Adjectives.
I. Adjectives have no Gender. In the expression of Case, Interrogative and Demonstrative forms they are the same as Nouns.
Ex. a baibe, amu baibe, man tall, woman tall; uli baibitsi mau, pot big-in put it, put it in the big pot; ifana? is it good? ifan’ ala, it is good.
II. Adjectives of Quality.
1. Number.
Number is expressed as with nouns by changing e to i. Some adjectives in -a add i. There are no adjectives with the plural in -a. Some adjectives in -a(ne) have the plural -ai.
Ex. kakava(ne) strong, plur. kakavani; safa(le), plur. safa(li); isosonga, idle, plur. isosongai; aka(ne) small, plur. akai.
2. Agreement.
The adjective always follows the noun which it qualifies, and takes the suffix of the noun.
Ex. a sesada, fence long; emo gai, house old; kodige kisiakatsi, plate little-in: indiv’ amoja(le) knife blunt-with; koua baibitu, box big-on.
Sometimes the pronoun u(ne), his, is placed between the noun and the adjective.
The meaning of this is uncertain, but it appears to be more emphatic, as e.g. “the road which is good,” “the house which is bad.”
Ex, enamb’ un’ ifa, the good road, em’ u koi, the bad house.
The adjective used as predicate immediately follows the noun, without a substantive verb.
Ex. an’ ala gududuba, that man (is) stingy; nuni sesada, thou (art) tall; amu safali, the women (are) weak.
Note.—When the subject is represented by a pronoun of the first or second person dual or plural, the predicate remains singular.
Ex. dini kakava(ne) we (are) strong; yani kapape, you two (are) weak; but, muni isosongai, they (are) idle.
When the predicate expresses a negation the word expressing the quality is followed by the adverb ua(ne) not.
Ex. sesad’ ua, onov’ aka, it is not long, it is short.
3. Comparison.
There is no special form for comparisons. Two positive statements are made, or a superlative may be used.
Ex. My house is larger than yours may be translated: naul’ e baibe, nul’ a kisiaka, my house is large, yours is small, or nul’e baibe, naul’a baibe ta, your house is large, mine is large much.
Equality is expressed by the suffix -umba or -yakala.
Ex. naul’ e, nul’ em’ umba, my house is like your house; nuni sesada, nauyekala, you are tall like me.
A superlative is expressed by the prefix ande, or the suffix -ta. But if the adjective in the superlative expresses a lessening of the quality then -aka(ne) is suffixed.
Ex. baibe, large, ande baibe, larger; ifa, fine, ifata, finer; but ono(ve), short, onov’aka, shorter.
The prefix ande is used only with adjectives which express an idea of extension.
When the adjective expresses an actual state rather than a passive, it is preceded by the sign of past tense, the particle ga.
Ex. ant g’ifa, the breeches are (have become) good; ena ga ko, the road (is) bad.
III. Demonstrative Adjectives.
The demonstrative adjectives in Fuyuge are represented by the suffixes -ana, this, -ala, this, here, -vala that, there. The same expressions translate the French “le voici,” “le voilà.”
Ex. indiv’ana, this knife; eni’ala, this house; enavala, that road.
There is no article, but the expression u mane is used in reference to any thing which has been previously spoken about.
Ex. enamb’ ifa, or enamb’ un’ ifa, it (is) a good road; but enamb u man’ ifa, the road (which has been mentioned) is good.
IV. Interrogative Adjectives.
For these. See [Pronouns].
V. Indefinite Adjectives.
The indefinite adjectives are oko, some, a little, part of; tale(le), several, many; korio, several; gegeto, a few, several; alu(ve), all; urambe, another; none, together, one with the other; dovavemunge? domamai? how many?
Note.—When oko is followed by a word beginning with i, it becomes oku.
Ex. Kuku oko nei, give me some tobacco; nemb’ oko ematsi, they will spear the birds; bodol’ oko tsia, take one of his hands; indiv’ oko ya, take a knife; kuk oko ua, (there is) no tobacco; indiv’ oku i, give him a knife; ake talel’ ando, there are many men; kupa korio inde, give several potatoes; me’ gegeto indiatsi, some children will come; aked’ aluvi etsi ando, all the men are in the village; nau mel’ alu, all my children; indiv’ urambe ya, take another knife; Pitsoke non’ ade, the Pitsoke strike one another; oye non’ ongete, the dogs keep beside each other; kokol’ ul’ ombo dovavemunge? how many eggs? nu sise domamai? how many dog’s teeth?