1 Adjective Classes in Typological Perspective 19A few of the verbs relating to the HUMAN PROPENSITY semantic type can also make
a choice of transitive suffix, effectively corresponding to a choice of preposition in
English. For example:(19) Intransitive Tmnsitive 1 Transitive^
puu 'be angry' puu-ca 'be angry pu'u-ca'ina 'be angry about'
at (e.g. child)' (e.g. child's behaviour)'6.1.3. Different possibilities as modifier within an NP
There are a number of ways in which adjectives may differ from verbs in the modi-
fication of a head noun within an NP. The most straightforward difference is that
only an adjective can directly modify a noun, not a verb. This appears in Kamaiura
(Seki 2000: 70,117), in Tigak (Austronesian; Beaumont 1980: 85), and in Papantla
Totonac (see Chapter 6).
In some languages with a verb-like adjective class, both verb and adjective can
modify a noun through a process of nominalization, but there may be differences
of detail. In Chinese, for example, a verb must take nominalizer -de when func-
tioning as modifier within an NP, whereas for most adjectives -de is optional. (Xu
1988 states that only some HUMAN PROPENSITY adjectives, such asyuchun 'stupid'
or jizao 'impatient', have to be followed by -de).
In some languages, adjectives and verbs modify a noun through a relative
clause construction. In Mojave (Yuman; Schachter 1985:19), a relativizing particle
is obligatory with a verb, when modifying a noun, but optional with an adjective.
In Edo (Kwa group within Niger-Congo; Omoruyi 1986), both adjective and verb
require a relative marker when in modifying function, but there is phonological
reduction of the relative marker only in the case of adjectives.
In some languages, a noun may modify a noun in two ways—either with no
marker or within a relative clause—with a difference of meaning. Hagege (1974:
130) describes how in Tupuri (Adamawa-East, spoken in Chad), an NP consisting
just of noun and adjective has an indefinite meaning, as in (ioa), while an NP in
which the adjective is in a relative clause has a definite meaning, as in (iob).
(20) (a) wi(l) kit (b) wi(l) ma: kit
child little child REL little
'a little child' 'the little child'
In Igbo there is a verb corresponding to each of the eight adjectives; for example
adjective g/pp 'bad', verb njg 'be bad'. A noun can be modified either directly by an
adjective or indirectly through a relative clause introduced by relative marker di
and including the corresponding verb. There is in each case a difference in mean-
ing, the adjectival modification generally referring to a more-or-less permanent
state and the verb-via-relative-clause modification referring to a more transient
state (Welmers and Welmers 1968:181-2). For example:
)