A 03_Degree Adjective
| Definition |
|---|
| The property Degree Adjective has the value "yes" when there is at least one degree word that can precede the adjective it modifies in a neutral context. As with all word order properties, we restrict our attention to productive word order patterns. Definition of Degree Word General Note on Word Order Properties: A "yes" value for Degree Adjective does not exclude a "yes" value for Adjective Degree. In other words, a language could allow both orders in a neutral context. NA (Not Applicable): NA for this property means the language does not have either adjective or degree words that modify adjectives. Examples: 1. English is "yes" for Degree Adjective: very big, too big, so big, that big 2. English is also "yes" for Adjective Degree: big enough, tall enough, rich enough Even though the only degree word that can follow the adjective it modifies is "enough" we consider this to be a productive pattern, since "enough" can follow an unlimited number of adjectives. In other words, English is "yes" for both the property Degree Adjective and the property Adjective Degree. 3. Italian is "yes" for Degree Adjective: molto alto, very tall troppo alto, too tall così alto, this tall tanto alto much tall "so tall" 4. Italian is also "yes" for Adjective Degree alto abbastanza tall enough 5. Icelandic is "yes" for Degree Adjective: mjög hávaxinn, very tall of hávaxinn, too tall, svo hávaxinn, so tall, nógu hávaxinn, enough tall, það hávaxinn, that tall 6. Japanese is "yes" for the property Degree Adjective: totemo ookii very big "very big" |
| Contributed by: Andrea Cattaneo, Chris Collins, Jim Wood |
| Language | Value | Contributor | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| =Hoan | No | Chris Collins | |
| Acehnese | No | Julie Legate | |
| + Afrikaans | Yes | Theresa Biberauer | |
| Agni indénié | No | Amoikon Dyhié ASSANVO | Le degré succède l'adjectif |
| + Albanian | Yes | Dalina Kallulli | |
| American Sign Language | Yes | Natasha Abner | VERY IMPORTANT |
| + Amharic | Yes | Girma Demeke | |
| + Ancient Greek | Yes | Richard Faure | |
| + Arabic, Gulf | Yes | Dimitrios Ntelitheos | |
| Aymara | Yes | Matt Coler | |
| Bajau, West Coast | Yes | Mark Miller | |
| Bambara | No | Bryan Villa | |
| Bandial | NA | Wolfgang Berndt | |
| Bardi | Yes | Claire Bowern | |
| + Basaa | Yes | Paul Roger Bassong | |
| Basque | Yes | Karlos Arregi | |
| + Bellinzonese | Yes | Andrea Cattaneo | |
| Beng | No | Denis Paperno | |
| + Bengali | Yes | Satarupa Das | |
| Bole | No | Alhaji Gimba | |
| + Brazilian Portuguese | Yes | Bruna Moreira | |
| Breton | Yes | Steve Hewitt | |
| + Bulgarian | Yes | Iliana Krapova | |
| Burgenland-Romani | Yes | Michelle McComb | |
| Burmese | Yes | Timothy Ho | |
| Calabrian (Northern) | Yes | Giuseppina Silvestri | |
| Catalan | Yes | Txuss Martin | |
| Chalcatongo Mixtec | No | Jess Combs | |
| Chichewa | No | Sam Mchombo | |
| Chickasaw | NA | Pam Munro | Chickasaw does not have adjectives, per se, only stative verbs. 'Very (much)' does precede the stative verb in all contexts.. |
| + Chol | Yes | Jessica Coon | |
| + Czech | Yes | Peter Kosta | |
| Dagaare | No | Adams Bodomo | |
| Dholuo | Yes | Hilda Koopman | |
| Digo | No | Steve Nicolle | |
| + Digor Ossetic | Yes | David Erschler | |
| Dutch | Yes | Hilda Koopman | |
| Eastern Armenian | Yes | Karine Megerdoomian | |
| English | Yes | Chris Collins | |
| English (Singapore) | Yes | Adam Chong | |
| Estonian | Yes | Mark Norris | |
| + European Portuguese | Yes | Salvador Mascarenhas | |
| Ewe | Not Yet Set | Chris Collins | |
| Farefari | NA | Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu | |
| Faroese | Yes | Gunnar Hrafn Hrafnbjargarson | |
| + Finnish | Yes | Anders Holmberg | |
| + French | Yes | Chris Collins | |
| Frisian (West Frisian) | Yes | Jarich Hoekstra | |
| Ga | No | Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu | |
| galician | Yes | Naír García | |
| georgian | Yes | Lea Nash | |
| German | Yes | Martin Haspelmath | |
| + Greek | Yes | Arhonto Terzi | |
| Gungbe (Porto-Novo) | No | Enoch Oladé Aboh | |
| Gurene | Yes | Samuel Atintono | |
| Haitian | Yes | Michel DeGraff | |
| Hakka | Yes | Iris Wu | |
| Hanga | No | Geoffrey Hunt | |
| Hausa | NA | Michael A. Estrada | |
| + Hebrew | Yes | Ur Shlonsky | |
| Hindi | Yes | Gurprit Bains | |
| Hittite | NA | Mattyas Huggard | |
| Hixkaryana | No | Laura Kalin | |
| + Hungarian | Yes | Anna Szabolcsi | |
| Ibibio | Yes | Willie Willie | |
| + Icelandic | Yes | Jim Wood | |
| Iha | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Ilokano | Yes | Jeremy Rafal | |
| imbabura quichua | Yes | UCLA Linguistics 210 | |
| + Indonesian | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| + Irish | Yes | Bridget Nixdorf | |
| Iron Ossetic | Yes | David Erschler | |
| Isbukun Bunun | Yes | Iris Wu | |
| Italian | Yes | Andrea Cattaneo | |
| Jamaican Creole English | Yes | Stephanie Durrleman | |
| + Japanese | Yes | Ken Hiraiwa | |
| Jingulu | NA | Rob Pensalfini | |
| Karachay | Yes | Steve Seegmiller | |
| KiLega | No | Kasangati Kinyalolo | |
| Kindendeule | No | Deo Ngonyani | |
| Kiswahili | No | Aggrey Wasike | |
| + Kiyaka | Yes | Lukowa Kidima | |
| Konni | No | Michael Cahill | |
| + Korean | Yes | Chung-hye Han | |
| Kuot | Yes | Eva Lindström | e.g. with mitərə 'very' |
| + Kurdish (Sorani) | Yes | Yadgar Karimi | |
| Laal | NA | Florian Lionnet | |
| Lango | No | Arwa Rangwala | |
| Lani | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| Lao | No | Alif Silpachai | |
| Lebanese Arabic | Yes | Lina Choueiri | |
| Lubukusu | No | Aggrey Wasike | |
| + Malagasy | Yes | Ed Keenan and Laura Kalin | |
| + Mandarin | Yes | Arthur Wang | |
| + Maori | Yes | Ray Harlow | |
| Marshallese | NA | Heather Willson Sturman | |
| + Masarak | Yes | Jessica Chen | |
| Mbuko | NA | Richard Gravina | |
| Medumba | No | KEUPDJIO HERMANN SIDOINE | |
| + Middle Dutch | Yes | Gertjan Postma | |
| Miya | Not Yet Set | Michael A. Estrada | |
| Nahuatl (Central Huasteca) | Yes | John Garcia | |
| + Nahuatl (Classical) | Yes | John Garcia | |
| Nawdm | No | Hannah Kim | |
| Ndut | No | Daniel Morgan | |
| Nepali | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| Nez Perce | Yes | Amy Rose Deal | |
| Northern Thai | No | Alif Silpachai | |
| Norwegian | Yes | Marit Julien | |
| + Nupe | NA | Jason Kandybowicz | |
| Nweh | Yes | Hilda Koopman | |
| + Occitan | Yes | Patrick Sauzet | |
| Okinawan | Yes | Ken Hiraiwa | |
| + Old English | Yes | Willem Koopman | |
| Old French | Yes | Heather Burnett | |
| Oluwanga | No | Dimitrios Ntelitheos | |
| One | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| Palue | No | Mark Donohue | |
| panjabi | Yes | Gurprit Bains | |
| Papuan Malay | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| Pashto | Yes | Taylor Roberts | |
| Pima | Yes | Marcus Smith | |
| + Polish | Yes | Barbara Tomaszewicz | |
| Q'anjob'al | Yes | Kathleen O'Flynn | |
| + Romanian | Yes | Oana Savescu | |
| + Russian | Yes | Stephanie Harves | |
| Salasaca Quichua | Yes | Pieter Muysken | |
| Samoan | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| Sandawe | Yes | Helen Eaton | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Yes | David Adger | |
| Senaya | Yes | Laura McPherson | |
| Serbian | Yes | Miloje Despic | |
| + Shupamem | Yes | Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare | |
| Skou | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Slovenian | Yes | Franc Marušič | |
| + Spanish | Yes | Violeta Vazquez-Rojas | |
| + Swedish | Yes | fredrik heinat | |
| Swiss German | Yes | Cecile Meier | |
| + Tagalog | Yes | Edith Aldridge | |
| + Taiwanese Southern Min | Yes | Arthur Wang | |
| + Tarascan | Yes | Violeta Vazquez-Rojas | |
| Thai | No | Peter Jenks | |
| + Tigre | Yes | Zhenyu Sun | |
| Titan | Yes | Claire Bowern | |
| Tiwa | Yes | Virginia Dawson | |
| Tlingit | Yes | James Crippen | |
| + Tommo-So | Yes | Laura McPherson | |
| Tongan | No | Hilda Koopman | tricky; should be maybe yes. There is one potential candidate fu'u, a prenominal A. 'ha fu'u me'a lahi' may be (a 'big' sized thing (which is big) may also be translated as 'a very big thing'. or 'oku fu'u momoko: lit: it/there's big cold, it is very cold. I set it as NO, since fu'u cannot form a surface constituent with an A. |
| Triqui, Copala | No | George Aaron Broadwell | |
| + Tukang Besi | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| + Tuki (Tukombo) | No | Edmond Biloa | A lexical item must be of category V to allow a degree; this ordering is possible but only with the use of "adjective verbs." |
| + Turkish | Yes | Volkan Tümer | |
| + Tuvan | Yes | Brian Hsu | |
| + Ukrainian | Yes | Roksolana Mykhaylyk | |
| Vata | NA | Hilda Koopman | |
| + Vlaški-Žejanski-Istro-Romanian | Yes | Zvjezdana Vrzic | |
| Welsh | Yes | David Willis | |
| + West Flemish | Yes | Liliane Haegeman | |
| Western Armenian | Yes | Hrayr Khanjian | |
| + Wolane | Yes | Hannah Kim | |
| Wolof | Yes | Harold Torrence | |
| Yan-nhaŋu | Yes | Claire Bowern | |
| + Yiddish | Yes | Shannon Mooney | |
| Yoruba | No | Johnson Folorunso Ilori | |
| Zulu | No | Claire Halpert |