Adjective Classes - A Cross-Linguistic Typology

3 The Two Adjective Classes in Manange 95

TABLE 3. Comparison of verb-like adjectives, simple adjectives, and verbs

Property

Conform to phonotactic constraints (§4.1)
Morphological causatives (§3.3.3)
Take verbal inflections(§4.2 and §4.3.2)
Intransitive predicate in perfective (§4.3.2)
Intrans. pred. in imperfective and irrealis (§4.3.2)
Post-nominal in NP (§4.3.1)
Occur in complement structures (§4.3.3)
May occur as copula complement (§4.3.2)
May occur with adverbial subordinating suffix -ni (§4.2)

Simple

adjectives

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Verb -like

adjectives

Yes

Yes

Some

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Verbs

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

like adjectives take finite verbal inflections and constitute intransitive predicates.
Otherwise, verb-like adjectives are syntactically identical to simple adjectives. The
verb-like adjective class thus appears to be a mixed class, with verbal phonology
and morphology, and primarily adjectival syntax.

5. Conclusions: verb-like adjectives or adjective-like verbs?

This study has contrasted the semantic, phonological, morphological, and syntactic
behaviour of two distinct lexical classes. We have demonstrated that Manange has
one class of simple adjectives that is clearly distinct lexically from verbs, nouns, and
verb-like adjectives. More interesting, we have described in detail a second lexical
class that behaves phonologically and morphologically like verbs, and syntactical-
ly like adjectives. It is possible to make a decision to emphasize one set of criteria
over another. We could say that syntactic criteria are definitional for the adjective
lexical class, which would require us to conclude that Manange has two classes
of adjectives. Alternatively, we could take the phonological and/or morphological
criteria as definitional, and thereby conclude that verb-like adjectives in Manange
are simply a sub-class of verbs with distinct syntactic and semantic properties. A
more descriptively accurate approach, however, and one which thus elucidates the
true nature of the lexical category, is to refer to it as 'hybrid', with properties of both
verbs and adjectives.

References

DIXON, R. M. W. 1982. Where have all the adjectives gone? and other essays in semantics and
syntax. Berlin: Mouton.
Du Bois, J. W., ScHEUTZE-CoBURN, S., GUMMING, S., and PAOLINO, D. 1993. 'Outline of dis-
course transcription', pp. 45-89 of Talking data: Transcription and coding in discourse
research, edited by J. A. Edwards and M. D. Lampert. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.