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Difference between revisions of "Agreement in Norwegian noun phrases"

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

Revision as of 23:38, 1 December 2015

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


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]


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


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

The forms used in these patterns are not always distinct from those in other patterns, as shown below. Moreover, the words or forms carrying these types of information often carry more than one type of information at the same time, so that one phrase normally exemplifies three patterns combined. The following are examples of such combined patterns:

Masculine+Singular+Indefinite (a+d+g):  en snill gutt
Feminine+Singular+Indefinite ( b+d+g): ei snill jente
Neuter+Singular+Indefinite (c+d+g):  et stort hus
Masculine+Singular+Definite (a+d+f): den snille gutten
Feminine+Singular+Definite (b+d+f):  den snille jenta
Neuter+Singular+Definite (c+d+f):  det store huset
Masculine+Plural+Indefinite (a+e+g): noen snille gutter
Feminine+Plural+Indefinite (b+e+g): noen snille jenter
Neuter+Plural+Indefinite (c+e+g): noen store hus
Masculine+Plural+Definite (a+e+f): de snille guttene
Feminine+Plural+Definite (b+e+f): de snille jentene
Feminine+Plural+Definite (c+e+f): de store husene

Below we show the sentences with glossing showing each part of the words:


en snill gutt.
en
en
INDEFSGMASC
ART
snill
snill
kindINDEFSG
ADJ
gutt
gutt
boyMASC
N
ei snill jente.
ei
ei
INDEFFEMSG
ART
snill
snill
kindINDEFSG
ADJ
jente
jente
girlFEM
N
et stort hus.
et
et
INDEFNEUTSG
ART
stort
stort
largeINDEFNEUTSG
ADJ
hus
hus
houseNEUT
N
den snille gutten.
den
den
DEFMASCSG
DET
snille
snille
kindDEF
ADJ
gutten
gutten
boyMASCDEFMASCSG
N
den snille jenta.
den
den
DEFFEMSG
DET
snille
snille
kindDEF
ADJ
jenta
jenta
girlFEMDEFFEMSG
N
det store huset.
det
det
DEFNEUTSG
DET
store
store
largeDEF
ADJ
huset
huset
houseNEUTDEFNEUTSG
N
noen snille gutter.
noen
noen
PLINDEF
QUANT
snille
snille
kindPL
ADJ
gutter
gutter
boyMASCINDEFPLMASC
N
noen snille jenter.
noen
noen
somePLINDEF
QUANT
snille
snille
kindPLINDEF
ADJ
jenter
jenter
girlINDEFPL
N
noen store hus.
noen
noen
somePLINDEF
QUANT
store
store
 PL
ADJ
hus
hus
NEUTPLINDEF
N
de snille guttene.
de
de
PLDEF
DET
snille
snille
kindPLDEF
ADJ
guttene
guttene
boyMASCPLDEF
N
de snille jentene.
de
de
PLDEF
DET
snille
snille
kindPLDEF
ADJ
jentene
jentene
girlFEMPLDEF
N
de store husene.
de
de
PLDEF
DET
store
store
largePLDEF
ADJ
husene
husene
houseNEUTPLDEF
N


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:

with a feminine singular noun: or –a

with a neuter singular noun: -t (or -a)

with a plural noun, any gender: -e

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