Difference between revisions of "Agreement in Norwegian noun phrases"

Revision as of 20:42, 7 December 2015

This page serves for quick reference related to A Norwegian Grammar Sparrer.

For a broader exposition of the noun and noun phrase, see The Noun Phrase - Norwegian.

In the pattern:

               Det(erminer)	Adj(ective)	N(oun)

all three items have to agree with each other with respect to gender, number and definiteness (and when only two occur, they of course need to agree). So, if one item is masculine gender, they all are:

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

If one item is feminine gender, they all are:

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

And if one item is neuter gender, they all are:

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

For number it is the same thing - if one item is singular, they all are, and likewise if one of them is plural:

    d     Det [Sing]		Adj [Sing]		N [Sing]
or
    e     Det [Plur]	        Adj [Plur]	        N [Plur]

The third marked property is that of definiteness, and if we distinguish just between 'definite' and 'indefinite', then the same 'all-with-one' patterns obtain:

    f     Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		 N [Definite]
or
    g     Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	 N [Indefinite]
		

As explained in The Noun Phrase - Norwegian, there normally is at most one 'morph' - that is, word-part - which signals any of these properties in a given word, and when it does, this morph can signal more than one of them. That means that in any given sequence 'Det - Adj - N', the pattern of agreeing Det, Adj and N shows up for all the three dimensions simultaneously. We list examples of the twelve combinations that are possible:

Masculine+Singular+Indefinite (a+d+g):  en snill gutt ('a kind boy')

Feminine+Singular+Indefinite ( b+d+g): ei snill jente ('a kind girl')

Neuter+Singular+Indefinite (c+d+g):  et stort hus ('a big house')

Masculine+Singular+Definite (a+d+f): den snille gutten ('the kind boy')

Feminine+Singular+Definite (b+d+f):  den snille jenta ('the kind girl')

Neuter+Singular+Definite (c+d+f):  det store huset ('the big house')

Masculine+Plural+Indefinite (a+e+g): noen snille gutter ('some kind boys')

Feminine+Plural+Indefinite (b+e+g): noen snille jenter ('some kind girls')

Neuter+Plural+Indefinite (c+e+g): noen store hus ('some big houses')

Masculine+Plural+Definite (a+e+f): de snille guttene ('the kind boys')

Feminine+Plural+Definite (b+e+f): de snille jentene ('the kind girls')

Neuter+Plural+Definite (c+e+f): de store husene ('the big houses')

We then illustrate the example sentences such that you can see exactly which morphs carry which information - see the line called 'Gloss'):

We now comment on the forms that can fill the slots exemplified:

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

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.)

Adjectives ending in -a generally have -Ø in all forms.