Attribution
In Jaffad, attribution is handled by an adjective following the noun.
fe lyauhe
dog good
“a good dog”
fad nyagha
stone big
“a big stone”
A noun with multiple attributive adjectives follows the order quality opinion size age shape color purpose.
fe tyatʼu nyagha
dog bad big
“the big bad dog”
havae kue gyeɗɗya
woman little old
“a little old woman”
Adjective Predication
When a sentence is used to describe a particular noun with a predicate adjective, Jaffad indicates this by placing the adjective in the verbal position and inflecting it as a verb. This includes the use both auxiliary verbs and verbal inflections.
lyauhe fe
good dog
“The dog is good”
mutʼ gyeɗɗya fe
fut old dog
“The dog will be old.”
Adjectives without Nouns
Adjectives may not be used without a noun to modify. In cases where the modified noun is intended to be generic or ambiguous, such as when describing an unknown object, the noun mopho meaning “thing” may be used.
mopho gyeɗɗya
thing old
“an old thing”
mopho lyauhe dyom mopho tyatʼu
thing good and thing bad
“the good and the bad”
Comparatives and Superlatives
In Jaffad a comparative adjective is created by reduplicating the initial syllable’s consonant with an epenthetic /a/ inserted. A superlative adjective is created by full reduplication of the word.
fe nyagha
dog big
“a big dog”
fe nyanyagha
dog comp-big
“a bigger dog”
fe nyagha nyagha
dog big big
“the biggest dog”
When a comparison is being made, the preposition jak is used to indicate the noun compared. The construction with jak may also be used with the adjective repeated to indicate that the noun described is archetypical with regard to the adjective. In either case the construction will immediately follow the comparative adjective.
nyanyaghoku jak qhukhoaɫ fe
comp-big-past of man dog
“The dog was bigger than the man.”
fe tyatʼu jak tyatʼu
dog bad of bad
“the worst dog ever”