Untersuchungen zu Daukšas Postille – III . Adjektive auf -us
Research in Daukša's Postilla III: U-stem adjectives

Summary/Abstract: The article provides a complete collection of u-stem adjectives in Daukša’s 1599 Postilla as well as a thorough grammatical description of their declension patterns (simple and definite forms, comparative and superlative degrees both of masculine u- and corresponding feminine io-adjectives). Special attention is given to two morphological forms that seem to differ from the standard language: the nominative plural of the simple masculine adjectives in -ųs and the nominative singular masculine of the comparative degree in -esnįs. The analysis of Daukša´s orthography shows that there is no need to assume a nasal vowel or a sequence of vowel and nasal consonant in these endings. Rather, the characters -ų and -į represent [u(ː)] and [i(ː)] in the position before a sibilant sound. Since vowel quantity is not marked in Daukša´s spelling system, the endings -ųs and -įs (in -esnįs) can be equated with -ūs and -is of the standard language. In the case of -esnįs there may be an additional (graphical) influence of the preceding nasal consonant.

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