Adjective Classes - A Cross-Linguistic Typology

12 Adjectives in Semelai 295

TABLE 6. Summary of verb type and semantic

result of light syllable reduplication

Verb type Light syllable reduplication

Intransitive verb: continuative

Active + aimlessness

Stative intensification

Adjective intensification

Transitive verb: continuative

Active + attentiveness

Stative

4.1.3. The causative

Both adjectives and verbs causativize in the same manner: monosyllabic roots
form the causative with the prefix par- 'CAUS'; disyllabic roots with the infix
or prefixes- 'CAUS'.

(24) ki=sec ps-ladaf psdas
3A=surreptitiously EQUiP-chili be.spicy
'She surreptitiously added chilli, (and) made (it) spicy.'

Ability to feed this derivation is constrained by the semantics of individual lex-
emes, and possible states that can be perceived of as being caused to change. For
example, psret 'be hot (weather)' and now. 'be ripe' cannot be causativized, as these
are states which manifest autonomously or through indirect causation. The cause
can only be expressed as a causal clause with la= 'BCS'; see (18) above.

4.1.4. Collective circumfix: bs<.. .>an 'TOG'

All adjectives and most verbs feed this derivation with the same semantic result:
adjective b3an (be.different) 'all (of them) different' < fasey 'to be
different, unusual'; transitive verb bsfan 'to all be eating together' < ca 'to eat'
and intransitive verb b3an 'to all be asleep together' <J3tek 'to sleep'.

4.1.5. Directional applicative-it 'APPL'

The suffix -if 'APPL' is a valence-increasing suffix which occurs with verbs of mo-
tion and emotion. Three adjectives feed this derivation: dskhes 'be near' > dskhes-
if 'to draw near to (something)'; masam 'be sour' > masam-i? 'to be sour toward
(someone)'; and tsray 'to be light' > t3ran-i?'to explain.

4.2. SYNTACTIC PROPERTIES

We will now examine syntactic properties of the adjective class.