Adjectives without nouns

Adjectives (Adj) generally appear as an attribute of a noun. However, some languages allow for adjectives to appear in sentences that lack a noun, where they serve the function of the noun (AdjNoN). The various types of this construction are detailed in this parameter.

Types:

Adj=N: The language does not have a clear distinction between nouns and adjectives, and so the use of adjectives as nouns is not relevant.

Adj=V: The language does not have a clear distinction between adjectives and verbs, and so the use of adjectives as nouns is not relevant.

NoAdjNoN: Adjectives cannot appear without a noun.

AdjNoN=Adj: Adjectives can appear without a noun; the bare adjective appears with no morphological change.

AdjNoNPref: Adjectives can appear without a noun; this requires the use of a nominalizer prefix.

AdjNoNSuff: Adjectives can appear without a noun; this requires the use of a nominalizer suffix.

WAdjNoN: Adjectives can appear without a noun; this requires the use of a given word before the adjective.

AdjNoNW: Adjectives can appear without a noun; this requires the use of a given word after the adjective.

AdjNoNMix: Adjectives can appear without a noun; this requires the use of a specific strategy, or some combination of different strategies.1


1: Specific strategies may include the use of tone or phonological stress. Any application of this value should be accompanied by a description in the commentary.


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