Are relational adjectives possible cross-linguistically? The case of Japanese
Akiko Nagano · WORD Structure · 2016
Studying relational adjectives cross-linguistically, Bisetto (2010) raises the important issue of whether this type of derivation is possible across languages. In this paper, we will attempt to show that there is at least one language, Japanese, that does not possess derivational affixes for relational adjectives. All the living adjectivalizing suffixes in Japanese, -teki, -rasi(i), -ppo(i), and -chikku, derive qualitative adjectives. More significantly, we will also show that this dearth of derivational morphology is compensated for by the systematic use of genitive forms in Japanese. The set of functions mapped to specific derivational affixes in many European languages is systematically mapped to two types of modifiers, the genitive form [Noun + no] and the genitive form expanded by a marker reminiscent of combining forms [Noun + Marker + no].