Difference between revisions of "Agreement in Norwegian noun phrases"

Revision as of 17:58, 1 December 2015

In the pattern:

  Det		Adj		N

both the determiner and the adjective agree with the noun with respect to gender, number and definiteness:

a    Det [Masc]		Adj [Masc]		N [Masc]

b    Det [Fem]	                Adj [Fem]	                N [Fem]

c    Det [Neut]	                Adj [Neut]	                N [Neut]

a    Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		N [Definite]

b    Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	        N [Indefinite]

a    Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		N [Definite]

b    Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	        N [Indefinite]

Determiners

Determiners as a category comprise articles, demonstrative pronouns and quantifiers. Some of these items are listed below, in the required forms relative to the specification of the noun:

Occurring with a masculine noun

when ‘indefinite singular’: en (article), noen (quantifier, countable), noe (quantifier, non-countable), hver (univ. quantifier), all (quantifier, non-countable)

when ‘indefinite plural’: noen (quantifier), alle (univ.quantifier), ), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

when ‘definite singular’ : den (article or demonstrative), all (quantifier, non-countable), denne (demonstrative)

when ‘definite plural’.: de (article or demonstrative), alle (univ.quantifier), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

Occurring with a feminine noun

– same as for masculine, except for using indefinite singular ei rather then en.

Occurring with a neuter noun

when ‘indefinite singular’: et (article), noe (quantifier, countable), noe (quantifier, non-countable), hvert (univ. quantifier), alt (quantifier, non-countable)

when ‘indefinite plural’: noen (quantifier), alle (univ.quantifier), ), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

when ‘definite singular’ : det (article or demonstrative), alt (quantifier, non-countable), dette (demonstrative)

when ‘definite plural’.: de (article or demonstrative), alle (univ.quantifier), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

The constellations where a (definite) article or demonstrative occurs together with a definite form of the noun (singular or plural) is generally referred to as ‘double definiteness’. Since these manifestations of 'definiteness' can in principle occur independently of each other, we need to distinguish between noun-definiteness and det-definiteness, the former residing in the definite noun suffix, the latter in a definite article, a demonstrative or - to be seen below - a genitive.

Adjectives

When an adjective occurs in the ‘definite’ pattern, it has a so-called weak form, ending in –e.

In the strong form, i.e., when occurring in the indefinite pattern, the adjective has the following inflections:

with a masculine singular noun: -Ø

with a feminine singular noun: -Ø or –a

with a neuter singular noun: -t

with a plural noun, any gender: -e

(As may be be noted, weak form and strong plural form are identical.)

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
+In the pattern:
-The morphological shape of the noun sets its stamp on its environment, inside of the noun phrase (henceforth: NP) but also on adjectives connected to the NP via a copula. This ‘stamp-setting’ is standardly referred to as ''agreement'', or ''concord''. We first describe the NP internal patterns of agreement.
+   Det		Adj		N
-In an NP in Norwegian, the ordering of determiner, adjectives and nouns is strictly as follows:
+both the determiner and the adjective agree with the noun with respect to gender, number and definiteness:
- I   Det		Adj		N
-Both the determiner and the adjective agree partly with the noun with respect to the factors mentioned above, thus reflecting the gender of the noun, its number and its definiteness. While number and gender agreement occur in many languages, definiteness agreement is rarer, in Norwegian choosing one or the other of these patterns:
+ a    Det [Masc]		Adj [Masc]		N [Masc]
+ b    Det [Fem]	                Adj [Fem]	                N [Fem]
-  IIa    Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		N [Definite]
+  c    Det [Neut]	                Adj [Neut]	                N [Neut]
-  IIb    Det [Indefinite]	Adj [Indefinite]	N [Indefinite]
+  a    Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		N [Definite]
+ b    Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	        N [Indefinite]
+ a    Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		N [Definite]
+ b    Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	        N [Indefinite]