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ERIC Number: ED374669
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1994
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
On Nweh Adjectives That Show Up as Nouns.
Nkemnji, Michael
The discussion of Nweh, a Bantu language, focuses on a group of adjectives that can occur in positions where one would expect a noun, and which appear to enter noun classification. Specifically, the reasons that these adjectives have noun properties and that the pronominal class marker for the adjective is invariant are investigated. First, the adjective structure of the language is examined and three classes of adjectives (pure, intransitive, transitive) are distinguished. The first of these, pure adjectives, is the class in question. These differ from others in that they: cannot be modified by adverbs or take comparatives; have noun-like properties; can take number (singular/plural) morphology; can occur independently in nominal positions; take possessive pronouns; and when combined with any noun to form an attributive construction, take a possessive pronoun determined by the adjective rather than the noun. In explanation of these phenomena, it is proposed that these adjectives take these patterns because they have incorporated a null noun, and the agreement is determined by the same empty nominal. Contains 23 references. (MSE)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A