013), citing Crowell (1979: 26, 50).

a. i-mago-re
1SG-speak-NEUTRAL
‘I speak/spoke.’

b. i-kure-re
1SG-tall-NEUTRAL
‘I am/was tall.’

Since the morphology for ‘tall’ and ‘speak’ is identical, and this is typical of adjectives in Bororo, Bororo would be coded as 1.

Irish (ISO 693-3: gle, Glottolog: iris1253)

Example from Stassen (2013), citing Greene (1966: 46, 43).

a. téann   Sean
go.PST  Sean
‘Sean went.’

b. is     breoite  é
be.PRS ill     he
‘He is ill.’

Because adjectives require a copula, the coding should be 0 for this feature.

Further reading

Dixon, R. M. W. 2010. Basic linguistic theory, Volume 2: Grammatical topics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 12 deals with adjectives and their relationship with other word classes.

Stassen, Leon. 2013. Predicative adjectives. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

References

Crowell, Thomas H. 1979. A grammar of Bororo. Ithaca: Cornell University. (Doctoral dissertation.)

Greene, David. 1966. The Irish language. Dublin: The Three Candles.

Stassen, Leon. 2013. Predicative adjectives. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Vari-Bogiri, Hannah. 2011. Phonology and morpho-syntax of Raga, Vanuatu. Port Vila: University of the South Pacific. (Doctoral dissertation.)


To display the datapoints for a particular language family on the map and on the classification tree, select the family then click "submit".

You may combine this variable with a different variable by selecting on in the list below and clicking "Submit".

Customize map markers:
0 absent 1002
1 present 947
? Not known 487
reload

Map ⇫


Values ⇫

Name Glottocode Family Macroarea Contributor Value Source Comment