Adjectives describe the attributes or characteristics of an object. In English, we have words like "small", "big", "beautiful", and "amazing". They are all adjectives. Pwekish have the same type of words, and they play a crucial role in forming a detailed sentence.
There are two types of adjectives in Pwekish: the adjective root and the adjectivized word.
Adjective roots are words being an adjective on their own. They may or may not end with the letter "e". Below is a table showcasing a few common adjective roots.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sil | /sil/ | big |
| rin | /rin/ | small |
| pres | /pres/ | many |
| masnusa | /masˈnusa/ | tired |
| dipnusa | /dipˈnusa/ | hungry |
| mlo | /m̩ˈlo/ | beautiful |
| ine | /ˈine/ | cool |
| fi | /ɸi/ | hot |
| peke | /ˈpeke/ | good |
| wallu | /ˈwaʎu/ | bad |
Adjectivized words are words being modified to an adjective with the adjectivizer "-e". They all end with the letter "e". Below is a table showcasing a few common adjectivized words.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| adie | /ˈadi̯e/ | more |
| runie | /ˈruni̯e/ | few |
| ayae | /aˈjɛ/ | difficult |
| dəkbite | /dəkˈbite/ | special |
| esoke | /eˈsoke/ | fragrant; aromatic |
| orlee | /oˈɬeː/ | clean |
| hwinke | /ˈhʷinke/ | happy; pleased |
| udae | /uˈdɛ/ | helpful |
| nue | /ny/ | female |
| yee | /jeː/ | male |
In Pwekish, we put the adjective after a noun and we add an adjectivizer "-e" to adjective roots.
For example, "big apple" is "bimbo sile". As you see, the adjective root "sil" has an "-e" at the end and it is put after the noun "bimbo". So, translating word by word, it is "apple big" instead of "big apple".
Even if the adjective root ends with "e", we still add the "-e" suffix. Like "cool water" is "xe inee". The stress will shift to the last syllable, and the "e" will become a long vowel.
We do not add "-e" to adjectivized words. Like "helpful person" is "nur udae" instead of "nur udaee".
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ņra yenmor sile nuke. | I like big cars. |
| Ntyu gale fie ndip. | You eat hot meat. |
| Nrow sukdi ayae nye. | He does difficult homework. |
The adjective is used in attributive form for such cases. Adjectives in Pwekish can also be used in predictive form, as shown in the next section.
Adjectives in Pwekish can be used as verbs in the form of "to be (adjective)" together with PVIM. For example, "He is helpful." is "Nrow hhudae.". When adjectives are used as verbs, we do not add the adjectivizer "-e".
Of course, we can use the coupler "pe" (to be) and form a sentence like "Nrow nur udae npe" (He is a helpful person.). But Pwekish tends to use simpler sentences, and the coupler is often used to link nouns together (sentences like "something is something"). So, usually we just say "Nrow hhudae".
When multiple adjectives are used, we just chain them in opposite direction as English for attributive form, and same direction as English for predictive form, like "Many good foods are hot and fragrant" is "Pdipn peke prese nfi hhesoke".
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ņra masnusa. | I am tired. |
| Ntyu ndəkbite. | You are special. |
| Tyep rine hmlo. | The small bird is beautiful. |
| Xe orlee npeke. | Clean water is good. |
| Ņra tyep sile dipnusae runie sano. | I have a few hungry big birds. |
| Nrows npeke hhudae. | They are good and helpful. |
| Teibəl mloe rine prese npeke dhəkbite. | Many small and beautiful tables are good and special. |
Possessive adjectives are adjectives derived from pronouns to describe the owner of a matter. In English, words like "my", "your" and "its" are all possessive adjectives. While possessive pronouns indicate ownership or possession and replace nouns or noun phrases. Words like "mine", "yours" and "theirs" are all possessive pronouns.
In Pwekish possessive adjectives and possessive pronoun are both formed by adding the adjectivizer "-e" to a pronoun, which makes them the same. The only difference is whether they are used in attributive form or predictive form. When used in attributive form, they are possessive adjectives. On the other hand, when used in predictive form, they are possessive pronouns.
The table below summarizes all the possessive adjectives in Pwekish.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | First Person |
|---|---|---|---|
| ņrae | /ŋrɛ/ | my; mine | |
| ņrise | /ˈŋrise/ | our; ours (including the listener) | |
| ņose | /ˈŋose/ | our; ours (excluding the listener) | Second Person |
| ntyue | /n̩ˈtɕy/ | your; yours (singular) | |
| ntyuse | /n̩ˈtɕuse/ | your; yours (plural) | Third Person |
| nrowe | /ˈnrowe/ | his, her, its; his, hers, its | |
| nrowse | /ˈnrowse/ | their; theirs |
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Yenmor ņrae nsil. | My car is big. |
| Maw nrowe dhipnusa. | Her cat is hungry. |
| Awú nrowse nrow h'wipteptep. | Their dog chases him. |
| Vurún rine runie pdipn ņrae dhip. | A few small mice eat my food. |
| Dorn hņrise. | The house is ours. |
| Nrow hņrae. | It's mine. |
| Bimbo prese hnrowse. | Many apples are theirs. |
| Sewu sile ņrae hntyue. | My big fish is yours. |
Notice: possessive adjectives are put after all adjectives. (Like "sewu sile ņrae" is "fish big my")
In this chapter, we will only focus on adverbs that describe the manner of an action. These adverbs are used like adjectives in attributive form, where the only difference is they are put after a verb instead of a noun. In fact, some adjectives we have learnt can be used as an adverb directly.
For example, "The cat hungrily eat the fish." is translated to "Maw sewu dhip dipnusae." In this example, "dipnusae" is the adverb "hungrily", and we can see it is placed after the verb "dhip".
Below is a table showcasing a few adverbs of manner.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dipnusae | /dipˈnusɛ/ | hungrily |
| masnusae | /masˈnusɛ/ | tiredly |
| hwinke | /ˈhʷinke/ | happily |
| fukusilpe | /ɸukuˈsilpe/ | angrily |
| tyere | /ˈtɕere/ | fastly, quickly |
| mane | /ˈmane/ | slowly |
| mloe | /m̩ˈlœ/ | beautifully |
| pilansilpe | /pilanˈsilpe/ | loudly |
| pekee | /peˈkeː/ | well |
| wallue | /ˈwaʎy/ | badly |
1. Translate the following sentences to English.
a. Ņra awú sile sano.
b. Má yesin peke yhe.
c. Tyep nrowe hmasul.
d. Sukdi ntyue hhayae.
e. Nur mloe runie tolontenPwék ntolo.
f. Baln dəkbite hņrae.
g. Maw nue rine ņrae hntyue.
h. Tyep nfop tyere.
i. Awú ņrae dhip mane.
j. Nrow sukdi nrowe nkutye fukusilpe.
a. I have a big dog.
b. My mum does a good/great work/job.
c. His/Her bird is tired.
d. Your homework is hard/difficult.
e. A few beautiful people speak Pwekish.
f. The special book is mine.
g. My small female cat is yours.
h. The bird flies quickly.
i. My dog eats slowly.
j. He is doing his homework angrily.
2. Translate the following sentences to Pwekish.
a. You have a fragrant plant.
b. He wants more hot food.
c. The water is clean and cool.
d. I am happy.
e. Their small car breaks.
f. Nothing bad happens.
g. Many big apples are mine.
h. She swims tiredly.
i. My dad works carefully.
j. Many people talked loudly.
a. Ntyu dos esoke hsano.
b. Nrow pdipn fie adie hnusa.
c. Xe hhorlee hhine.
d. Ņra hwinke (pe).
e. Yenmor rine nrowse hhisma.
f. Yúnə wallue ncirlo.
g. Bimbo sile prese hņrae.
h. Nrow xhepte masnusae.
i. Pá yhesi formane.
j. Nur prese nhwitlo pilansilpe.