Adjective Classes - A Cross-Linguistic Typology

4 The Adjective Class in Tariana 103

TABLE 3. Selection of classifiers and noun class markers in Tariana

Noun class mark-

er on adjectives and other

modifiers

Singular Plural
Semantics

General animate; human -ita, as in (8) -peni, as in (9)
('man', 'dog', 'snake', clothing')

Substances ('water', 'sweat') -peri
Natural phenomena, places -warn

Other classifier

contexts

-ita, as in(io)

used only on nouns as a

derivational suffix; not

used in other contexts

Round objects -da
Curved objects -kha
Long vertical objects -na
Largish and long objects -pa
Leaf-like objects -phe

stances and natural phenomena, are distinct from classifiers which occur in other
morphosyntactic contexts. All other classifiers have the same form in all contexts.
The different forms of the general animate noun class and of corresponding
classifiers are illustrated below: (8) illustrates animate singular; (9) illustrates ani-
mate plural; and (10) illustrates the corresponding classifier used with a numeral.

(8) nu-kesi-ni ma:1fite
isg-relative-siNG bad:NCL.ANiM
'my nasty relative'

(9) nu-kesi-pe ma:tfi-peni
isg-relative-PL bad-PL.ANiM
'my nasty relatives'

(10) paita nu-kesi-ni
one:CL.ANiM isg-relative-siNG
'my one relative'

A shape-based classifier, such as -na 'long vertical' in (11), has the same form in
every environment. The head noun is in parentheses since it is likely to be omitted
if recoverable from the context.

(11) pa:-na hanu-na (heku-na)
One-CL.VERT big-CL.VERT WOod-CL.VERT
'one big (tree)'