by Max Wheeler
m. and f.sg. m. and f.pl. m. and f.sg. m. and f.pl.
global globals superior superiors
cruel cruels major majors
fàcil fàcils multicolor multicolors
semblant semblants suau suaus
prudent prudents breu breus
similar similars etc.
Those presented as exceptions (consonant-final words with more than one ending in the singular) show the corresponding ‘two endings’ in the plural:
m.sg. f.sg. m.pl. f.pl.
mal mala mals males
tranquil tranquil·la tranquils tranquil·les
quant quanta quants quantes
lent lenta lents lentes
clar clara clars clares
sonor sonora sonors sonores
blauetc. blava blaus blaves
Formation of plural adjective forms is reviewed more fully in 4.1.4.
4.1.3.4 Adjectives invariable in the singular; but gender-marked in the plural
In contrast with all the patterns shown so far, all adjectives ending in -ç are invariable in the singular but mark gender in the plural. For example:
m. and f.sg. m.pl. f.pl.
capaç capaços capaces capable
eficaç eficaços eficaces effective
feliç feliços felices happy
atroçetc. atroços atroces atrocious
4.1.4 FORMATION OF THE PLURAL OF ADJECTIVES
Some principles affecting the formation of plurals (notably stem changes) have been introduced in the preceding sections 4.1.1–3. Formation of the plural of adjectives follows the same rules as for nouns (see 2.1), that is, -s is added both to masculines and feminines; in the case of masculines ending in a sibilant consonant, -o- is inserted between the stem and the plural inflection. Another general point to be noted is that a final -a (typical ending for a feminine) is changed into an -e- before the final -s.
The basic pattern (corresponding to sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 for nouns) can be shown as:
m.sg. f-sg m.pl. f-pl■
un nen dolent una nena dolenta uns nens dolents unes nenes dolentes
a bad boy a bad girl bad boys bad girls
Corresponding to section 2.1.3 (nouns ending in a stressed vowel) we have, e.g. in the adjective sa:
un home sa una dona sana uns homes sans unes dones sanes
a healthy man a healthy woman healthy men healthy women
Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel which do not have an n in their feminine form (either because the feminine just adds -a as in cru/crua ‘raw’, or because their feminine is identical to the masculine, as in rococó ‘rococo’) do not have n in the plural either: thus crus (m.pl.)/crues (f.pl.), rococós (m./f.pl.). Afí (m./f.sg.) ‘related’ is an exception here; its plural is afins (m./f.pl.). As in 2.1.4, the words jove, orfe, verge as adjectives ‘young’, ‘orphan’, ‘virgin’ respectively–have alternative plurals in Valencian, Northwestern Catalan, and some other areas: jóvens, òrfens, vèrgens. (Note fsg. òrfena f.pl. òrfenes.)
Corresponding to the case of 2.1.5, nouns ending in sibilants, we have, among adjectives, the following. Notice that when a variation of the stem appears before the feminine ending, the same variant appears before -o- in the masculine plural:
un jersei gros una casa grossa uns jerseis grossos unes cases grosses
a large sweater a large house large sweaters large houses
el mateix gos la mateixa gossa els mateixos gossos les mateixes gosses
the same dog the same bitch the same dogs the same bitches
un gat lleig una gata lletja uns gats lleigs/lletjos unes gates lletges
an ugly cat (m.) an ugly cat (f.) ugly cats (m.) ugly cats (f.)
un noi audaç una noia audaç uns nois audaços unes noies audaces
a daring boy a daring girl daring boys daring girls
As illustrated here with lleig, and as mentioned for nouns in 2.1.5.4, masculine words ending in -sc, -st, and -ig have alternative masculine plural forms. Thus frescs or frescos (m.pl.) ‘fresh’, etruscs or etruscos ‘Etruscan’, vasts or vastos ‘vast’, injusts or injustos ‘unjust’. The forms without -o- tend to be preferred in Valencia and in the Balearics, except that aquests ‘these’ (pronounced [ǝkεts]/[ǝkets]) is generally preferred to aquestos. Mig ‘middle’, boig ‘mad’, and roig ‘red-haired’ conform basically to the pattern of lleig, maintaining the contrast between -tj-and -j-which is explained above (4.1.2.5):
m.sg. f.sg. m.pl. f.pl.
lleig lletja lleigs/lletjos lletges
mig mitja migs/mitjos mitges
boig boja boig/bojos boges
roig roja roigs/rojos roges
4.1.5 DIMINUTIVE, AUGMENTATIVE, AND EVALUATIVE SUFFIXES
The following is to be read in conjunction with the discussion of diminutive, augmentative, and evaluative suffixes applied to nouns, in 2.3. The basic range of this type of suffix available for adjectives is the same as for nouns. As already explained, the boundaries between augmentative and diminutive, opejorative and appreciative are rather unstable in this area of usage, and are made more fuzzy by subtle questions of subjective attitude and pragmatics. For adjectives the following merged schema shows, approximately, how the dimensions are related:
augmentative diminutive
appreciative -às/-assa -et/-eta, -ó/-ona, -eu/-eva
pejorative -ot/-ota, -arro/-arra -et/-eta, -etxo/-etxa, -eu/-eva
The endings above are added to the adjective stem, with morphological or spelling modification as required: seriós/serioset ‘serious’, bonic/boniquet ‘pretty’, bo/bonet ‘good’, jove/jovenet ‘young’, etc. Observe that gran ‘big’ (invariable singular) has stem grand-, whence grandot, grandet, grandàs (or grandolàs). In grassonet/-eta ‘plump’/‘chubby’ we see double suffixation: gras → grassó → grassonet. The use of these suffixes is widespread, particularly in familiar speech, and diminutive -et/-eta is especially common. The suffixed forms are produced according to discourse circumstance and are not separately recorded in dictionaries. As remarked in 2.3 proficient imitation is by no means easy for non-natives, and translation of shades of meaning can be extremely elusive.
Examples:
-às/-assa: M’ha vingut a veure aquell noi tan gras i vermellàs de cara.That chubby lad with the red face came to see me.
-ot/-ota: A mi no em sembla gens educat, el trobo més aviat grollerot.He doesn’t seem at all polite to me; in fact I think he’s rather crude.
-arro/-arra: No facis cas de res del que digui, és tan beneitarro.Don’t take any notice of him, he’s a jerk.
-eu/-eva: Ara està molt grassa, però quan va néixer era maca i petiteva.Now she’s quite fat, but when she was born she was cute and tiny.
-ó/-ona: És lletjó, però molt simpàtic.He’s no picture, but he’s very nice.
-et/-eta: Compri’m a mi, que ho tenc tot baratet.Buy from me, you won’t find better prices. (lit. I have it all a little cheap.)
-etxo/-etxa: És un carrer ben lleig, tan fosc i estretetxo.It’s an ugly little street, so dark and narrow.
See 5.3.2 on the absolute superlative, involving the intensifying suffix -íssim/ -íssima.
4.1.6 FORMATION OF ADJECTIVES BY CONVERSION
Conversion is the process by which an element (a word or a phrase) changes its grammatical category without adding any morpheme. The adjectival use of the Catalan past participle (discussed in 21.1) is a very clear case in point:
El cotxe fou robat ahir a la nit.
The car was stolen last night.
El cotxe robat ahir a la nit ha aparegut.
The car stolen last night has appeared.
Thus un cotxe robat ‘a stolen car’, una illa abandonada ‘an abandoned island’, penes compartides ‘shared suffering’, and so on.
Of considerable relevance in the present context is noun-adjective conversion. Nouns are used as qualifiers by adjunction in certain compounds. The most typical examples of this use are nouns designating certain tonalities of colours, the reason
being that many colours are originally nouns referring to objects: lila ‘lilac’, rosa ‘pink’, carabassa ‘pumpkin’, violeta ‘violet’, safrà ‘saffron’, avellana ‘hazel’, etc.: thus blau cel ‘sky blue’, gris perla ‘pearl grey’, gris marengo ‘dark grey’, verd turquesa ‘turquoise’, verd poma ‘apple green’, groc cadmi ‘cadmium yellow’, merda d’oca ‘dirty beige’ (lit. goose shit), ala de mosca ‘greyish’ (lit. fly’s wing), color de gos com fuig ‘indeterminate dark colour’ (lit. dog fleeing). These adjectives by conversion, simple and compound, sometimes introduced by explanatory color (de), are invariable in gender and number, thus: un gelat rosa ‘a pink ice cream’, unes cortines verd poma/unes cortines color (de) verd poma ‘apple green curtains’.
An adjoined noun can limit or explain the meaning of another noun in the same way as an adjective might: carta bomba ‘letter bomb’, cotxe bomba ‘car bomb’, festa sorpresa ‘surprise party’, pare director ‘headmaster of religious school’, curs pont ‘bridging course’, jutge àrbitre ‘main referee’ (in sport), nen proveta ‘test-tube baby’, llibreta habitatge ‘building society account’, hores punta ‘peak times’, qüestions clau ‘key questions’, etc. Most of the examples of this type of construction in the Romance languages are relatively recent, and probably reflect the influence of English, where nouns can be ‘converted’ to adjectives almost without limit. Such is the relative unfamiliarity of these constructions that Catalan grammarians debate whether they are formed with a noun in adjectival function, or whether they refer to a mixed reality (two nominal elements equally applicable), as the following more clearly do: cafè teatre ‘café-theatre’, sofà llit ‘sofa bed’, sala menjador ‘living/dining room’, home llop ‘werewolf’, aigua-sal ‘brine’ (cf. aiguaneu ‘sleet’), etc. Independently of this question, syntactic apposition shows how a noun or noun phrase can develop an adjectival function:
Parles de Barcelona ciutat ο de Barcelona província?
Are you talking about Barcelona city or Barcelona province?
(cf. Barcelona, ciutat industrial a la vora del mar, gaudeix de bones comunicacions.
Barcelona, an industrial city on the coast, enjoys good communications.)
La corbata objecte de regal masculí ha deixat pas a la corbata disseny d’elecció personal.
The tie (as) masculine gift object has given way to the tie (as) personal design choice.
(cf. La corbata, objecte de regal masculí per excel·lència, persisteix com a complement de roba obligatori.
The tie, a masculine gift object par excellence, remains an obligatory clothing accessory.)
El Miquel Àngel escultor i arquitecte ha deixat a l’ombra el Miquel Àngel poeta.
Michelangelo sculptor and architect has left Michelangelo poet in the shadows.
(cf. Miquel Àngel, escultor i arquitecte del Renaixement, també va deixar una obra poètica interessant.
Michelangelo, Renaissance poet and sculptor, also left an interesting body of poetry.)
Classificatory nouns like tipus ‘type’, classe ‘class’, marca ‘brand’, raça ‘breed’ can be adjoined to the head noun with an optional de preceding them and a noun indicating which particular class, type, etc., following them. It is also possible to use the class name directly as an uninflected adjective:
un cotxe (de) marca Renault = un cotxe Renault a Renault car
dos cotxes Renault two Renault cars
una poma (de) classe reineta = una poma reineta a pippin apple
dues pomes reineta two pippin apples
hepatitis (de) tipus B/hepatitis Β hepatitis (type) Β
un gos (de) raça bòxer = un gos bòxer a boxer dog
dos gossos bòxer two boxer dogs
When the semantic head noun is absent (by ellipsis) the class name, becoming the main noun in the phrase, can take inflection:
Han xocat dos Renaults. Two Renaults collided.
Compra’m dues reinetes. Buy me two pippins.
Amb aquest ja hem tingut tres bòxers. This is the third boxer we have had.
Otherwise it is important to stress that Catalan cannot create noun + adjectival noun combinations at will. The equivalent of most such constructions, which are so frequent in English, will be noun + prepositional phrase (de + noun), or noun + adjective phrase in Catalan: un partit de futbol ‘a football match’, un camió militar ‘an army lorry’, vacances d’estiu/vacances estivals ‘summer holidays’, etc.
The noun-adjective conversion just discussed has its counterpart in the much more extensive adjective-noun conversion available in Catalan. Any adjective can become a noun by the simple adjoining of the definite article or another determiner (see 9.1):
-Quin d’aquests dos cotxes t’agrada més? -El blau m’agrada més que el vermell.
‘Which of these two cars do you prefer?’ ’I prefer the blue one to the red one.’
4.1.7 COMPOUND ADJECTIVES INVOLVING A NOMINAL
Catalan has a number of noun + adjective compound adjectives. These compounds usually refer to parts of the body, physically described or metaphorically used. They correspond roughly to English adjective + noun ‘-ed’ compounds. Here are a few examples: alatrencat ‘broken-winged’, barbablanc ‘white-bearded’, bocaample ‘wide-mouthed’, camallarg ‘long-legged’, capbuit ‘empty-headed’, caragirat ‘turncoat’ (lit. face-turned), cuallarg ‘long-tailed’, peugròs ‘big-footed’. These compound adjectives inflect exactly like the contained adjective element: thus m.pl. camallargs, f.sg. camallarga, f.pl. camallargues, etc. Some existing adjectives are clearly the result of combining two independent adjectives: blauverd ‘blue-green’ (m./f.pl. blauverds), agredolç ‘bitter-sweet’ (m.pl. agredolços), sordmut ‘deaf and dumb’ (m.pl. sordmuts).
4.2 ADJECTIVE SYNTAX AND USAGE
4.2.1 WORD ORDER
Although it can be said that the usual position of the adjective in Catalan is after the noun it modifies, the matter is rather more complex than that and is best addressed from first principles. Adjectives in Catalan noun phrases may in fact be found before or after head nouns. The position depends in part on which kind of adjective is involved–quantifiers and demonstratives normally precede, for example–and in part on the discourse function of the adjective in relation to the referent of the modified noun. The typical place for a ‘restrictive’ adjective in Catalan is immediately after the head noun. The underlying principle is that this kind of adjective specifies which X, or which kind of Χ, (X being the head noun or, more precisely, what it denotes). The function of such an adjective is similar to that of a restrictive relative clause (see 31.1.2), as demonstrated in the examples below:
Visc a la casa buida.
I live in the empty house (= the house which is empty).
El cotxe és aparcat al carrer ample.
The car is parked on the wide street (= the street which is wide).
Els llibres gruixuts són mals de llegir.
Thick books (= books which are thick) are hard to read.
M’agrada molt la pintura medieval.
I am very fond of medieval painting (= painting which is medieval).
L’any següent va cobrar una herència.
The following year (= the year which followed) she inherited some money.
Coneixien un noi americà.
They knew an American boy (= a boy who was American).
If the noun has a specifying prepositional phrase complement, any descriptive adjective which agrees with the head noun follows the complement: una casa de pagès buida ‘an empty farmhouse’, màquines d’escriure antigues ‘old typewriters’. Note, however, that this arrangement is blocked if the complement is itself modified by an adjective: ‘a long tradition of folklore activity’ is not *una tradició d’activitats folklòriques llarga but rather una llarga tradició d’activitats folklòriques.
The alternative order, adjective + noun, is appropriate when the function of the adjective is not to identify more specifically, but rather to perform one of three other (
overlapping) functions: (i) to convey some additional information, as does a non-restrictive relative clause (31.1.2), (ii) to emphasize or bring to prominence some (already assumed) aspect of what the noun refers to, or (iii) to express the speaker’s attitude towards what is referred to. Examples:
l’odiosa premsa the hateful press (= the press, which is hateful)
una mera hipòtesi a mere hypothesis (= a hypothesis, which is nothing more than a hypothesis)
la grisa quotidianitat (the) dull routine
la llunyana India distant Índia
l’astuta guineu the crafty fox
el blau oceà the blue ocean
(= the ocean, which is blue, not the blue ocean in contrast to the green one)
les altes estrelles the lofty stars
la seva increïble presumpció his incredible presumption
el meu estimat col·lega my esteemed colleague
What is seen in (iii) above also lies behind the characteristic adjective + noun + adjective arrangement such as els magnífics temples tailandesos ‘the magnificent Thai temples’, la inspirada adaptació teatral de la novel·la ‘the inspired theatrical adaptation of the novel’. In such cases (see 4.2.2) it is as though a single unit were formed by the noun and the restrictive adjective together, with the other adjective having a descriptive/evaluative function.
An adjective may express a speaker’s attitude and at the same time identify which kind of X is referred to. In such a case, either position may be found, though on the whole noun + adjective (the second in the following pairs) is preferred in ordinary usage.
Assagen solucions agosarades./Assagen agosarades solucions.
They are attempting bold solutions.
Va fer un discurs brillant./Va fer un brillant discurs.