Affixation 117
(68) kakanan ‘food’ sakakanan ‘small meal’
ompa’ ‘mouthful’ saompa'an ‘a single portion’
olok ‘shout’ saologan ‘shouting distance’
lonca’ ‘jump’ salonca'an ‘jumping distance’
roko’ ‘tobacco’ saroko'an ‘distance covered while smoking
a single cigarette’
1.3 Derived adjectives
There is a limited number of affixes that derive adjectives. As discussed pre-
viously, affixation of -an to an adjectival root results in a comparative. For
many speakers, it is also possible to affix a- with no difference in meaning.
(69) penter ‘smart’ penterran ‘smarter’ apenterran ‘smarter’
senneng ‘happy’ sennengngan ‘happier’ asennengngan ‘happier’
kowat ‘strong’ kowadan ‘stronger’ akowadan ‘stronger’
pote ‘white’ poteyan ‘whiter’ apoteyan ‘whiter’
laju ‘dry’ lajuwan ‘drier’ alajuwan ‘drier’
These -an derivatives can also form superlatives in conjunction with reduplica-
tion of the stem. Comparatives and superlatives are described in more detail in
Chapter 6 section 8.
(70) ter-penterran ‘smartest’
wat-kowadan ‘strongest’
neng-sennengngan ‘happiest’
ju-lajuwan ‘driest’
The prefix a- in combination with -an forms a circumfix that derives from
a small number of adjectival roots adjectives with the meaning ‘full of property
X’.
(71) sala ‘wrong’ asala'an ‘full of mistakes’
rosak ‘broken’ arosagan ‘very broken’
talpos ‘damaged’ atalposan ‘very damaged’
Just as ka-...-an derives adversatives verbs, the circumfix ka-...-en forms
an adversative adjective. The derivatives denote an overabundance of the prop-
erty denoted by the adjective. This is a highly productive affix that can be ap-
plied to most any adjective.