ARABIC-L: LING: Adjectives modifying construct phrases

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Fri 22 Jan 1999
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject: Adjectives modifying construct phrases

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1)
Date: 22 Jan 1999
From: Andrew Freeman <andyf at umich.edu>
Subject: Adjectives modifying construct phrases

Hi,

   If there are no objections I would like to do a poll of
"grammaticality" judgments. Please send all responses to me at
"andyf at umich.edu".  Also, if you could please include your native dialect
and what your linguistics training has been I would very much appreciate
it.

  Consider if you will the following construct phrase bening modified by
two adjectives:

   NOUN       NOUN      NOUN        NOUN         ADJ         ADJ
 farmalatu sayyaarati mudiiirati sh-sharikati dh-dhakiyyati T-Tawiilati
  (the)brakes(f.nom) (the)car(f.gen.) (the)director(f.gen.)
the-company(f.gen) the-intelligent(f.gen) the-tall/long(f.gen)

  I can wring out at least two workable meanings:

  The brakes of the car of the tall intelligent director of the company
  The brakes of the long car of the intelligent director of the company
 * the brakes of the long intelligent car of the director of the company

 I have four questions.

  1) Does the current word order "work" for you.  If not what would you
     do to "fix it up?"

  2) If you were to insert the adjective "xarbaana", or "mu9aTTala",
     referring to the car's brakes, where in the above Arabic string would
     you put it?

     a. farmalatu sayyaarati mudiiirati sh-sharikati l-xarbaanati
        dh-dhakiyyati T-Tawiilati
     b. farmalatu sayyaarati mudiiirati sh-sharikati dh-dhakiyyati
        l-xarbaanati T-Tawiilati
     c. farmalatu sayyaarati mudiiirati sh-sharikati dh-dhakiyyati
        T-Tawiilati l-xarbaanati

  3) What is the likelihood of you ever uttering such a phrase
      where 0 = never and 10 = most comfortable way of expressing the idea
     "the broken brakes of the intelligent company director's long car"?

  4) What is the most comfortable way of expressing this meaning in your
     home dialect of Arabic?


  As soon as I compile any results I will, of course, post them back to
this list.

'alf shukr musbaqan

Andrew T. Freeman
Ph.D. student, Arabic Linguistics
The University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

andyf at umich.edu

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End of Arabic-L: 22 Jan 1999