15 What can we conclude? 357noun in post-head position. Manange verb-like adjectives share properties with
both categories: they are post-posed like simple adjectives, but appear with the
same nominalizing suffix as verbs. All of these languages, with the exception of
North-East Ambae, are described by their respective authors in this volume as
having independent Adjective classes.
In a number of languages, with respect to general morphological processes, the
attributive adjective is treated in a manner similar to nouns in the noun phrase.
This similarity may appear as the absence, for instance, of inflectional morphology,
as in North-East Ambae, Japanese (noun-like adjectives only), Jarawara, Manange
(simple adjectives only), and Qiang (post-posed bare adjectives only). In other lan-
guages, nouns and adjectives share similar complex morphological properties in
the noun phrase, such as Russian (long-form only, case, gender, and number mark-
ing) and Tariana (e.g. number marking). In both cases, however, adjectives can still
be distinguished by differences in form, the need for adjectival number and gen-
der agreement with the modified noun, and the inability of nouns, with few excep-
tions, directly to modify another noun. In other languages, adjectives are even less
noun-like (and verb-like) in form and function in the noun phrase: in Mam and
Papantla Totonac only adjectives are able directly to modify nouns and show no
attributive marking of any kind.
11 Size and openness of adjective (sub-)classes
Of the languages described in this volume, Jarawara has the smallest set with only
fourteen underived members and a small number of derived adjectives. If one in-
cludes derived forms, Korean and Russian have by far the largest adjective class-
es with many thousands of members, as a result of highly productive derivational
processes and borrowing.
It appears that in almost all languages, adjectives do not form a closed set,
although restrictions are noted in some cases. In Manange, for instance, the simple
adjective class with some thirty members is largely closed with limited scope for
expansion through occasional borrowing from Nepali. But its verb-like adjective
class is open and productive.
In addition to expansion through derivation, the borrowing of adjectives is
extremely common around the world, and can impact significantly on the nature
of adjective systems. There is evidence of extensive borrowing from Chinese into
Korean, Japanese, and Qiang. In each case, Chinese words, regardless of source
category, are treated as nominal. They are therefore assigned automatically to the
noun-like uninflected adjective class in Japanese and are subject to secondary der-
ivation in Korean and Qiang in order to function adjectivally. In Semelai, Malay
loans are the principal source of new adjectives, while this languages periphrastic
comparative is also Malay in origin. Spanish adjectives are frequently borrowed
into Mam and Papantla Totonac, whilst in Wolof the primary source today is
French.