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CONTENTS
GENDER, NUMBER AND CASE
Tundrian adjectives are
classified into two
categories:
- Category A adjectives
vary with gender: in both
the singular and the plural
they have different forms
for the masculine and
feminine.
- Category B adjectives do
not vary with gender: in
both the singular and the
plural the forms are
invariant with respect to gender.
CLASS A ADJECTIVES
Only the singular forms are
given: to find the
corresponding plural forms,
for both the nom. and the acc.
case, consult the
Nouns and Adjectives - Declension page.
Most adjectives belong to
Class A. For those that do
not, see under the Class B
heading.
Regular feminine formation
Generally speaking, Class A
nouns whose masc.sing. ends in
a consonant add
-a
in the feminine. Those whose
masc.sing. ends in -o,
change it to
-a
in the fem. Examples:
- clar, clara
(light); piyr, piyra
(lazy).
- pauvro,
pauvra
(poor); xenistro,
xenistra
(left)
Irregularities:
- Adjectives ending in
-q add -qua in
the fem.: antiq,
antiqua
(ancient); obliq,
obliqua
(oblique).
- Adjectives ending in
-û change it to -ua
in the fem.: ambigû,
ambigua
(ambiguous); continû,
continua
(continuous).
- Two adjectives ending in
-ix change it to
-ija in the fem.: grix,
grija
(gray): lix,
lija
(smooth, even).
- Others
ending in -ix are
regular, however: frêix,
frêixa
(fresh); rûix,
rûixa
(red), etc.
- Adjectives ending in
-êil have their fem. in
-ella: bêil,
bella
(beautiful); gemêil,
gemella
(twin).
- Note
the additional
irregularity in: tranquêil,
tranquilla
(calm).
- Monosyllabic adjectives
ending in –an and
those ending in –án
generally have their
feminine in –aina: humán,
humaina
(human); plan,
plaina
(flat, plain); san,
saina
(healthy); ván,
vaina
(vain).
-
However, adjectives ending
in -án that denote
a nationality or religous
group change the -án
to -ana in the
fem., without the
diphthong. E.g.: amêricán,
amêricana
(American); christián,
christiana
(Christian); tundrián,
tundriana
(Tundrian).
- Two
exceptions: román,
romaina
(Roman [ancient]); tzigán,
tzigaina
(Gypsy).
- The few adjectives
ending in an unstressed
vowel + n need an accent in
the fem. in additon to the
final -a:
orphan,
ôrphana
(orphaned).
- Adjectives ending in a
vowel bearing the circumflex
accent (exc. û) + cons. +
s lose the circumflex in
the fem.: fâls,
falsa
(false); pêrs,
persa
(dark [colour]); côrs,
corsa
(Corsican).
- Adjectives ending in a
vowel bearing the circumflex
accent (exc. û) + single
consonant (exc. r) lose the
circumflex in the fem. and
double the final consonant
before the -a of the
fem.: bêl
(also bêil), bella
(beautiful); xîc,
xicca
(dry).
- One
exception: parallêl,
parallêla
(parallel)
-
Adjectives ending in -r
do not obey this rule:
ordinêr,
ordinêra
(ordinary);
satisfactôr,
satisfactôra
(satisfactory).
- Adjectives ending in a
vowel bearing the accute
accent + n or s
lose the accent in the fem.:
bón,
bona
(good); metús,
metussa
(same); slovén,
slovena
(Slovenian).
- Adjectives ending in
digraphs ending in -u have
special fem. forms with a -v-:
blêu,
bleva
(blue); breu,
brava
(brave); câu,
cava
(hollow); nôu
(also nov), nova
(new); vîu,
viyva
(alive).
- Most
adjectives ending in -êu,
however, form their fem. in
-ea: aerêu,
aerea
(aerial); europêu,
europea
(European).
CLASS B ADJECTIVES
These adjectives do not
change according to gender.
For their plural forms,
consult the
Nouns and Adjectives - Declension page.
Here is a list of the most
common members of this group:
alêr (cheerful),
anteriour (previous),
assat (enough) [not used
in the plural], atroç
(awful), capaç (able),
cêleur (famous),
común (common, ordinary),
crudeil (cruel), deul (weak), diffícil (difficult),
dûlç (sweet), ênorm
(huge, enormous), exsang
(bloodless), fácil
(easy), fedeil
(faithful), fêliyç
(happy), fêrtil
(fertile), fort (strong),
funebre (related to a funeral),
gentiyl (gentle, nice),
grand (big, large),
grâu (grave, serious),
hábil (clever, skillful),
hûmil (humble),
inferiour (inferior,
lower), jôun (young),
lêu (light [in weight]),
majour (major), melhour
(better [comp. of bón
(good)]),
minour (minor), miyt (mild),
móbil (mobile,
moveable), moil (soft),
nóbil (noble), par
(even [number]), piour
(worse [comp. of mal
(bad)]), suav (mild), sûperiour (superior,
upper), trist (sad), útil (useful), vêloç (fast),
vird (green), xûmil (alike, similar).
Also,
compounds of the above:
impar
(odd [number]), inútil
(useless), etc.
Adjectives ending with the
derivative suffixes -ábil,
-al, -ant, -ent, -íbil and
-our also belong here:
capábil
(capable), natural
(natural), abûndant
(abundant), circolar
(circular), convênient
(convenient), terríbil
(terrible), conservatour
(conservative), etc.
However,
adjectives whose similar
endings are not suffixal add
-a in the fem.:
amar, -a
(bitter); car, -a
(expensive, dear); content,
-a (content); jant, -a
(a lot of); lent, -a
(slow); mal, -a
(bad); sant, -a (holy,
sacred); sonour, -a
(noisy), etc.
COMPARISON
THE COMPARATIVE
The comparative
forms of adjectives are
regularly formed by placing the word plus (more) or min (less) in
front of the adjective, and the particle que (than) after.
Examples:
- És
plus grand que Joân
"He is bigger than John".
- Soy
min riyc que Paul
"I am less wealthy than Paul".
Four adjectives have irregular
comparative forms:
- bón, bona (good) -
melhour (better)
- mal, -a (bad) -
piour (worse)
- mûlt, -a (many,
much) - mais (more, larger number of)
- pauc, -a (few) -
min (less, fewer)
Note that mais and min
are invariable for gender, number and case. E.g.: mî amiyc ha mais livros
que jo "my friend has more books than myself"; cel ân vi ha min aqua en
lo lac qu'el ân passat "this year there is less water in the lake than last
year".
THE SUPERLATIVE
The superlative of adjectives is formed by adding the
appropriate form of the definite article or the possessive pronoun in front of
the comparative:
- És la plus bella javuta
en lâ escola "She is the most beautiful girl in the school".
- Hoy tzentat los
melhours restaurants en lâ çutat "I have tried the best restaurants in the
city".
- Son mêi melhouri amiyci
"They are my best friends".
- Ço és la
min fêrtil tzerra del payeiz "This is the least fertile land in the
country".
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