Adjective-Noun order

Wed Feb 20 09:52:39 UTC 2013

In Korowai (Van Enk and De Vries 1997:69), adjectives generally precede 
the noun, but a few follow.In Sare, the word for 'little' can follow the 
noun, but otherwise adjectives precede the noun.In Mbili (Ayuinjam 
1998), the majority of adjectives follow the noun, but a minority 
precede.In Awa Pit (Curnow 1997), predominantly AdjN, but a few 
adjectives can follow.In Vili (Ndamba 1977), the words for 'big' and 
'small' precede, but other adj's follow.In Iraqi Arabic (Erwin 1963), 
the word for 'good' precedes, while others follow, but 'good' behave 
differently from adjectives in other respects.In Persian (Rastorgueva 
1964, Lambton1967,Lazard 1957), only a few adjectives can precede the 
noun.In Pawaian (Trefry 1969), colour adjectives follow the noun if 
there is another adjective preceding the noun.In Shilluk (Kohnen 1933), 
adjectives generally follow the noun, but there are two words, a 
diminutive word and an augmentative word, precede (and may not be true 
adjectives).

There are also languages where some words with adjective meaning occur 
on one side of the noun while others precede, but the difference is a 
function of whether the words in question are verbs or members of a 
distinct adjective class.Central Tarahumara (Cohen 1998) appears to be 
an instance of this.Tsafiki (Dickinson 2002) is sort of an instance of 
this in that true adjectives precede the noun, while stative verbs with 
meanings expressed by adjectives in European languages can precede or 
follow.

I have many languages recorded as having a dominant order of adjective 
and noun, with the other order possible but not dominant, but would have 
to examine each individually to see in which of them the choice is 
lexically-governed.

Matthew

L.KOROWAI;

S.Van Enk and De Vries (1997);

X.7;

GE.Awju-Dumut;

PL.Irian Jaya;

P.5d15S,140dE;

D.Jun99;

B.Krw;

0.SOV;9(st)

1.a.GN;121,156,174,175,183(Egs)

b.juxta/gensuff;;suff on gen general modifier marker

2.AN/na;69(st);a few adj can follow noun

L.SARE;=Kapriman

S.Sumbuk(2002);;pages are for 1999 draft

GE.Sepik Hill;

PL.Papua New Guinea;

P.4d30S,143d10E;in west of area shown on map, according to Foley

D.Oct98;

0.SOV/svo/ovs/vos;;228(st);VO whenever IO or adverb precedes V;SVO in neg

1.a.GN;;107,156(sts)

b.WordBetween(CL);;156(see);attaches to postnominal modifier

2.a.AN/na;;125,148(sts);the adj 'little' may precede or follow

L.TARAHUMARA (CENTRAL);partly done,not bad for GB

S.Cohen(1998);

GE.Tarahumaran;

PL.Mexico;

P.27d30N,107d30W;

0.a.SOV;172,190(sts)

b.SV;172(rule)

c.OV;190(st)

2.AN/na;227(st);true adjs prec,verb adjs follow

3.Po;249(impl)

4.a.DemN;222(st)

c.DefN;222(st)

d.IndefN;222(st)

f.Def=Dem;

g.Indef=Num;

6.NRel;229(st)

7.CaseSuff;egs

12.TASuff;177(table)

16.a.NegV(NB);282(st)

c.NegNotVInfl;

17.DegAdj;242-245(impl,egs)

20.ObligInitWh;294(impl)

23.CompS;266-268(Begs)

25.a.PP-V;196(st)

c.SXOV;196(st)

29.QuantN;225(st)

In Awa Pit (Curnow 1997), predominantly AdjN, but a few adjectives can 
follow.

L.AWA PIT;=Cuaiquer, pages for later corrected version

S.Curnow(1997);

X.3,5,6;

X.7;

F.Barbacoan;

H.Barbacoan;

GE.Barbacoan;

PL.Colombia,Ecuador;Carchi province along Columbian border

P.1d30N,78d15W;1(st)

D.Jun97;

0.SOV;50(st)

1.a.GN;117(formula),123ff(Begs)

b.WordBetween/Juxta;

e.NotAlien;

2.a.AN/na;88,90(sts),117(formula),120(st);big,small,male,female follow 
N, as do deverbal adjectives

L.MBILI;partly done,see egs

S.Ayuninjam(1998);

X.;close to Babungo

GE.Bantoid;

PL.Cameroon;

P.6d07N,10d12E;

D.Mar03;

0.SVO;323(formula)

2.NA/an;215(st);more follow noun, but those that precede include some 
basic meanings

In Vili (Ndamba 1977), the words for 'big' and 'small' precede, but 
other adj's follow.

L.VILI;partly done;=Fiote?CK Carrie to see if spoken in DRC,if so then 
his Fiote is not the same as Vili

S.Ndamba(1977),Carrie(1890);

GE.Bantoid;

P.5d30S,14dE;

PL.Congo,Gabon;Democratic Republic of Congo??

E2.Vili;

E.vif;

RU.Yombe;

W.vif;

0.SVO;C:159(st),162(see); N:332(Eg)

c.vo;N:130(Egs)

1.a.NG;N:316-317(st,egs)

b.GenPref;;genpref agrees with head

2.NA/an;N:285-287,322,324(sts);big and small precede

L.ARABIC (IRAQI);

S.Erwin(1963);McCarthy&Raffouli(1964) not examined

X.8;

GE.Semitic;

PL.Iraq;

P.33dN,44dE;

B.Arq;

D.Jul00;

0.b.SV;316,325,326,328,329(Egs)

c.VO;332(st)

1.a.NG;368(st,egs)

b.Juxta/posssuff/genpref;368,378(sts)

2.a.NA/an;319,352,362,366(sts);word for 'good' precedes,but lacks adj 
props;comparative may precede

In Persian (Rastorgueva 1964, Lambton1967,Lazard 1957), only a few 
adjectives can precede the noun.

L.PERSIAN;Hc

S.Rastorgueva(1964),Elwell-Sutton(1941),Elwell-Sutton(1963),Lambton(1967),Lazard(1957a);

X.3,4,6;

X.7;

GE.Iranian;

G.Indo-European:Indo-Iranian:Iranian:Western:Kurdish;

P.32dN,54dE;

PL.Iran;

E.PES;

0.SOV/svo;R:49,22,Elwell-Sutton 1941:12(imp),Lambton 1967:5(st),Lazard 
1957a:207-208(st)

1.a.NG;R:21(st,eg),Elwell-Sutton 1963:41(impl)

b.PossSuff;Lambton 1967:9(st);nonpronominal,occurs in NA too

2.a.NA/an;R:21,23(st,eg),Lambton 1967:19,21(sts),Lazard 
1957a:81(st);superlative adjective precedes, some others can precede

On 2/19/13 5:55 PM, Jennifer Culbertson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in examples of languages which have 
> lexically-determined exceptions to a general adjective placement rule. 
> A very well-documented example is French, in which adjectives are 
> generally post-nominal but a (small) lexically-determined set can be 
> pre-nominal. Do you know of other examples?
>
> I'm also interested in whether anyone knows of any typological work 
> which might suggest whether this kind of variation is more common for 
> adjectives compared to numerals (or vice versa). I know of cases in 
> which the placement of the numerals one and/or two differ from other 
> numerals, but I don't have a sense for how common that is.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!
>
> Jennifer Culbertson
> Assistant Professor
> Linguistics Program
> George Mason University 

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