Adjective Classes - A Cross-Linguistic Typology

62 Anthony E. Backhouse

jectives are shared with inflected items, although the latter show a wider range. In
addition, both types of adjective typically produce adverbs, one morphological-
ly, one phrasally. Shared behaviour in syntax includes a comparable range of case
marking of associated arguments, function as copula complement of verbs such
as naru and as modifier of nouns in NPs, and modification by graders and inten-
sifiers.
A commonly recognized grammatical sub-class of Japanese adjectives is that
of subjective adjectives (cf. Nisio 1972: 21-42; Martin 1975: 359-65), which denote
sensory or emotional states. Syntactically, these cannot be predicated directly (i.e.
without modal modification) of third-person experiencers: a sentence such as
*SuzukisaN wa samui 'Suzuki feels cold', with the subjective adjective samui 'feel
cold', is ungrammatical in Japanese. Derivationally, they produce verbs in -garu
denoting external manifestation of the state concerned: samugaru 'show signs of
feeling cold'. Importantly, members of this class are found in adjectives of both
morphological types: cf. inflected samui 'feel cold', kowai 'feel afraid', hosii 'want
(sth), (find) desirable', and uninflected iya (no) '(find) unpleasant', zaNneN (nalno)
'(find) regrettable', okkuu (nalno) '(find) bothersome'. The major types of Japanese
adjectives proposed here are thus:
Inflected Uninflected
(no) (no)
Wider linguistic properties of both types are considered in §4.

2.4. OTHER TYPES OF ADJECTIVE

Outside of the above types, onazi 'same' is unique; in general it resembles uninflect-

ed adjectives but it does not combine with adnominal markers and it also has an

alternative inflected conjunctive form, as shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8

onazi

Non-past predicative onazi da

Non-past adnominal onazi

Past onazi datta

Conjunctive onazi nilonaziku

te-conjunctive onazi de

There is a group of words which occur only in adnominal function, termed

'adnouns' by Martin (1975:742-54). As well as demonstrative items of various types

(kono 'this', am 'a certain, etc.), they include what maybe regarded as adnominal-

only uninflected adjectives such as roku (no) '(no) good', zekkoo (no) 'ideal' (Martin