-(t)ar atzizkidun hitzen jokabide sintaktikoaren inguruan

Abstract

It is usually said that the words that take the suffix -(t)ar in the Basque language can appear either before or after the noun. A large group of speakers, however, systematically reject the first position. The present article reasons this rejection from a grammatical point of view: in the order [word with suffix -(t)ar + noun], we have a compound word of the type [noun + noun], whilst in the order [noun + word with the suffix -(t)ar], we have a mere syntactic construction [noun + adjective]. The first order shares the characteristics of compound words: proper nouns cannot form part of compounds, as pointed out by Azkue and Villasante; the words headed by the suffix -(t)ar cannot be used as qualifying adjectives and cannot be modified by the adjective huts; the compound formed by a word heade by the suffix -(t)ar can form part of a new compound. These characteristics change completely when the word with the suffix -(t)ar appears behind the noun. The conclusion drawn is that although the suffix -(t)ar creates derived nouns and adjectives, a great many speakers give it adjective value when the word with the suffix -(t)ar modifies a name that acts as nucleus in a noun phrase and, therefore, only accept one of the two orders mentioned. Another group of (more conservative) speakers, however, use both values (noun and adjective) and, as a result, accept both orders.