l3 Adjectives in Qiang Randy f. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang 1. Introduction Qiang is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by 70,000-80,000 people in Northern Sichuan Province, China, classified as being in the Qiang or Tibetan nationality by the Chinese government.1 The language is verb final, agglutinative (prefixing and suffixing), and has both head-marking and dependent-marking morphology. Nouns can be defined as underived forms which can take (in)definite marking, numeral-cIassifier phrase"s, and/or number marking, all ofwhich follow the head. Aside from being the head of an NP, nouns can be used to modify other nouns directly.(appearing immediately before the modified noun) or in a genitive phrase (also pre-head, with or without a genitive postposition), and an NP can appear as the complement of a copula clause. Reduplication of nouns (other than pronouns) is rare, but when it occurs it has a distributive meaning. Reduplication of personal pronouns has a reflexive sense. Verbs are defined as those forms which can take the orientation/direction pre-fixes, the negative prefix, and/or the causative suffix. They are generally clearly tran-sitive or intransitive, though there are same amhitransitive verbs (S:::;A or S=O), and intransitive verbs can be made transitive by use of the causative suffix. Redu-plication of transitve verbs can result in an intransitive reciprocal predicate. Verbs can modify nOuns in NPs, though they must take a nominalizing suffix to do so, . forming a pre-head relative clause. A class ofintransitive stative verbs can be distinguishedfrom the other (intransi-tive and transitive) verbs by the semantics of the members of the set (words for DIMENSION, AGE, VALUE, COLOUR, QUALITY, and SHAPE) and their morphosyntac-tic behaviour (see also Huang 1994). Members of this class, which we can identify as 'adjectives', can be predicates, as can verbs, and take the Same person marking (agreement) forms, orientation/direction marking, causative marking, evidential marking, and most aspect and negation marking as non-stative intransitive verbs, but unlike non-stative verbs, they can be nominalized using the definite and indef-1 The name 'Qiang' is an exonym given by the Chinese. The speakers of this Ianguage call them-selves l'Z,.mel (or a variant of this word) in their own language. 13 Adjectives in Qiang 307 inite markers, many can act as adverbials (taking the adverbial particle I-Jli!), and many can take the postpositive adverb I-wal 'verY:' Non-stative verbs can only modify a noun in the form of a pre-head relative clause construction, while adjec-tives can modifya noun directly in post-head position. The meaning of reduplica-tion for most non-stative verbs is reciprocity, while the meaning of reduplication for adjectives is intensification or plurality.3 There is no morphology for deriving adjectives from non-adjectival verbs, although adjectives can take causative mark-ing and become transitive verbs.4 2. Semantics The class of adjectives is an open class, currently with roughly 200 members, al-though the majority of new members are loanwords from Chinese. The class in-cludes items related to DIMENSION, AGE, VALUE, COLOUR, PHYSICAL PROPERTY, HUMAN PROPENSITY, SPEED, DIFFICULTY, QUALIFICATION, and QUANTIFICATION. Words expressing the semantic field of POSITION are (locational) nouns (Istekel 'behind; Imoql 'top, above: I,,-ekul 'between, centre; I~qol/ 'below; Ipienal 'near, (be)side', and Iqo'l 'before'), NUMBERS form aseparate word class (they must ap-pear with a classifier when used as modifier or predicate), and there a.re no words for SIMILARITY (see discussion below). Within some of the semantic types men-tioned there a number of words that are not adjectives. For example, within the QUANTIFICATION type, the meanings 'all' and 'only' are represented by adverbs, and the meaning 'sorne, a few' is represented by the numeral for 'one' plus the plural marker ([a-ha]), or'one' + 'two' plus a classmer ([o-jo-u]). Some concepts are not represented by basic words, but by negation ofbasic words, e.g. in QUALIPICATION, 'correet' is a basic word, Ipel, but there is no native word for 'incorrect', only the ne-gation of'correct; Ime-pel. There are no ordinal nurherals in Qiang. The meanings 'first', 'second', 'third: and 'last' are expressed by phrases involving locational nouns: (I) (a) tsi-qa'-Ie: (most-front-DEF:CL) (b) Isa-sleke-Ie: (this-back-DEF:cL) (c) Iha-sleke-Ie: (that-back-DEF:cL) (d) IEi-sleke-Ie: (most-back-DEF:cL) 'the most front one' (= 'the first one') . 'the one after this (one)' (= 'the second one') 'the one after that' (= 'the third one') 'the most back one' (= 'the last one')' :1 This is a sufficient hut not a necessary condition for adjective status: except for Itopul 'to like (something): anyverb that can take I-wal will be an intransitive state predicate verb, but a verb that cannot take I-wal may' also be an intransitive state predicate verb. . . , It could be that the sense of plu~ality is involved in both types, as the reclprocal must mvolve more than one pers~n. . . . . . 4 See LaPolla (2003) and LaPolla with Huang (2003) for more extensive dlScusslons of the Q13ng language. . 5 Locational nouns can take the adverbial/tGiI 'most', but they are not adjectlves; they cannot modify nouns directly and cannot be predicates. 308 Randy J. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang For ordinals higher than 'third; the cardinal numbers plus classifiers are used as or-dinal numbers, e.g. I"",-,-zel ('four' + classifier)'the fourth (one)' (= 'four (of some-thing)'). Adjectives can be comparative even without overt marking of comparison (2a). Adding the adverb I-wal can clarifythat anon-comparative sense is intended (2b). To specify a comparative sense, an adverbial such as [a-za 1 ('one' + cL(default clas-sifier)) 'a.little' can be added before the adjective (2C). (2) (a) Ihe: liwi. 3sg tall (b) Ihe: liwi-wa. 3sg tall-very 'He is very tall: 'He is taU/taller: (c) Ihe: a-za liwi. 3sg one-CL tall 'He is a bit taller: Some adjectives are formed from noun + verb combinations with metaphorical meanings. Following are Some examples using the noun IGtGi:(mi)1 'heart': (a) ElEi:mi-zdzi (b) EIEi:mi-ba (c) EIEi-ku;-na 'sad' < 'heart' + 'painful' 'brave' < 'heart' + ebig' 'happy' < 'heart' + 'base' + 'good' A number of the adjectives in Qiang are Chinese loanwords. When verbs, includ-ing adjectives (4C)-(4h), are borrowed into Qiang, they are borrowed as nouns. In order to be used as verbs in Qiang, the suffix I-thai is added to monosyllabic bor-rowed verbs, while the verb Ip,1 'to do' is added to polysyllabic borrowed verbs. Following are some examples: (4) (a) tuen-tJza . 'squat' < Chinese dun + AUX (b) ;a-Iha 'spend (money)' < Chinese 5hz + AUX (c) IEin-Iha 'busy' < Chinese jin 'tight' + AUX (d) lan-Iha 'tender' < Chinese nen + AUX (e) wen-Iha 'steady' < Chinese wen + AUX (f) IEiau-Iha 'cunning' < Chinese jiao + AUX (g) pm-Iha 'stupid' < Chines,e ben + AUX (h) tEQukau-pa 'prond' < Chinese jiiio-ao + 'to do' (i) 6un]lian-pa 'train' < Chinese ximlian + 'to do' Ci) lelsui-pa 'off end' < Chinese dezui + 'to do' Even if the total phrase borrowed from Chinese involves more than one syllable, if the verbal part of it is monosyllabic, then I-thai is added, as in, for example, IphitGhi fa-thaf'to lose one's temper' « Chinese fi piqi [emit temper]). In the case of verbs with the I -thai suffix, the borrowed verb, with the affix attached, is treated the same as a native verb, to the extent that it can take the directional prefixes, as in Is,-phin-thaf'become leve!' « Chinese ping), and if it is an adjective, It can take the postpositive adverb I-wal, as in Ikhuai-tha-wal 'very fast' « Chinese kuäi). In 13 Adjectives in Qiang the case of those loanwords that take the native verb Ip,l, the prefixes are added to this verb, as in Ithunt,,-t,-p,1 'notified' « Chinese tiJngzhf). For a small number of adjectives, possibly older loans, instead ofhaving the I-thai suffix, the form I-til follows the borrowed form, e.g. Inin-ti/ 'fragmentary, piecernea!' « Chinese ling), I lan-ti/'blue' « Chinese /an), Ijyuan-ti/,round' « Chinese yuan). Tbis suffix is itself a 10an form of the Chinese associative/nominalizing particle deo There is no noun-adjective overlap, and no way to derive an adjective from a noun except in the case of the auxiliaries I-thai and l-p,1 mentioned above. Tbis is done only with borrowed words, not with native words. 3. Functioning as predicate The adjectives function as intransitive predicates much the same w:ay other verbs do. Tbey can take aspect marking, negation, person marking, causative marking, and/or in~errogative marking. Many adjectives, due to the semantics of stative verbs, do not take imperative marking or prohibitive marking unless causativized. In Qiang there are several types of aspect marking: change of state aspect, per-fective aspect, prospective aspect, continuative ('still') aspect, iterative aspect, com-pletive aspect, and experiential aspect. Tbe adjectives can take all of these types of aspect marking except the completive aspect marker ([-das]), unless it is first causativized, due to the stative nature of adjectives. Change of state aspect marking (I-jil) marks the beginning of an action or the coming into being of the state repe resented bythe adjective, as in (5). If an adjective takes the change of state marking without perfective marking, the implication is that the change into the state has begnn, but not yet completed. es) pie-Ie: ba-ji. pig-DEF:CL big-CSM 'Tbe pig has started to becorne big: If ihe change of state is completed, then perfective aspect marking would be used to-gether with the change of state marker. Perfective aspect is marked by the addition of one of the eight orientation prefixes: It,-I 'vertically up; lfi,-I 'vertically down; In,-I 'upstream. Is,-I 'downstream. tz,-I 'towards the centre', Ida-I 'outward from centre', 1,-1 'in', Ih,-/ 'out: When adjectives take the orientation prefixes, the effect of adding the prefix is somewhat different from that with non -stative verbs. When one of the orientation prefixes is added to a non-stative verb, the meaning is either one of orientation or perfective aspect, but with adjectives, addition of an orientation pre-fix marks a change of state (a stative verb becomes an accomplishment verb). (6) State Accomplishment (a) ba 'big' > tawa 'become big' (b) xl;a 'small' > flaxl;a 'become smaU' (c) su 'dizzy' > flosu 'become dizzy' 310 Randy f. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang For this usage, usually only one of the eight prefixes is regularly used, but which prefix is used ditfers between adjectives. In the case of'becorne big' and 'becorne srnall' there is a sernantie basis for the choiee of prefix, as It.-I is for upward direc-tion, and 16..-1 is for downward direction. This is also true for 'becorne fat' vs. 'be-corne thin: In fact these two prefixes are the most commonly used with adjectives. Following are examples of prefixed forrns of sorne adjectives where addition of one of these two prefixes gives the sense of an accornplishrnent verb: (7) tawa 'becorne big' naxt~a 'become small' t.pha 'become fat' naJf.i 'become thm' t.phi(ifii) 'become white' t.)liq 'becorne black' tusupu 'become red' liaxt~.p 'become dark' tuxkuststi 'becorne hard' ham.t~. 'become soft' ta~ue 'becorne light' fiat~ha 'become deep' tana 'become good' naIfai 'becorne bad' t.pha 'become swollen' fie~e 'becorne less swollen' tujuku 'becorne dry' .)li 'become wet' tasi 'become hot' zamäpa 'become cold (weather)' t.tshimpe 'become smart' (no corresponding antonym) We can see from these examples that metaphorieally becorning good or light is movement upwards, while becoming dark or bad is movement downwards (ex-cept in the case of 'become black' -colonrs all take the 'upwards' prefix; with 'be-come soft' either prefix is acceptable). We've given the antonyms of'become dry' and 'become hot' in the lower right of this set of forms for the sake of completeness. These forms don't take the 'up' or 'down' prefixes; the form for 'become wet' takes the 'in' prefix, !;}-I, presumably because the water seeps into samething to make it wet, and the forrn for 'become cold (feel cold)' takes the 'towards the centre' prefix Iz.-I (though [t.m.pa 1 is also possible), possibly like in English when we say the cold gets into your banes. Same of these metaphoric associations are found in EngIish as weIl, such as smarten up vs. dumb down. Also heat up, lighten up,soften up, and dry up. Because of the semantic nature of adjectives as stative verbs, prospective aspect can only be used with an adjective if the continuative aspect marking is used together with it, marking the sense that astate will continue to exist or develop. (8) m. tsa-xqa:. sky stilI-c1ear:pRosP « xqa) 'The sky is still going to become c1earer or stay c1ear: Iterative aspect marks the repetition of an action with a non-stative verb, but marks the re-emergence of astate or situation with an adjective or other stative verb: (9) mutup-Ie: z.-m.pa-J-p. sky/weather-DEF:cL oR-cold-IT-CSM 'rt has become cold again: 13 Adjeciives in Qiang 311 Person marking takes the same forms and has the same meaning as with non-stat-iveverbs: (10) (a) qa tiwia. (b) tEile tiwiaJ• « tiwi) ISg tall:lsg Ipl tall:lpl 'I am talI/taller: 'We are tall/talIer: (c) lü tiwi-n. (d) lile tiwi-i. « tiwi) 2Sg tall-2Sg 2pl talI-2pl 'You are taII!taller: 'You are tall/talIer: Adjectives can also take the non-actor person marking in some contexts (this ex-ample also includes perfective and negative marking): (11) (a) qa j.-s ka ljua:-~. the: de-me-tshi-wu. ISg saY-NoM thus COP:PROSP-LNK 3sg OR-NEG-wrong-3sgU 'If you ask me, he was not wrong: Interrogatives also have the same farms as with non-stative verbs (in this example the use of the 3rd person interrogative marker I-rjua/): (12) (a) mi wU-ljua, mo-wu-ljua? people manY-Q NEG-manY-Q 'Are there many people?' (b) pies-la-ha fia-m-ji-ljua? meat-DEF-ploR-ripe-csM-Q 'Is the meat ready (to eat)?' Adjectives, and certain verbs which represent gradiant conce~ts, can appear as the predicate in a comparative construction, which has the form m (13): (13) [NP entitybeingcornpared I NPstandard of cornparison-COMPAR 1 Predicate] In positive sentences, the comparative marker is /-5(';))/, while in negative senten-ces it is I-}liki/. The sentence initial NP can take the topie marker, and Ihe predi-cate can take actor person marking reflecting the person and number of the topie. rt is also possible to have non-actor person marking reflecting a salient standard of comparison, as in (14a). The predieate can take negation «14b)) and adverbl-almodification «14c)-(14e)). Actions can be compared, when nominalized, as in (14e). AB in English, once the compared referent is established in the discourse, it need not be mentioned again in the standard of comparison, as in (14d)-(14e), where only the actor or possessor needs to be mentioned in the standard of com-parison. (14) (a) the:-lju.)li qa-sä ba-~a. 3sg-TOP ISg-COMPAR big-lSgU 'He is bigger than me: 312 Randy J. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang (b) qa lÜ-fliki ma-wa. « ba) ISg 2Sg-COMPAR NEG-bipsg 'I am not as big-as YOll ~e: (c) qa the:-s;; töe-fta. « phi) ISg 3Sg-COMPAR still-white:1sg 'I am lighter (in colour) than him (a lot lighter): (d) lü-tö;;-tEiHua-le: . the:-s;; töa-wa. « ba). 2sg-GEN-house-DEF:cL 3Sg-COMPAR still-big 'Your house is bigger than his: (e) qa-ka-s-ta the:-s;; töa-d?,a. lSg-gO-NOM-LOC 3Sg-COMPAR still-earlY:lsg 'I went earlier than hirn: (li!. 'When 1 went was earlier than (when) he (went):) In Qiang there is Da way to say one referent is 'the same' as' same other referent, but the same meaning can be expressed by saying that one referent and another are 'the same' in respeet to some quality. If there are two NPs representing the two referents, they are joined by the comitative marker, Ipal (which Comes between them), to form a single large Np, and so the person marking on the predicate, if there is any, is plural. . (15) (a) lÜ-fla-qa a-qas ba'. « ba) 2sg-and-lsg one-form big:1pl 'You are as big as me: (lit. 'You .nd 1 are the same big:) (b) lÜ-fla-the:-tö-töiHua a-qas ba-tEi. 2sg-and-3sg-GEN-house one-form big-3pl 'Your house is as big as his: (li!. 'Your house and his house are the same big:). It is also possible to have one plural NP representing the two referents: (16) (a) töizzi ?,uaha a-qas we'. « we) Idl height one-form have:1pl 'Tbe two of us are of the same height: (b) thizzi ?,uaha a-qas we-(töi). 3dl height one-form have-3pl 'Tbose two persons are of the same height: If a dause with an adjective as predicate has a second argument, it is marked wit4 one of the locative postpositions, generally /-150/, an inessive, illative. Of ela-tive locative marker, as in (17a), or I-tal, a generallocative, as in (17b). Tbis is the same marking as that used for non-direct arguments of active verbs.' 6 The form I-tal is also used to mark datives and human undergoers. but here the usage seems to be that for adverbial elements, such as temporal and locative expresions. 13 Adjectives in Qiang (17) (a) the: layz su Ha tshimpe wa. 3sg book study LOC smart· very 'She is very good at her studies: (li!. she is smart in her studies) (b) the: za Ha bala-s ta he-the wa. 3sg land LOC do/work-NoM LOC oR-capable very 'She is very good at working in the fields: 313 Adjectives can take causative marking and become derived transitive verbs. Tbey are then treated grammaticallythe same as any othertransitive verb (see also (20a) below). (18) (a) a-za xt~a-ka: a-Hu, tsan-töa-yza-?,. « Hue) one-CL small-INDEF:one:CL OR-put tOO-NEG.IMP-spicy-CAUS 'Put a little (hot pepper), dont make it iOD spiey: (b) lia-n,;-wu qapat~ lio-su-?,a-~a. oR-sleep-1NsT head oR-dizZY-CAUS-ISgU 'I feit dizzy from sleeping: The imperative is marked by use of one of the orientation/direction prefixes/ and the prohibitive is marked by the prefix [tGa- - tGO- - tGO-]. Generally only causa-tivized adjectives appear in imperative or prohibitive clauses, as in (18a) and (19a), though there are exeeptions, e.g. (19b) and (39b) below.ln cases like (19b), the sense of the imperative is causative, even without causative marking. (19) (a) (lü) qhal-Ie: ta-töa-Etöap-?,a! 2Sg bread.roll-DEF:cL OR-NEG.IMP-hurn-CAUS 'Dont (you) burn the bread roll!' (b) bolu-la-ha de-phin-tha! flour-DEF-plOR:IMp-level-Aux 'Make the flour level!' Adjectives can take some of the auxiliary verbs that non-adjectives can take, such as in (20a)-(20b): (20)(a) misaq wu qa quaha ta-flix-?, d?,a. sun AGT ISg face oR-black-cAus able 'Tbe sun can make my face become black: (b) pas ma ma-xqa, tshai ta-flix HU. today weather NEG-clear prickly.ash.peel oR-black will 'Today the weather is not good, the prickly ash peel will become black: 7 The particular prefix used for the imperative is based on the semantics of the action involved. and will often differ from the usual prefix used for marking direction of action or perfective aspect. For example, Iphin-thaJ 'level' in (19b) tak.es Ida-I because the arm would move outward to smooth the flour, but this adjective would normally take the prefix Isa-I in a non-imperative clause. 3'4 Randy J LaPolla and Chenglong Huang Certain auxiliaries relate to the ability ofan actor (e.g. IR,I for learned ability, Idz.,1 or Iqel for natural (physical) ability), and so only causativized adjectives can appear with these auxiliaries. There are at least two adjectives that are used as auxiliaryverbs, Idz.,l'able; long: as in (20a) and (21a), and Ijel 'possible; good to ear in (21b): (21) (a) qa u-t6U ma-Ia .. 1Sg OR-see NEG-able:Isg 'I can't see: (b) tsa ,e-s me-je. here write-NOM NEG-possible '(You) cant write here: « m. + d,. + a) Adjectives can appear in a seria! verb structure where they modify another verb, e.g. Itse ncrl ('look' + 'good') 'good Iooking; Idzu. no/ ('sir + 'good') 'good to sit, there is room to sir (see also (22) below). In this structure, while the adjective se-mantically seems to function as an adverbial, it is syntactically the main verb, ancl so if the sentence is negated, the negative prefix is affixed to the acljective, not the verb, e.g.ltse-ma-ncrl ('look' + NEG + 'goocf) 'not good looking'. The adjective can also take the adverb I-wal, e.g./tse-ncr-wal ('look' + 'good' + 'very') 'very good looking'. These combinations become idomatic or lexicalized to different degrees. In the case of Itse ncrl 'good looking', we might say this has lexicalized into an ad-jective; in the case of Idzu;J nal it has developed the idomatic meaning 'there is enough room to sir; while in the case of ItGh. khuai-tho/ 'eat quickly' in (22) we don't find any degree of idomization or lexicalization. . (22) the: stuaha t6h.khuai-tha-wa. 3sg food/rice eat fast-Aux-very 'S/he eats very quickly' Adjectives can also appear in adverbialsubordinate clauses, as can verbs, as in (23), where the adjective takes the genitive marker as a nominalizer, and also takes ne-gation, perfective aspect, and eontinuative aspect marking: (23) t.p-)1i na-m.-tsi-xt~ap.-tG, lü tsa i-p.-I-.n-pa. tomorrow-ADv OR-NEG-yet-black-GEN 2Sg here oR-arrive-eome-2sg-DTv 'Come here tomorrow before it gets dark: 4. Functioning as head of an NP Nouns can be formed from adjectives (reduplicated or not) by sinIply adding one of the two definite markers or the indefinite marker after the adjective, as in (24). This is not possible with ether verbs except the existential verbs. 13 Adjectives in Qiang 315 (24) (a) )1iq 'black' + le: DEF:CL > )1iqle: 'the black one' (b) ba 'big' + te: DEF:CL > bate: 'the big one' (c) tiwi 'tall' + ke: INDEF:CL > tiwike: 'a tall one' Onee it is nominalized, the adjective ean then function as an argument of a clause: (25) qa phi~-Ie: gua:. « gu.) lSg white-DEF:CL wear:PROSP:Isg 'I want to wear the white one: Reduplicated forms are nominalized even without the (in)definite marking. There are three types of reduplication: AA, Au:A, AAu: (lu:1 is a syllable added to the reduplicated form-this type is only possible with adjectives); there is no ABB, ABAß, or AABB reduplication. The meaning of AA reduplication is plurality; the meaning ef Au:A reduplication is intensification; the meaning of AAu: reduplica-tion is plurality plus intensification. With AAu: and Au:A reduplication, the phon-etic stress is on lu:1 (the stress is marked with an acute accent in the examples in (26)). Following are some examples: (26) (a) AA pat~pat~ 'some round things' (b) Au:A pat~u:pat~ 'very round things' (c) AAu: pat~pat~u: 'some very round things' In most cases reduplicated forms do not modify a noun, but instead are simply neminalized by I-kel and used with the copnla or Ipel 'become; e.g. (27) qhal pat~pat~-ke: 1JU'. bread.rolls round.round-INDEF:CL COP 'Bread rolls are round things: Reduplieated adjectives ean appear together in a clause with a eommon noun, ~d are eften followed by the indefinite marker I-ke/. They are then noun phrases m their own right in apposition to the common noun, clarifying the nature of the ref-erent of the eommon noun. In this structure the nominalized adjeetive ean pre-cede or follow the eommon noun. Following are some examples: (28) (a) qhal pat~pat~-ke: bread.rolls round.round-lNDEF:CL 'some round bread rolls' (b) Ja )1i'llliqu:-ke: clothing black.black-1NDEF:CL 'seme very black clothing' (c) pat~u:pat~ pana la-ha t6a-Ia p. round.round thing DEF-pl where-LOc have/exist (could also be [pana pat~u:pat~ 1) 'Where are the very round things?' 316 Randy f. LaPolia and Chenglong Huang S. Functioning as modifier of a noun An adjeetive ean modify a noun either in the form of a non-nominalized post-head adjeetive, in the form of a nominalized pre-head relative dause strueture, or in the form of a post-head nominalized appositional structure. (In rare instances, a bare adjeetive ean appear before the noun; see example (5) in Ch.15.) Which strue-ture is used often depends on the complexity of the modifier: a eomplex modi-fier will appear in the pre-head relative dause structure, while a simple adjective will generally appear in the post-head position. Compare the following three ex-amples: (29) (a) EtEimi na-tE mi (b) rni na heart gOod-GEN person 'Ca) good hearted persoIi (c) mi na-rn person gOOd-NOM person good 'Ca) good persoIi 'Ca) good persoIi (lit.:'a person, a niee one') This is a cammon pattern found in Tibeto-Burman languages. In same languages within Tibeto-Burman, and in Chinese, the original post-head adjective pattern fell into disuse, and now only the pre-head relative structure or post-head nomin-alized structure is possible. The pre-head pattern results in a Noun-Naun struc-ture. with the first naun modifying the second Olle, as in nominal compounds. Tbe nominalizers used in these modificational structures are two of the three used for nominalizing non-stative verbs, I-mI for hUman referents and l-tGI for ather 'referents. Tbe instrumental nominalizer, /-5/. is not used with adjectives. In (29C), there are two NPs in apposition to each other. something like 'a person. a nice one. This contrasts with the usual form of the adjective without norninaliza-tion, as in (29b). In the case of nominalization by I-mi or l-tG/, the form would generally be foliowed by the indefinite or definite marker, as in (30): (30) Ja Eupu-tE-ke: ,a. clothing red-GEN-INDEF:CL have/exist 'There is an item of red dothing: Although this form looks similar to a single noun phrase whieh has both a post-head adjective and indefinite marking (i.e. [fa-Gupu-ke:] (dothing-red-INDEF:cL)), it is clearly two noun phrases, as the order of the two NPs could be reversed. Tbis structure is used for emphasizing the quality, such as in a eontrastive eontext. When more than one adjective appears in an NP in the post-head form, the order of the adjectives in terms of type of adjective (VALUE, SHAPE, QUALITY, AGE, COLOUR; see Dixon 1982) is the mirror image of that in English, but the same if one thinks in terms of order relative to the head (Le. HEADACOLOURASHAPEAAGEAQUA-LITYAVALUE). Compare the examples in (31a)-(31j). 13 Adjectives in Qiang 3' 7 (31) (a) Huat,a lapa ba (b) Ja phi, d~a bowl flowerybig dothing white long 'big colourful bowl' 'Iong white dothing' (c) Ja phi, ba (d) Ja d~a ba clothing white old clothing long old 'old white clothing' 'old long clothing' (e) rnianpau phi, mat~a (f) t~hets [khuaHha-wa ]'very fast'. . Tbe adverb I-wal can be used with the negative prefix, though the negallve prefix appears before the adjective, with I-wal modifying the whole negallve plus 318 Randy f. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang adj~ctive combination, e.g. [ma-na-wa] (negative + 'good' + 'very') 'very not gooe!' (thls ca.nnot have the meaning 'not very good'). The adverb I-wal is generaUy not uS:d ~I~h verbs, though Ikanl can be used with some verbs, e.g. Ik,n topul ('very' + like) like very mucI1..An adjective modified by lkonl can modify a noun (e.g Ifa-k,n-j1iql ('c1othing' + 'very' + 'black') 'very black cIothing'), but this is not pos: Slble wlth I-wal. The adverb I-wal can also be followed by a nominalizer, as in the followmg headless relative c1ause: . (33) ,ku-wa-m-le-ze 10vely-verY-NOM-DEF_CL 'the very lovely person' (lit. 'the person who is very lovely')' There is another post-verbal adverb, Iqu,lal 'very: used to modify adjectives and at least ~ne ~u;ahar'y'verb, e.g. In~ qu,lal 'very good: I GUpU qualai 'very red; I d.., ~u,lal (abI: + very) very capable. Adjectives can also be reduplicated for express-mg greater mtensity: For expressing the meaning 'tao much, excessively: either a preposed adverb, Itsan/, or a postposed adverb, I-~/, can be used with most adjectives. Only Itsanl can be used before the negalIve or prohibitive prefix (see (18a)). (34) (a) ]1iq-., (b) basta-, black-too slow/late-too 'too black' 'too slow/late' (c) ba-, (d) po-, big-too thick-too 'too big' 'too thick' (35) (a) tsan-ma-n. too-NEG-good 'not too good' (c) tsan-me-,ue too-NEG-bright 'not too bright' (b) tsan-ma-]1iq too-NEG-black 'not too black' (d) tsan-me-tsue too-NEG-SOur 'not tao sour' The adverb.'tGal ([tGa - tGi - tGa - tGo]) is used generally to mean 'still, yet: but w~en used In the. co~~arative construction it has the sense of'relativeIy adjective' . ~r even more adJectlve. When this adverb appears with the negative and a direc-lIonal prefix, the word order is [prefix-negative-/tGal-verb]. (36) (a) tEa-wa « ba) (b) tEa-]1iq still-big still-black 'relatively big' 'relatively black' . '1' Th~ nominalizer I-mI derives from the ward Irni/'person: and So is ~suallyused when the nom-ma lzatIon refers to aperson. (c) tEa-basta stilI-slow/late 'relatively slow/late' b7) (a) ma-tEa-xt,a NEG-still-small 'not so small' 13 Adjectives i11 Qiang (d) tso-pu still-thick 'relatively thick' (b) na-m.-tEa-xt,a OR -NEG-still -small 'not so reduced' 3'9 The superlative of adjectives and some stative verbs is marked by the prefix ItGi-/: (38) (a) tEi-wa-la-l. « ba) most-big-DEF-cL(stick-like.object) 'the biggest' (c) tEi-ji « phi~)) most-white 'whitest' (b) tEi-topu most-like 'Hke (something (the)) most' (d) tEi-xt,a most-small 'smallest' (stick-like object) The form of the superlative is similar to one of the harmony forms of the pre-verbal adverb for marking a relative degree, but the superlative does not undergo vowel harmony. 7. Adverbial phrases Same adjectives can act as manner adverbs in adverbial expressions, usually followed by the adverbial marker [-ji - tGi] or 1-j1i/: (39) (a) the: na-ji mo-su. 3sg gOOd-ADV NEG-smdy 'S/he doesn't smdy weIl: (b) lü t,p-]1i dal'-]1i tu-ju. 2Sg tomorrOW-ADV earlY-ADv oR~rise 'Get up early tomorrow: Aside from the possibility of adjectives appearing in adverbial phrases, there is also a very small c1ass of words that are used mainly in adverbial expressions, but can also modify nouns (in the form of appositional stmcmres), or can act as head of a noun phrase themselves when nominalized by the definite or indefinite mark-ers. Semantically they seern like adjectives, but they are unlike adjectives and verbs in that they cannot act as predicates (though they can appear as copula comple-ment), cannot take negation, and cannot appear in the comparative constructionj and they are also unlike other adverbs in the language in that they can modify nouns and take the (in)definite markers, (42b).' These adverbial phrases precede 9 The behaviour of these words is not uniform. The form fatal can take the causative suffix I-zj and then be used as a predicate, while the others cannot, and the form lakha/ cannot be nominal-ized. 320 Randy]. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang the verbs, and can sometimes be marked by I-pil or [-ji _ tGi]. Generally manner adverbs take I-pi!, tbough if formed from a reduplicated adjective, then tbe adver-bial marker is not used: (40 ) (a) akha-kha .-tEh; slow OR-eat 'eat slowly' (41) (a) hama-pi dz. stealthY-ADveat 'eat stealthily (on tbe sly)' (42) (a) the: hama-Ie: ljU •• 3sg stealtbY-DEF:CL cOP 'He is the evasive one: (b) akha-]li .-tEM slow-ADv OR-eat 'eat slowly' (b) ata-]li dZ--~ ~ ld '2 ~ ~ '" ~ '" ~ U 322 Randy J. LaPolla and Chenglong Huang References DIXON, R. M. W?982. Where have all fhe adjectives gone? and other essays in sematztics and syntax. Berlm: Mouton. HUANj G CHENGLONG. '1994" ~iangyu xingrongci yanjiu (Study on the adjectives of the Qiang anguage). Yuyan Yan)lU 1994:2.181-9. LAPOLLA RANDY J 2003 'Qi' f Th . h' '. ang, pp. 573-87 0 e Smo-Tibetan languages, edited by Gra-_ am Thurgood and Randy J. LaPoHa. London and New York: Routledge. wlth ~UANG CHENGLONG. 2003.A grammar ofQiang, with annotated texts andglossary Berlm: Meuton de Gruyter. . I I 1 i I I j 14 Adjectives in Lao N. f. Enfield It has been suggested tbat in every language one may estabIish, on morphosyn-tactic grounds, a dass of adjectives, which will be 'distinct from noun and verb' (Ch.1 of tbis volume).' The two distinet claims made here should not be eonfused or eonfounded. The first is that a class of words ean be found for whieh tbe term adjectives is appropriate. The seeond is tbat this class will be independent from the noun and verb classes. Evidenee from Lao (south-western Tai, Laos) shows tbat support for tbe first clainl does not neeessarily provide support for the seeond. The ainl of this roapter is to estabIish and elaborate upon the following two related points. First, there does exist a morphosyntactically distinet form class in Lao whieh may be identified as an adjective class. This class has a large number of members (hundreds), eovering most of the semantie types suggested by Down (1982; Ch.1 of this volume). Seeond, however, this class is not distillct from tbe verb class. Lao adjectives are a sub-type of verbs. They are distinet from other verb sub-types, but are not distinet from verbs as a class. 1. Introductory remarks on Lao Lao is a south-western Tai language, spoken in Laos, nortb-east Thailand, and nortb-east Cambodia (Enfield 1999). It is an isolating language with lexical tone, typical of languages of tbe mainland South-east Asia region (Enfield 2003a: eh. 2). There is no ease-marking and no system of gender or other grammatieal agree-ment. The language is neitber head-marking nor dependent-marking, in any usual sense of these terms. Nominals are seldom grammatically obligatory. Ellipsis is widespread under eontextual retrievabiIity, making zero anaphora normal for def-inite/referential arguments. The unmarked eonstituent order is subjeet-verb-ob-jeet, with a robust left position into which topics are plaeed, as well as a right pos-ition. for afterthought eonstituents. There is suflicient

Adjectives in Qiang

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