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  lligacama (f.) garter

  tornaboda (f.) celebration on the day after a wedding or holiday

  1.2.3.2 The Gender of Endocentric Compounds

  If the compound is endocentric, that is, it consists of a head noun basically denoting the object in question together with a modifier (which may also be a noun), then the gender of the compound is the gender of the head noun. The head is normally the element on the left when the elements are written with a hyphen or space. In the rest, the sense is the only guide to which is the head element (indicated in italics in the examples):

  camió cisterna (m.) tanker lorry

  ciutat estat (f.) city state

  decret llei (m.) order in council

  ocell lira (m.) lyre-bird

  òpera ballet (f.) opera ballet

  paper ceba (m.) onion-skin paper

  planta pilot (f.) pilot plant

  ratapinyada (f.) bat

  ferrocarril (m.) railway

  filferro (πι.) wire

  marededed (f.) image of the Virgin

  plenamar (f.) high water

  terratrèmol (m.) earthquake

  voravia (f.) pavement, sidewalk

  etc.

  The following, however, are exceptionally masculine; note that the adjectival elements fail to mark feminine agreement with aigua (f.) ‘water’ and vora (f.) ‘edge’:

  aiguacuit (m.) glue

  aiguamoll (m.) marsh

  aiguafort (m.) dilute nitric acid, etching

  aiguardent (m.) eau-de-vie

  aigua-ros (m.) rose-water

  aiguanaf (m.) orange-flower water

  salfumant (m.) hydrochloric acid

  voraviu (m.) hem

  1.2.3.3 Other types of compound nouns

  In the case of other types of exocentric compounds (other than those in 1.2.3.1), which denote something different from what either of the individual elements denotes, and in the case of noun + noun compounds where both elements contribute equally to the meaning, the principle seems to be that a compound that contains a feminine singular noun and no masculine nouns is feminine (i), otherwise the compound is masculine (ii):

  aiguaneu (f.) sleet

  avemaria (f.) Hail Mary

  bonaventura (f.) fortune-telling, palmistry

  cama-roja (f.) flamingo

  coliflor (f.) cauliflower

  enhorabona (f.) congratulations

  giravolta (f.) marialluïsa (f.) turn, revolution lemon verbena

  etc.

  and also sempreviva ‘everlasting flower’ which contains a feminine adjective but no noun.

  adéu (m.) farewell

  aiguapoll (m.) dummy egg, infertile egg

  capicua (m.) palindromic number

  cara-sol (m.) part facing the sun

  colinap (m.) turnip (for fodder) (f. in some sources)

  culdellàntia (m.) vignette

  estira-i-arronsa (m.) give and take

  forabord (m.) outboard motor

  llargmetratge (m.) feature-length film

  no-sé-què (m.) je-ne-sais-quoi

  trespeus (m.) tripod

  etc.

  Milfulles ‘yarrow’, which ought to be masculine by the above principles, is given as (f.) in some sources, including the Institut d’Estudis Catalans Diccionari de la llengua catalana. The following are also unexpectedly masculine.

  bona-nit (m.) goodnight

  cinc-en-rama (m.) cinquefoil

  milengrana (m.) goosefoot

  semprenflor (m.) alyssum

  1.2.4 Homonyms of Different Gender

  There is a relatively small number of nouns which have a homonymous form of the opposite gender, with a different meaning:

  Masculine Feminine

  alambor scarp luxuriance

  albor (freshwater fish) dawn light

  baboia scarecrow, foolish man/boy fib

  breu (papal) brief breve

  canal canal channel, gulley

  capital capital, assets capital (city/letter)

  clau nail key

  còlera cholera anger

  coma coma comma, mountain hollow

  cometa comet (pl.) inverted commas

  consonant vowel rhyme consonant

  contra organ pedal, argument against opposition, obstacle

  cremallera rack railway zip

  delta (river) delta (Greek letter) delta

  deu ten source, spring

  editorial editorial publishing house

  extra bonus, extra item, (male) film extra (female) film extra

  fe hay faith

  fí objective end

  fleuma dope, fool (male) ribbonfish, dope, fool (female)

  frau fraud gorge, defile

  Gènesi book of Genesis genesis

  guia (male) guide guidebook, guidance, (female) guide

  habilitat paymaster skill

  levita Levite frock coat

  llama llama lamé

  llum lamp light (radiation)

  marieta poof ladybird, Russula sanguinea mushroom

  mel cheekbone honey

  mofeta (male) leg-puller (female) leg-puller, firedamp, skunk

  mort (male) dead person death

  necessitat needy man need, necessity

  neula (male) twit/fool (female) twit/fool, mist, wafer

  ordre order, orderliness command

  paleta (male) bricklayer (female) bricklayer, trowel, palette, paddle

  part childbirth part

  pau simpleton, mug peace

  Pi pine Pi

  planeta planet (a person’s) destiny

  pols pulse dust

  post (military) post plank, ironing board

  pudor shame, modesty stink

  salut greeting health

  set set, seven thirst

  setge siege figwort

  son sleep sleepiness, desire to sleep

  talent talent appetite

  terra ground earth, Earth

  tos occiput cough

  vall trench valley

  vocal (male) committee member (female) committee member, vowel

  1.2.5 NOUNS OF VARIABLE OR DOUBTFUL GENDER

  The case of some abstract nouns ending in -or, where either gender may be found, has been mentioned above (1.2.2.3), There are a few others where either gender is regarded as correct, or where the two genders are found in slightly different uses.

  The following are nowadays predominantly masculine: aglà ‘acorn’ (but the alternative form gla is feminine), crin ‘horsehair’, èmfasi ‘emphasis’, esfinx ‘sphinx’, pivot ‘pivot’, serpent ‘serpent’.

  The following are predominantly feminine: crisma ‘chrism’, ‘holy oil’, grip ‘influenza’, idus (f.pl.) ‘Ides’, sarment ‘vine shoot’.

  For some there is no clear preference: aviram ‘domestic fowls’, bricbarca ‘barque’, laude ‘arbitrator’s decision’, vodka ‘vodka’. Fel ‘gall’, ‘bile’ may be feminine in Balearic and Valencian, but is masculine elsewhere.

  Art is masculine in the sense ‘fishing net’; in the sense ‘art’, ‘skill’ it is masculine in phrases such as Viure bé és un art ‘Good living is an art’, el dubtós art de la guerra ‘the doubtful art of war’, exercitar un art ‘practise a skill’, art dramàtic ‘dramatic art’, art figuratiu ‘figurative art’, art grec ‘Greek art’; feminine in belles arts ‘fine arts’, arts gràfiques ‘graphic art’, arts mecàniques ‘manual skills’, art poètica ‘Ars Poètica’, ‘poetics’, males arts ‘trickery’.

  Mar is usually masculine in its literal sense, when occurring unqualified, as in D’allí podíeu veure el mar ‘From there you could see the sea’, la superfície del mar ‘the surface of the sea’. But we find both el mar Mediterrani and la mar Mediterrània ‘the Mediterranean’. When talking about the state of the waves or tide, mar is feminine: l’estat de la mar ‘the state of the waves’, mar grossa/brava/desfeta ‘heavy sea’, mala mar ‘heavy sea’, mar calma ‘calm sea’, fer-se a la mar ‘put to sea’; and metaphorically: una mar de/la mar de ‘a
lot’, ‘a large quantity’ as in Vam estar la mar de contents ‘We were extremely pleased’, Estic en una mar de dubtes ‘I am in a great deal of doubt’. In Balearic mar is feminine in all senses.

  Vessant is masculine in the sense ‘valley side’, but either masculine or feminine in the sense ‘slope’ (of roof, hillside, where rainwater runs down) and in the figurative sense ‘facet’ (of an issue).

  1.2.6 Metonymic Gender

  Some of the examples in previous sections illustrate instances where one noun has acquired the gender of another associated with it which has been suppressed. This pattern accounts for some apparent gender anomalies, e.g. el Psicosi = el bar ‘Psicosi’ (la psicosi ‘psychosis’), el Gran Via = el cine ‘Gran Via’, una EBRO = una camioneta EBRO ‘an EBRO light van’, la Model = la presó Model ‘Model prison’, un Ibiza = un cotxe SEAT «Ibiza»; un Alella = un vi d’Alella ‘Alella wine’, el Barça = el club de futbol «Barça» ‘Barcelona FC’, el Plata = el riu Plata ‘the River Plate’ (but note that Catalan rivers whose names end in -a are feminine: la Valira, la Sènia).

  Through ellipsis of this kind names of companies are feminine: la (companyia) SEAT, la IBM, la Hertz; likewise roads: la (carretera) N2, l’(autopista) A-l.

  1.2.7 Gender of Abbreviations and Acronyms

  This is determined by the gender of the head noun:

  el BUP (m.) (Batxillerat Unificat Polivalent) (approx. GCSE)

  la CEE (f.) (Comunitat Econòmica Europea) EEC

  els EUA (m.pl.) (Estats Units d’Amèrica) la fecsa (f.) (la (companyia) forces Elèctriques de Catalunya, SA) USA

  l’IVA (m.) (Impost sobre el Valor Afegit) VAT

  l’ONU (f.) (Organització de les Nacions Unides) UN

  l’OTAN (f.) (Organització del Tractat de l’Atlàntic Nord) NATO

  ovni (m.) (objecte volant no identificat) UFO

  la SIDA (f.) (Síndrome d’Immunodeficiència Adquirida) AIDS

  la UIB (f.) (Universitat de les Illes Balears)

  When the abbreviation or acronym denotes an institution named in a foreign language, the gender either derives from an associated Catalan word if there is one, or is masculine by default: la Unesco ‘UNESCO’ (cf. ONU (f.)), la Unicef ‘UNICEF’, l’FBI, l’IRA (m.).

  1.2.8 Gender of Foreign Words

  Words borrowed from Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin typically bring with them the gender they have in the source language (with Latin neuter > Catalan masculine); words from other languages tend to be masculine, unless they are closely associated semantically with a Catalan word which is feminine. Even so there are some anomalies. The following examples are taken from Terenci Moix’s novel Lleonard, ο el sexe dels àngels (1992): allure (f.), alma mater (f.), aloha (m.), best-seller (m.), blue-jeans (m.) de color blanc‘white jeans’, boom(m.), boutade(f.), cassette (m.) ‘cassette recorder’, charme (m.), contestazione (f.), les élites (f.pl.), entente cordiale (f.), flipper (m.) ‘pin-ball machine’, kitsch (m.), knack (m.), els mass media (m.pl.), milieu (m.), minishorts (m.), modus vivendi (m.), no-man’s land (f.), ñángara (m.) ‘guerrilla fighter’, partouze (m.) ‘orgy’, puente del diálogo (m.) ‘bridge of discussion’, sancta sanctorum (m.), trattoria (f), travelling (m.) ‘pan shot’.

  2 PLURAL OF NOUNS AND FORMATION OF DERIVED NOUNS

  In 2.1 and 2.2. we discuss plural formation and the use of plurals. Section 2.3 introduces diminutive, augmentative, and evaluative suffixes in nouns, especially those that are productive. Some orthographic features mentioned at various points in this chapter are summarized in Chapter 37.

  2.1 PLURAL FORMATION

  There are five, related, patterns for forming the plural of nouns (and adjectives) in Catalan. These are (i) the addition of -s to the singular form (the predominant pattern), (ii) the replacement of final -a by -es, (iii) the addition of -ns, (iv) the addition of -os, (v) invariable form (plural identical with singular). Pattern (iv), the addition of -os, is unique to masculine nouns; the other patterns are found with nouns of both genders.

  2.1.1 BASIC PLURAL FORMATION RULE

  The normal pattern for words which end in a consonant or semiconsonant (other than -ç, -s, or -x), or an unstressed vowel (other than -a), consists in the addition of the suffix -s. (Words which end in -ig, -sc, -st, or -xt optionally follow this pattern; see below 2.1.5.4.)

  ou → ous eggs

  got → gots tumblers

  arbre → arbres trees

  crisi → crisis crises

  moto → motos motorbikes

  etc.

  Nouns which end in unstressed -en require the addition of a written accent in the plural, e.g. examen → exàmens ‘examinations’, fenomen → fenòmens ‘phenomena’, origen → orígens ‘origins’ (see 37.5.1).

  2.1.2 PLURAL OF WORDS ENDING IN -a

  Words which end in unstressed -a in the singular replace this with -es in the plural. There are some consequential regular orthographic changes when the stem ends in -c-, -ç-, -g-, -gu-, -j-, or -qu- (see 37.3).

  cama → cames legs

  fantasma → fantasmes phantoms

  idea →idees ideas

  papa → papes popes

  taula → taules tables

  boca → boques mouths

  plaça → places squares, places

  psicòloga → psicòlogues (female) psychologists

  llengua → llengües tongues

  taronja → taronges oranges

  platja → platges beaches

  pasqua → pasqües Christmas period

  etc.

  2.1.3 PLURAL OF WORDS ENDING IN A STRESSED VOWEL

  Most nouns that end in a stressed vowel (for historical reasons) add -ns in the plural (losing any written accent; a diaeresis will be required over syllabic -i preceded by another vowel).

  cinturó → cinturons belts

  do → dons gifts

  mà → mans hands

  pi → pins pines

  veí → veïns neighbours

  Names of the letters of the alphabet, and notes of the scale (music), are exceptions, which add just -s: bes ‘Bs’, kas ‘Ks’, dos ‘Cs’, etc. Likewise, grammatical words: perquè/perquès ‘whys’/‘reasons’, sís ‘yeses’, nos ‘noes’, peròs ‘buts’. There are around a hundred other exceptions which add -s only, the great majority of them words borrowed from other languages and which usually have a similar form in English. The following list includes the indigenous examples, and the commonest of the rest, grouped according to the final vowel.

  lilà pl lilàs lilac

  mamà pi. mamàs mum

  panamà pl. panamàs Panama hat

  papà pl. papàs dad

  rajà pl. rajàs rajah

  sofà pl. sofàs sofa

  tarannà pl. tarannàs character

  xa pl. xas shah

  abecé pl. abecés ABC, pl. = rudiments

  calé (fam.) usually used in pl. calés lolly, cash

  clixé pl. clixés photographic plate, cliché

  consomé pl. consomés consommé

  pagaré pl. pagarés promissory note

  peroné pl peronés fibula

  plaqué pl plaqués gold or silver plate

  puré pl. purés purée

  quinqué pl. quinqués oil lamp

  ximpanzé pl. ximpanzés chimpanzee

  bebè pl. bebès baby

  cafè pl. cafès coffee

  canapè pl. canapès couch

  comitè pl. comitès committee

  fe pl. fes faith

  mercè pl. mercès reward, favour; (plural also = thanks)

  oboè pl. oboès oboe

  bengalí pl. bengalís Bengali

  bisturí pl. bisturís scalpel

  esquí pl. equís ski

  frenesí pl. frenesís frenzy

  juí (Val.) pl. juís judgement

  perjuí (Val.) pl. perjuís damage

  dominó pl. dominós mask, disguise

  rondó pl. rondós rondo

  pro pl. pros pro, argument for

  bambú
pl. bambús bamboo

  hindú pl. hindús Hindu

  menú pl. menús table d’hote menu

  nyu pl. nyus gnu

  tabú pl. tabús taboo

  tatú pl. tatús armadillo

  2.1.4 PLURAL OF WORDS ENDING IN UNSTRESSED -e

  In Valencian, NW Catalan, and some other areas (Ibiza, Alghero) a few words that end in unstressed -e may form plurals in -ns (entailing a written accent on the stressed syllable). Hòmens and jóvens are well established in standard Valencian.

  home Val/NW pl. hòmens, elsewhere homes man

  jove Val/NW pl. jóvens, elsewhere joves youth

  ase Val/NW pl. àsens or, as elsewhere, ases ass

  cove Val/NW pl. còvens or, as elsewhere, coves conical basket

  freixe Val/NW pl. fréixens or, as elsewhere, freixes ash tree

  marge Val/NW pl. màrgens or, as elsewhere, marges edge, margin

  orfe Val/NW pl. òrfens or, as elsewhere, orfes (male) orphan

  rave Val/NW pl. ràvens or, as elsewhere, raves radish

  terme Val/NW pl. térmens or, as elsewhere, termes boundary, term

  verge Val/NW pl. vèrgens or, as elsewhere, verges virgin

  2.1.5 PLURAL OF NOUNS ENDING IN -ç, -s, -x; -sc, -st, -xt; -ig

  2.1.5.1 Feminine nouns

  Feminine nouns ending in -s are invariable: les tos ‘the coughs’, les càries ‘the caries (pl.)’, les ics ‘the Xs’, etc. Feminine nouns ending in one of the other letters or sequences mentioned add -s in the regular way (though the s is silent after -ç or -x): les falçs ‘the sickles’, les xeixs ‘the Xs’, les hèlixs ‘the spirals’, les larinxs ‘the larynxes’, les posts ‘the planks’, les forests, ‘the forests’, etc.

  2.1.5.2 Plural of masculine nouns ending in -s or -x (unstressed)

  Masculine nouns ending in -s or -x whose final syllable is unstressed follow the rule just given for feminines: un atles ‘an atlas’: els atles ‘the atlases’, divendres ‘Friday’: els divendres ‘the Fridays’, and so on for Adonis ‘Adonis’, clítoris ‘clitoris’, albatros ‘albatross’, termos ‘thermos flask’, síl·labus ‘syllabus’, focus ‘spotlight’, fòrceps ‘forceps’; index ‘index’: índexs ‘indices’, ‘indexes’, apèndix ‘appendix’: apèndixs ‘appendices’, càrritx ‘reed’: càrritxs ‘reeds’, etc. (Before a spelling reform of 1984 some masculine words were written with unstressed -as in the singular, but with -es in the plural, such as atlas ‘atlas’, galimatias ‘nonsense’, Judas ‘Judas’, pàncreas ‘pancreas’; the reform introduced invariable -es into all such words.)