C. Teonaht Adjectives and Verbal Adjectives

This page on adjectives gives information on the following topics:

Brief Introduction:

The Teonaht adjective has many forms, and is often constructed from nouns and verbs. The adjective usually follows the noun in syntax, and never expresses number or gender:

ykwafern klaneko, "fast trains."
nantry gekyo, "stern mother."
nilirifel arhssyna, "shiney towers."
tohdan minika,, "small cats."
nykanel yka, "tiny mouse."
nihhovik mohsa, "big houses."
kohsa toja, "gentle dog."
plebuan hyon, "difficult words."
gwenda toviel, "happy girl."
ouo blar, "loud noise."

1. Adjectives made from Nouns.

a. The most common way to turn a noun into an adjective is to add an adjectival suffix, and these are the most common: -is/-ys/-yhs, -ait, -aiht, -aht, -od.

pamy, "sickness, disease," pamuis, "sick, diseased."
nemta, "cloud," nemtaht, "cloudy," "dark."
glehd, "blood," glehdihs, "bloody," "horrible."
androf, "beauty," androfait, "beautiful, handsome."
fyr, "iron," fyraiht, "iron" (also fer).
hsninis, "wheel" (object form), hsinisod, "round."*

* This last example comes from a group of Nenddeylyt nouns that have distinct subject and object forms, as explained in the chapter on Nouns. The suffix -od is preferred for the object formations, whereas the suffix -aht is preferred for the subject formation, and where it often yields a slightly different meaning:

hsyr, "wheel," hsyraht, "turning," "rolling."
byr, "beer," byraht, "drunk."
binis, "beer" (object), binisod, "beery," "fermented."
dyr, "outcry," dyraht, "vocal, exclamatory."
dinis, "outcry" (object) dinisod, "clamorous, loud."
nettyr, "metal," nettyraht, "metallic," "hard."
nentis, "metal" (object), nentisod, "dull, unfeeling."
b. The prefix m-, -m-, õm-

This prefix means "made of" or "from out of" (a collective) and is formed from the partitive genitive preposition õm. It is most often used in substantives:

orwem, "gold"; morwem, "made of gold, golden."
    orwemaht means "goldish," and can refer to non-golden things.
fyr, "iron"; imffyr, "made of iron, iron."
    fyraiht means "ironish," and usually means "hard," "resolute."
findris, "glass"; imffindrisp, "made of glass."
rim, "bone"; mrim, õmrim, "made of bone."
memwa, "water"; immemwa, "of water": immemwa senvy, "wall of water," "tidal wave."
tennil, "air"; imttenil, "of air": plebuan imttenil, "empty words."
nettyr, "metal"; imnnetyr, "made of metal": zef imnnetyr, "man of metal," "robot."

c. The suffix -ema, "like a"

kohsa, "dog," becomes kohsema, "dog-like."
kõkla, "monkey," becomes kõklema, "monkey-like."
zef, "man"; zefema, "like a man."
naivvohsy, "teacher"; naivvohsema, "teacherly."

d. The suffix -tel/-del.

The suffix -tel comes from the common Teonaht word cel, meaning "in." It roughly corresponds to -ful in some English words, and carries the meaing "in a state of." It is attached to nouns and turns them into adjectives. Often it will mutate the beginning of the word it is attached to, or it mutates itself, to -del.

fleht, "fire," lehttel, "fiery," "in a state of fire, consumed."
tasry, "magic," dazrydel, "enchanted, spellbound."
kombyas, "sexual love," gombyadel, "amorous," "infatuated."
hrelor, "lordship," "nobility," rellordel, "ennobled, uplifted, promoted, inaugurated."
mivua, "stone," mivuodel, "petrified," paralyzed," "astounded."
memwa, "water," memwadel, "melting," "liquified," "drowning," "sinking."
tennil, "air," teniltel, "volatile," "vanishing."
tindo, "vision," dindidel, "far-sighted, visionary."
hsyr, "wheel," hsyritel, "dizzy," "crazy," "maddened," "frantic."

e. The construction with to-.

Teonaht expresses the notion of "fit for something" by making the noun an object of the preposition to. Something is:

to commanco, "fit for a feast." "Festive."
to rando, "fit for a king." "Imperial."
to hatryvonak, "fit for a marriage." "Matrimonial."
to laota, "fit for a rat." "Disgusting."
to Kerresto, "fit for Christ." Either: "Christian," or "calling for too much self-sacrifice."
2. Adjectives made from Verbs.

a. Progressive and passive gerundials: Teonaht does not have, or has lost, participles. See the Chapter on Verbs. To express concepts like "the singing lark" (English uses the present participle) or "the fallen tower" (English uses the past participle), Teonaht prefixes prepositional forms to the infinitive/gerund: "the with-sing lark"; "the under-fall tower":

bom htindror(em), "singing." Nyalyt bomhhtindror. "Singing lark."
bom kebõn(ed), "falling." Lirifel bomkkebõn. "Falling tower." etc.
bom tabllysar(em), "crying."
tsob htindror(em), "sung."
tsob kebõn(ed), "fallen."
tsob taitaf(rem), "laughed at," "ridiculed."
b. The suffix -ebõ(n).

This suffix expresses a tendency to do something. Its English equivalents are often expressed by attaching a "-y" or an "-ing" or an "-ive" to the end of the verb: runny, choosy, picky, snarly, frightening, cheering, talkative, active, abusive. A distinction is made in Teonaht, however, between volitional and non-volitional action:

refodebõ, "choosy," "selective." Volitional.
edrimebõn, "sleepy." Non-volitional.
dorifanebõ, "intentionally frightening." Said of a cruel person or a demon.
dorifanebõn, "unintentionally frightening." Said of a situation.
htindelebõ, "songful." If said of a lark or a human singer, this is a volitional trait. If said of the wind, or water over stones, then the final "-n" is attached.

c. The construction with to- and infinitive/gerund.

This construction expresses the ability of a verb to be acted upon, and roughly corresponds to English's "-able": Approachable, measurable, reasonable, marriageable, etc. It is expressed by making the gerund the prepositional object of to, "for":

to refodmar(em), "selectable," "optional."
to htindelrem, "singable."
to bettair(em), "obtainable."
to lisn(ed), "gettable, catchable" (said of unwelcome states).
to ravvõr(em), "loveable."
to ennyver(em), "edible."

3. Adjectives made from Prepositions.

Just as prepositions can yield themselves as adverbs and modals, so can they become adjectival (in static mode):

Li kyam preb, "the first book," "the before book."
Li bav cel, "the inside room."
li merimek eryn, "the surrounding sea."
li ve uop/ob, "The sky above."
Etc.
4. Substantive Adjectives.

These do exist in Teonaht. I haven't quite figured them out. They come from the use of the adjective with the emphasized pronouns (see Pronouns and Syntax). Yry firrimby, "grateful I" or "me all grateful" (meaning "thank you.") These can stand alone: Li firrimby, "the grateful one," so that eventually, in those effusive and obsequious letters you write to landlords where you're required to say "Needful I request informed you for tools to fix the broken toilet," you can just say "The Needful requests the Informed for tools to fix the broken."

Eventually it acquired status as a noun, and an article and a plural, almost invariably the -n suffix: firrimbyn, "the grateful (ones)" in general.

5. The Stative or Adjectival Verb.