Short Adjective Inquiry

[Wayles Browne]

Surely other color adjectives can have short forms too? Couldn't one say
cvetok krasen, bumaga bela, listva zelena? Maybe there was nothing
remarkable about their short forms, so grammars didn't have to mention
them, unlike the short forms of sinij, which have unusual spellings as
compared with other adjectives.
But I suspect that one couldn't say nebo golubo, nor cvetok
fioletov. How do Russian speakers react to these?

At 2:46 PM -0600 2/26/08, Vanchu, Anthony J. (JSC-AH)[TTI] wrote:
>Can anyone tell me why sinii is the only color adjective to have a short
>form associated with it--at least according to the grammars I've
>consulted?  (sin', sinia, sine, sini)
>
>Does it have anything to do with it being a soft-stem adjective?
>
>Has anyone ever heard or seen (no pun intended) it used?  And, finally,
>especially for native speakers, have you ever had occasion to use it
>yourself?
>
>Thanks,
>Tony Vanchu

-- 

Wayles Browne, Assoc. Prof. of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics
Morrill Hall 220, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853, U.S.A.

tel. 607-255-0712 (o), 607-273-3009 (h)
fax 607-255-2044 (write FOR W. BROWNE)
e-mail ewb2 at cornell.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------