15 



Forms for the adjective nocjiejH- may be accommodated into this pattern by accepting 

 alternations similar to those set up for noun variations, e. g. 



a/fl 

 o/e 

 y/io 

 h/h 



Two minor variations have not been taken into account as yet. They are: 



1) In cases N and A(inanimate) of the masc. sg. , the ending-oK occurs for some 

 adjectives. This ending always bears the accent, while -hm never does; e.g. , 



npocToS HOBHii npocToe HOBoe npocTafl Ho'Bafl : npociHe hobub 



2) Some adjectives , which have -b.- in pre-ending position for most forms, have 

 special short endings in NA-pl. and NA-sg.(for neut. and fem.); e.g. , 



TpeTHii(nocjieflHHM) TpeTbe(nocjieflHee) TpeTbfl(nocjieAHHH) TpeTbH(-HHe) 



n " n " TpeTbK)(nOCJieflHK)I0) 



SUMMARY OF ADJECTIVE ENDINGS 



N 



A 



G 

 D 

 P 



I 



Restrictions on Consonant -Vowel Groupings 



The vocalic alternations which form such neat patterns in the matter of noun and 

 adjective endings are disturbed by a few restrictions on the grouping of consonant and 

 vowel letters. The restrictions are these: 



1) the letters kTX H^mni n may be followed by a but not by fl 



2J the same letters " " " " y " " " k 



3) the letters k r x 5k q m m - - -t i, ^ " " " h 



4) the letter u, may be followed by h or h but only by H in word endings. 



5) the letters 3k y m m u may be followed by g only when it bears the accent (g); 

 otherwise, the vowel e occurs . For example, Mym "husband", I-sg! ufxeu 



HOW "knife", I-sg. homom 



Adjectives with Noun Meaning 



A number of Russian words which are adjectival in form may occur alone with a 

 noun meaning; for example, 



masc . fem. neut . pl . 



pyCCHMH "a Russian" pyCCHafl "a Russian" HaC6K0M0e "insect" pyCCKHe "Russians" 



yyeHHH "scientist" HpHBaH "curve" ffiHBOTHOe "animal" flaHHHe "data" 



nopTHOM "tailor" MOCTOBaH "pavement" dyflymee "the future" KpHBUe "curves" 



Many Russian family names have adjectival endings, particularly those ending in -chmm, 

 e.g. 



^aHHOBCHMH; Mysuna ^aMKOBCKoro 

 "Tchaikovsky; the music of Tchaikovsky" 



*The letter r in these adjectival endings represents the sound v, normally indicated by 

 the Russian letter B. This is one of the few irregularities of the Russian spelling 

 system. 



