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Adjectives

Adjectives (Прилагательные)

Version: 1.0
Last Updated: May 26, 2026

This section is part of our living public grammar of Avar and is regularly updated to reflect the latest linguistic research, database enhancements, and morphological analyses.

Adjectives in Avar fall into two main semantic groups:

  1. Qualitative (Качественные): Denote qualities inherent to objects (color, size, taste, character) and varying in degree (e.g., кьогӀаб "bitter" → цӀакъ кьогӀаб "very bitter").
  2. Relative (Относительные): Express relations to time, place, material, or purpose (e.g., цебесеб "front", меседил "golden").
1. Qualitative Adjectives (Качественные Прилагательные)

Qualitative adjectives agree in class and number with the noun they modify. They denote direct properties of an object or person.

1.1 Semantic Categories
  • Color: хъахӀаб (white), цӀахӀилаб (gray), багӀараб (red), гӀурччинаб (green), чӀегӀераб (black), тӀогьилаб (yellow).
  • Quality/State: лъикӀаб (good), квешаб (bad), бацӀцӀадаб (clean), щулияб (strong/firm).
  • Size/Dimension: кӀудияб (big), чӀахӀияб (large/major), тӀеренаб (thin), гъваридаб (deep), гӀатӀидаб (wide), тӀуцаб (low), бицатаб (thick).
  • Taste/Smell: кьогӀаб (bitter), гьуинаб (sweet), цӀекӀаб (sour), тӀагӀамаб (tasty), махӀцараб (stinky), цӀамукъаб (unsalted).
  • Physical Properties: лъамияб (liquid), бакъваяб (dry), тамахаб (soft), къвакӀараб (hard).
  • Temperature: бухӀараб (hot), хинаб (warm), цӀорораб (cold), багӀарараб (burning).

Human-Specific Qualities (these often take Class I/II markers by default):

  • Physical/Age: херав (old), бахӀарав (young), рекъав (lame), кьарияв (fat/plump), хӀалакъав (thin), сахав (healthy), беццав (blind), ворхатав (tall).
  • Internal/Character: кӀвахӀалав (lazy), бахӀарчияв (brave), ццидалав (angry), хъачӀав (rough), цӀодорав (smart), бахилав (miserly).
1.2 Participial Adjectives (-бугеб)

A special class derived from the participle "to be" (бугеб), denoting possession of a trait or state.

  • гIакълу бугеб (smart / "having a mind").
  • Forms: вугев (Class I), йигей (Class II), бугеб (Class III), ругел (Plural).
1.3 Antonyms

Qualitative adjectives often form systematic antonym pairs. (Relative adjectives do not).

  • лъикӀаб (good) ↔ квешаб (bad)
  • бацӀцӀадаб (clean) ↔ чорокаб (dirty)
  • халатаб (long) ↔ къокъаб (short)
  • бахӀарав (young) ↔ херав (old)
  • бечедав (rich) ↔ мискинав (poor)
  • кӀудияб (big) ↔ гьитӀинаб (small)
2. Relative Adjectives (Относительные Прилагательные)

Relative adjectives denote relations to time, place, material, etc., and follow strict grammatical restrictions:

  1. No Degrees of Comparison: Cannot be modified by цӀакъ (very) or бищун (most).
  2. No Short Forms.
  3. No Antonyms.

Examples:

  • Material: маххулаб квартӀа (iron hammer).
  • Possession/Relation: инсулаб ретӀел (father's clothes).
  • Time: жакъасеб къо (today's day), сонисеб къо (yesterday's day).
  • Space: цебесеб (front), нахъисеб (back), аскӀосеб (near), рикӀкӀадисеб (far), кваранаб (right), квегӀаб (left).
3. Morphology and Agreement
3.1 Standard Agreement Paradigm

Most adjectives inflect via a single final suffix that agrees with the head noun's class and number.

Class Singular Example Meaning
Class I (M) -ав лъикӀав вас Good boy
Class II (F) -ай лъикӀай яс Good girl
Class III (N) -аб лъикӀаб чу Good horse
Plural -ал лъикӀал чуял Good horses
3.2 Double Marker Adjectives

Certain adjectives carry class markers at both the beginning and the end. The agreement logic depends on the word's transitivity and semantic type.

Synchronized Logic (Qualitative Adjectives)

For qualitative adjectives relating to physical dimensions (like бицатаб "thick" or борхатаб "high"), both markers rotate together to agree with the same head noun.

  • Structure: [CM]-stem-[CM]
  • Class I (M): в-ицата-в
  • Class II (F): й-ицата-й
  • Class III (N): б-ицата-б
  • Plural: р-ицата-л (Note: The plural prefix is р-).
Recursive Logic (Transitive Participles)

For adjectives derived from transitive participles (like бокьулеб "beloved/favorite"), agreement is decoupled, creating a 16-form matrix.

  1. Initial Marker (Prefix) agrees with the Internal Object (Absolutive argument of the base verb).
  2. Final Marker (Suffix) agrees with the External Head Noun (the noun being modified).
Internal (Object) \ External (Head) Class I Head (-в) Class II Head (-й) Class III Head (-б) Plural Head (-л)
Class I Obj (в-) вокьулев вокьулей вокьулеб вокьулел
Class II Obj (й-) йокьулев йокьулей йокьулеб йокьулел
Class III Obj (б-) бокьулев бокьулей бокьулеб бокьулел
Plural Obj (р-) рокьулев рокьулей рокьулеб рокьулел
3.3 Declension (Substantivized Use)

When an adjective modifies a noun directly (Attributive use), it does not decline for case (лъикӀав чиясе "to the good man").

However, when an adjective functions independently as a substantive ("the good one"), it assumes the full syntactic role of a noun and undergoes complete declension.

Singular Paradigm

Case Class I (Base: -с-) Class II & III (Base: -лъ-)
Absolutive лъикӀ-ав лъикӀ-ай, лъикӀ-аб
Ergative лъикӀа-с лъикӀа-лъ
Genitive лъикӀа-с-ул лъикӀа-лъ-ул
Dative лъикӀа-с-е лъикӀа-лъ-е

Plural Paradigm (All Classes: -з-)

Case Plural Form
Absolutive лъикӀ-ал
Ergative лъикӀа-з
Genitive лъикӀа-з-ул
Dative лъикӀа-з-е

Local Cases: Attach standard local suffixes to the oblique bases (лъикӀасу-, лъикӀалъу-, лъикӀазу-).

4. Degrees of Comparison

Avar adjectives lack morphological comparative degrees (like English "-er").

  1. Comparative: Expressed syntactically using the ablative or locative case on the object of comparison (Гьав чи доса къуватав вуго - "This man is stronger than that one").
  2. Superlative: Formed analytically using the particle бищун (most).
    • Бищун кӀудияб (The biggest).
    • Бищун берцинаб (The most beautiful).
  3. Selective / Emphatic: Formed by adding class suffixes (-ав, -ай, -аб) to the full adjective form. Means "the specific one that is X".
    • БагӀараб + -аб → БагӀарабаб (The red one).
    • Дие чӀегӀерабаб бокьун букӀана. "I wanted the black one."
5. Derivation and Compounding

Adjectives in Avar are highly productive and are constantly derived from other parts of speech.

5.1 Derivation from Nouns

Suffixes are added based on the noun stem's syllable structure and case:

  • Nominative Base (Open Syllable): -яб.
    • рагIи (word) → рагIияб (verbal)
  • Nominative Base (Closed Syllable): -аб.
    • гӀадат (custom) → гӀадатаб (customary)
  • Nominative Vowel Shifts (у//и, а//и): Vowels sometimes shift when adding -яб.
    • гӀелму (science) → гӀелмияб (scientific)
    • хира (dear) → хирияб (dearly/precious)
  • Dative Base: -себ. Used extensively for temporal nouns.
    • сон (yesterday) → сонисеб (yesterday's)
  • Genitive Base: -аб.
    • меседил (of gold) → меседилаб (golden)
    • цӀадал (of rain) → цӀадалаб (rainy)
5.2 Derivation from Adverbs & Adjectivization of Participles
From Adverbs
  • Time Adverbs: Adds -себ (жакъа "today" → жакъасеб "today's").
  • Place Adverbs: Adds -еб to the Ablative form (жаниб "inside" → жаниса → жанисеб "inner").
  • Manner Adverbs: Adds -аб or -яб (квеш "badly" → квешаб "bad").
  • Color/Quality ("-ish"): Adds -сияб to the adverbial root (багӀар "red" → багӀарсияб "reddish").
From Participles
  • Past Participles (-араб): Readily adjectivize to denote state (унтараб "sick", къвакӀараб "hard").
  • General Participles (-улеб): Adjectivize to denote purpose or function (букъарулеб "sewing/for sewing").
  • Causative Constraint: Causative participles (e.g., гъализабураб) do not adjectivize due to their high verbal content.
  • Special Suffixes (-ххин, -цин): Certain verbs with these suffixes form stable adjectives (пинкъаххараб "calloused", махӀцараб "stinky").
5.3 Compound Adjectives
  1. Reduplicated (Intensified): Truncated stem + full form.
    • кӀуди-кӀудиял (very big / diverse big ones).
  2. Antonymic: Hyphenated opposites.
    • гьуинаб-цӀекӀаб (sweet and sour).
    • лъикӀал-квешал (good and bad).
  3. Simile (Noun + Adj): Base noun remains frozen; second component inflects.
    • гӀазухъахӀаб (snow-white) ← гӀазу (snow) + хъахӀаб (white).
  4. Color/Character ("-like / -colored"): Uses bound components like -кьераб (colored) or -махӀав (like/smelling of).
    • гьацӀукьераб (honey-colored).
    • гъалбацӀмахӀав (lion-like/brave).
  5. Abundance ("-rich"): Noun + bound component -хӀалаб.
    • цӀамхӀалаб (salty/salt-rich) ← цӀам (salt).
    • лъимхӀалаб (watery) ← лъим (water).
  6. Approximate ("-ish/somewhat"): Adverb/Noun + bound component -ккараб.
    • цӀахӀилккараб (grayish), гьодккараб (humped/hunchbacked).
  7. Compound Color Shades: Truncated color/shade modifier + full adjective.
    • бецӀбагӀараб (dark red) ← бецӀ (dark) + багӀараб (red).
    • хъахӀчараб (white-speckled).
  8. Numeral Compounds: Numeral base + noun component.
    • кӀитӀалаяб (two-storied) ← кӀи (2) + тӀала (floor).
5.4 Russian Loanwords

Assimilated adjectives typically follow one of these patterns:

  1. Nominative Base: Take -ияб or -аб (экономика → экономикияб "economic").
  2. Genitive Base: Derive from the borrowed noun's genitive (партия → партиялъулаб "party-related").
  3. Overlap Rule (Haplology): For loanwords ending in -ия (e.g., идеология), the derivational suffix -яб overlaps with the stem. The language simply adds the class marker -б, forming -ияб (идеология → идеологияб "ideological").
6. Syntax (Синтаксис)

Adjectives demonstrate several specific syntactic behaviors, functioning primarily as attributes but also as predicates or subjects/objects when substantivized.

6.1 Attributive Function (Определение)
  • Position: Pre-positive. Adjectives strictly precede the noun they modify (ЛъикӀаб чу "Good horse").
  • Agreement: They agree with the head noun in Class and Number.
  • Case Invariance: Unlike Russian, the attributive adjective does not change its case when the head noun declines (ЛъикӀав чиясе "To the good boy").
6.2 Predicative Function (Сказуемое)

Adjectives can function as the main predicate (nominal predicate) in a sentence.

  • Agreement: As a predicate, the adjective agrees with the Absolutive subject of the clause.
  • Example: Щибаб росулъ гьобол лъикӀав. ("In every village, a guest [is] good.") -> Agrees with гьобол (Class I).
6.3 Substantivization & Selective Form

When the suffix -аб (or -ав/-ай/-ал) is added to an adjective, it takes on Selective semantics ("the X one") and can function independently as the head of a noun phrase (Subject or Object).

  • Дие чӀегӀерабаб бокьун букӀана. "I wanted the black one." (Acts as the Absolutive object).
  • БагӀарабаб къалам кье. "Give the particular red pencil." (Emphatic attribute).
6.4 Compound Adjective Agreement Rules

Compound adjectives exhibit two distinct agreement patterns based on their formation:

  1. Coordinate Compounds (Double Agreement): In paired antonyms or reduplicated forms, both components inflect to agree with the head noun.
    • Rule: Adj1[Agr] + Adj2[Agr] + Noun
    • Example: ЧӀегӀерал-хъахӀал гӀанкӀуял (Black and white hens).
  2. Subordinate Compounds (Head Agreement): In noun-based compounds (similes), only the second component (the head) inflects. The noun base remains frozen.
    • Rule: Noun[Stem] + Adj[Agr] + Noun
    • Example: ГӀазухъахӀал кагътал (Snow-white papers). (ГӀазу remains unchanged).
6.5 Adjectivization Constraints

When a participle (e.g., гьетӀараб "crooked/bent") modifies a noun, its syntactic status depends on its dependents:

  • Independent Modifiers: Become adjectives (ГьетӀараб гъветӀ "Crooked tree").
  • With Verbal Dependents: Remain participles (ГӀазул бакӀлъиялъ гьетӀараб гъветӀ "Tree bent by the snow's weight" — the presence of the agent бакӀлъиялъ blocks adjectivization).
6.6 Genitive Attributes

Nouns in the Genitive case frequently function as attributes, syntactically identical to relative adjectives.

  • Ихдалил гьава (Spring air) ← их (Spring).
  • Космосалъул (Cosmic / Of space).
6.7 Short Forms (Усеченные формы)

Short forms consisting only of the adjective stem (without class suffixes) are used stylistically in poetry, epics, and proverbs as fixed epithets.

  • Examples: багӀар бакъ (red sun) vs standard багӀараб бакъ; чӀегӀер берал (black eyes).
  • Compounding: Short forms frequently fuse into compound nouns: багӀаргӀеч (tomato/red apple), чӀегӀеракь (chernozem/dark earth).
6.8 Syntactic Test for Nouns vs. Masdars

Because Adjectives must agree with the noun they modify, they are used as a definitive syntactic test: If a form can take an attributive adjective, it is a noun, not a masdar (verbal noun).

6.9 Adjectival Word Combinations (Адъективные словосочетания)

In adjectival combinations, the adjective acts as the head word and can take dependents from various parts of speech:

  • Substantive Dependents: Nouns in various cases.
    • Nominative: росу рихарав (village-hating), квер бакӀав (heavy-handed).
    • Genitive: лъималазул кӀудияв (eldest of the children).
    • Dative: чидае гьуинаб (pleasant for outsiders), рукъалъе захӀматаб (heavy for the house).
    • Ergative: пихъалъ бечедаб (rich in fruit), гӀаздаца хъахӀаб (white with snow).
    • Locative Series: хӀалтӀуда лъикӀав (good at work), росулъ квешав (bad in the village), чвантиниб бакӀаб (heavy in the pocket).
  • Pronoun Dependents:
    • Personal: дун хӀажатав (needing me), мун разияв (the one you are content with).
    • Reflexive: живго гьитӀинаб (small itself).
  • Adverbial Dependents: For manner, characteristic, degree, and comparison.
    • кидаго хехай (always fast), цӀакъ квешаб (very bad), тӀегьгӀан берцинаб (beautiful like a flower).
  • Verbal Dependents: Purposive verb forms (Infinitive/Target).
    • цӀализе хашав (weak in studying), гьабизе бигьаяб (easy to do), вагъизе цӀакъав (best in fighting).