Magin_Edward-thesis

76
(38) ev pertûk-a di dest-ê te da 47
3DN book-EZ.F in hand-EZ.F 2O in
‘this book in your hand’
4.4.2.7 The adjective phrase
Adjectival modifiers are not connected by means of an ezafe conjunctive particle
when they are in an adjective phrase (AdjP) that is independent of a head noun. They
simply precede the adjective they modify. In (39) gelek, in this instance an intensifier
meaning ‘very,’ modifies baş, ‘good.’ The AdjP gelek baş is the attribute of the
attributive clause, not a part of the noun phrase (NP) ev pertûk, 3DN ‘book.’ Hence, there
is no ezafe conjunctive particle on the word pertûk.
(39) ev pertûk gelek baş=e
3DN book very good=COP.PRS.3SG
‘This book is very good.’
When an AdjP is part of an NP, an ezafe conjunctive particle is used to connect
the AdjP to the head noun. In (40) the masculine ezafe -ê is followed by the modifying
AdjP, gelek xirab, ‘very bad.’
(40) dem-ek-ê gelek xirab
time-INDF-EZ.F very-EZ.M bad
‘a very bad time’
In the case where there are two adjectives in the AdjP, the adjectives are simply joined by
the conjunction u, as shown in example (41).
(41) ev sêv şirîn u tirş=e
3DN apple sweet and tart=COP.PRS.3SG
‘This apple is sweet and tart.’
4.4.2.8 The noun phrase
Nicholas Bailey (2011) summarizes the noun phrase of Northern Kurdish as:
47 The postposition da is commonly used in conjunction with di to mean ‘in’ or ‘to.’ While most
adpositions in Northern Kurdish are prepositions, there are some postpositions and usually these are used in
conjunction with prepositions.