5 Adjectives in Mam 135(42) Measures:
kab' jatz' waa'j 'two bites of tortilla'
kyaaj tx'anaj tchi' 'her four pieces of meat'
The only elements that can intervene between an adjective and the noun it modi-
fies are the clausal enclitic -tzan 'well, then and the plural marker qa:
(43) B'isan nim-tzan q'iij o 0-teen-ta xjaal.
well many-well day PAST I>3sg-be.in.a.place-3sg EMPH person
'Well, the person was there for many days.'
(44) Qapa jaka tz'-etz qb-'n ch'iin qa q-pwaq.
maybe AFFIRM I>3sg-DiR give-ss a.little PL Aipl-money
'Maybe they can give us a little money.'
Adjectives can be conjoined with the conjunctions b'ix 'and' or mo 'or' (also used to
conjoin other types of words, phrases, and clauses), although conjoined adjectives
are quite rare. The conjunction cannot be deleted:
(45) nuch b'ix sib' tx'yaan
small and grey dog
'small grey dog' (*nuch sib' tx'yaan)
Adjectives that follow a noun can also be conjoined:
(46) Pew aa aj k'alb'il matiij t-witz b'ix matiij t-qan.
but DEM DEM carrying.cloth big A3sg-face and big A3sg-leg
'But it is the big and long carrying cloth.'
Three adjectives can be used in a stative predicate, with a conjunction only be-
tween the last two:
(47) Matiij-0, yooxh b'ix kyee'yex.
big-I>3sg red and beautiful
'It is big, red, and beautiful.'
Conjoined predicate adjectives need not be together:
(48) Matiij-0 jun jaatza, b'ix cha'x.
big-I>3sg one matasano and green
"The matasano (plant in rue family) was big, and green.'
A way to conjoin two predicate adjectives without using a conjunction is to repeat
the noun:
(49) Tzqiij-0 ajlaaj poolan-0 ajlaaj.
dry-I>3sg reed mounded.up-I>3sg reed
"The reed was dry and mounded up.'