Eldertongue: Adjectives and Adverbs

Eldertongue draws very little distinction between adjectives and adverbs. In theory, any word that can be used as the one can also be used as the other (although, as Avram Chomsky demonstrated with his Colorless green ideas sleep furiously for English, it is perfectly possible to create a nonsensical sentence that is grammatically correct in Eldertongue.)

Starting with some basic vocabulary...

jiniz - ill/weak
vorganan - healthy/strong
rula - friendly (either)/playful (adjective)/in pretend (adverb)
rivan - serious
adali - aesthetically attractive, beautiful
biljoob - aesthetically repulsive, ugly
zhloora - fancy
zhool - simple
idi - quick
dool - slow

It is worth noticing that, while all Eldertongue adjectives can be used as adverbs, the meaning can change from an English speaker's perspective. One excellent example is the young/old pairing. Obviously, English does not say that one "youngly" did something or one "oldly" did something, but Eldertongue, in its own way, does.

nani - instinctively (adverb)/young (adjective)
vorzro - due to experience (adverb)/old (adjective)

Positioning an adjective or an adverb in a sentence is easy. The word doun always indicates that the next word is an adjective or adverb joined to the noun or verb that came immediately before doun. So:

Zharoo.
I am about to sing to you.

Zharoo doun adali.
I am about to sing beautifully to you.

Zharoog odaroo.
I am about to sing to the dog.

Zharoog odaroo doun adali.
I am about to sing to the beautiful dog.

Zharoo doun adalig odaroo doun adali.
I am about to sing beautifully to the beautiful dog.

Unlike English (where "the leather black jacket" is incorrect and "the black leather jacket" is correct), adjectives or adverbs may be applied to their applicable noun or verb in any order. It is important to note, however, that adverbs do not modify adjectives in Eldertongue -- all doun clauses refer back to the noun or the verb.