Noun

Definition

A noun can appear as a predicate head and may be expanded with other elements and can have nominal adjuncts. They can appear alone, followed by particles, and followed by adverbs. A noun predicate head can be preceded by a modifying adjunct, or numeral, with the predicate particles following the first word. Nouns do not have distinctions of aspect.

In addition, nouns can only appear in certain constructions though they may appear with adjectives in nominal predicates expanded with adjectives. Noun heads can take possessive affixes and have noun possessors and can have various adjectival modifiers, including noun premodifiers (Suttles, 2003, pp. 77-82). In addition, nouns can be given an adjectival meaning and may be used attributively, as well as predicatively (Suttles, 2003, p. 89).

Examples

Example in the Skwxwu7mesh Context of a Noun Preceded by a Modifying Adjective (Jacobs, 2013, p. 2)
swə́y̓qeʔ     cən.
man               I
‘I am a man.’		ʔə́y̓        čxʷ       swə́y̓qeʔ.
good       you        man
‘You’re a good man.’
Examples in the Halkomelem Context of Nouns in a Simple Context and Preceded by a Modifying Adjective (Suttles, 2003, p.p. 79-81)

References

Jacobs, P. W. (2013). Subordinate clauses in Skwxwu7mesh: Their form and function. Northwest Journal of Linguistics, 7(2), 1-54.

Suttles, W. (2004). Musqueum reference grammar. UBC Press. SFU Student Access.