1 Adjective Classes in Typological Perspective 216.1.4. Different possibilities in comparative constructions
Not all languages have a comparative construction (types of comparative con-
struction were illustrated in (9-10) above). In some of the languages that do, the
'parameter of comparison' can only be an adjective, but in others there are wider
possibilities. In Edo, for example, both adjectives and verbs may occur in compar-
ative constructions (Omoruyi 1986). However, in some languages only adjectives
can be compared, and this furnishes a criterion for distinguishing between adjec-
tive and verb classes; such a property applies to Toba-Batak (Nababan 1981: 71-2),
Korean, North-East Ambae, Qiang, and Lao (Chapters 9,11,13, and 14 below). In
Semelai (Chapter 12), only the sub-class of DIMENSION adjectives have a morpho-
logical comparative (other forms enter into a periphrastic comparative construc-
tion, borrowed from Malay).
6.1.5. Different possibilities for forming adverbsIn Fijian, for example, adverbs can be formed from adjectives (but generally not
from verbs) by means of the prefix va'a-; for example, va'a-levu greatly' from levu
'big'—as in (13')—and va'a-dodonu 'correctly' from dodonu correct'. In Japanese,
too, it is mainly adjectives which may function as adverbs, this being one of the
properties which links the two adjective classes into one macro-class.
There are other properties which recur. For example, adjectives typically behave in
a special way within Serial Verb Constructions; this is illustrated—in Chapters 4,
11,12, and 13—for Tariana, North-East Ambae, Semelai, and Qiang.
The discussion in this sub-section has been of languages where adjectives func-
tion as intransitive predicate, rather than as copula complement. Not all languages
have a copula construction. One might expect a correlation: languages in which
adjectives can be intransitive predicate might be thought likely to lack a copula
construction, with languages for which adjectives cannot function as intransitive
predicate being likely to have a copula construction. From examination of a range
of languages, it appears that there is in fact no correlation. That is, whether or not a
language has a copula construction is quite independent of whether or not adjec-
tives can be intransitive predicates.
Languages with verb-like adjectives differ with respect to the possibilities for
using an adjective in the copula complement slot. In Mupun (Frajzyngier 1993), a
copula complement can only be an NP (e.g. 'this man is the chief), not an adjec-
tive. In Chinese (Xu 1988), an adjective can occur as copula complement only when
in nominalized form, as in (263).^3 This has a rather different meaning from a clause
in which the adjective is intransitive predicate, as in (26b).
(^3) The nominalizer can be omitted from a sentence like (i6a) in marked circumstances, when it is
in emphatic or contrastive function.