GB026
This feature describes an adnominal property word denoting core adjectival concepts such as shape, value, dimension, age, color (at a minimum -- many other meanings are possible) which can be separated from the noun it modifies by some element that is not part of the nominal phrase. For example, can you say the man is running big to mean ‘the big man is running’?
Typically a language which allows this has extensive agreement systems so that you can still work out what modifies what in the NP without them being adjacent (e.g. the ‘Australian type’). NPs that are made up of several coordinated NPs that can be interpreted by the verb or other elements are not relevant here. This features aims specifically to capture the phenomenon of a single NP whose property words can occur outside of and not immediately adjacent to the portion of the NP that contains the head. Examples of the type I painted the house red or I saw the boy big are not necessarily discontinuous, but most likely resultative or contrastive (I saw the boy big [as opposed to before when he was small]). These should be disregarded for the purposes of this feature.
Note that for the purposes of this feature only property words (e.g. tall, red, friendly) should be considered. Any other elements described as 'adjectives' or 'adjectival' in the grammatical description (e.g. quantifiers, demonstratives) should be disregarded in coding this feature.
- Code 1 if there are any sentences illustrating noun phrases where the adnominal property word is separated from the noun phrase whose head it modifies, such as The man is running big. to mean ‘The big man is running.’
- Ignore sentences which may be resultatives such as I painted the house red. or contrastives such as I saw the boy big. (when he was an adult).
- Code 1 if the grammar specifically states that the language allows adnominal property words to occur in a position separated from the remainder of the nominal phrase whose head they modify.
- If discontinuous adnominal property words are not mentioned and there are no example sentences that show this phenomenon, code 0.
- If there is an extensive agreement system, exhaust all resources to discover whether discontinuous adnominal property words are possible, even if they are not mentioned in the grammar. If you are uncertain whether their omission from a grammar truly indicates their absence in a language with an extensive agreement system you may code ? and include a comment about the lack of evidence.
Mawng (ISO 639-3: mph, Glottolog: maun1240)
Mawng is coded as 1 based on examples like the one below.
yungku marrik manga-niki-ng mata ma-lakpi
firewood(VE) NEG 3NM/3VE-carry-IRR VE VE-heavy
‘She shouldn't carry heavy firewood.’ (Singer 2006: 99)
(Abbreviations: VE vegetation gender, NM non-masculine gender)
Choctaw (ISO 639-3: cho, Glottolog: choc1276)
Discontinuous constituency is clearly discussed in Broadwell (2006). This feature can confidently be coded 0 based on this description: "Another property associated with nonconfigurationality, discontinous constituency, is not found in Choctaw. For example, it is ungrammatical to separate parts of an NP from each other" (Broadwell 2006: 43).
This is supported by examples provided below, which show that noun phrases with adnominal property words are grammatical as long as the NP is continuous. Examples with adnominal property words discontinuous from the remainder of the relevant nominal phrase are marked as ungrammatical.
a. alikchi' cháaha-'-mat ofi' lósa-y-a̱ pí̱sa-tok
doctor tall-NMLZ-DEM:NOM dog black-NMLZ-ACC see-PST
‘That tall doctor saw the black dog.’ (Broadwell 2006: 43)
b. *alikchi' ofi' lósa-y-a̱ pí̱sa-tok cháaha-'-mat
doctor dog black-NMLZ-ACC see-PST tall-NMLZ-DEM:NOM
Intended: ‘That tall doctor saw the black dog.’ (Broadwell 2006: 43)
c. *alikchi'-mat ofi' lósa-y-a̱ pí̱sa-tok cháaha-'-mat
doctor-DEM:NOM dog black-NMLZ-ACC see-PST tall-NMLZ-DEM:NOM
Intended: ‘That tall doctor saw the black dog.’ (Broadwell 2006: 43)
Hale, Kenneth. 1983. Warlpiri and the grammar of non-configurational languages. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 1. 5–47.
Broadwell, George Aaron. 2006. A Choctaw reference grammar. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Singer, Ruth. 2006. Agreement in Mawng: Productive and lexicalised uses of agreement in an Australian language. Melbourne: University of Melbourne. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Hannah J. Haynie