Adjective Classes - A Cross-Linguistic Typology

292 Nicole Kruspe

TABIE4. Examples of Class 3 adjectives with antonyms

Positive term Negative term

paret 'be hot (weather)'
from Malay panas perit 'scorching heat'
gyhyp 'be hot (thermal)'
kajah 'be heavy'
masam 'be sour'
from Malay masam 'sour'
flem 'be tasty, delicious'
padas 'be spicy, hot'
from Malay pedas 'spicy'
kadec 'be bitter'
nom 'be ripe'
fihk 'be good' from Malay elok good'

jade? 'be beautiful, well-formed'
jaruh 'be deep'

Huh 'be sharp (blades)'

cin 'be cooked'

takyh 'be wet'

taraij 'be clear, light'

from Malay terang clear'

fadoy 'be coarse' (basketweave only)

kasar 'be coarse, rough

from Malay kasar 'coarse, rough'

mefen 'be flexible'

sadac 'be cool'

hampoy 'be lightweight'

sadac 'be tasteless, bland'

da? nom 'unripe'

da? ?ihk 'be bad'

buruk 'be old, worn out'

from Malay buruk 'old, decayed'

?fiat 'be ugly, malformed'

surut 'be shallow'

from Malay surut 'to recede'

da? ?luh 'be blunt'

ja?jy? 'raw (rice, game)'

kareij 'be dry' from Malay kering 'dry'

basaijet 'be dark'

?alus 'be fine, delicate (general)' from Malay

halus 'refined, fine'

salew 'smooth

kabat 'be rigid, stiff'

Class 3 adjectives do not share any features which systematically distinguish them

as a cohesive class. The following are general statements:

• many Class 3 adjectives form the antonym by negating the positive term with
  the verbal negator da? 'NEC': da? Adj (NEC Adj), da? ?le? (NEC be.long) 'be short
  (time)' (§5.2)


• nominalized forms may have a concrete entity as the referent: sacfoc 'be cool' >
  si<od3c 'coolness'; 'cold food/leftovers'; foafafc 'to be overgrown, clogged up' >
  b3t3k 'non-cultivar, weed'; 'scrub, undergrowth'


• some adjectives in this class are morphologically complex, whereas Class i and 2
  adjectives are monomorphemic. Bimorphemic forms exhibit inherent redupli-
  cation, e.g.ja?ji? (ja?-ji?) 'be dirty', for which no roots are identifiable.