Appendix:Lower Sorbian adjectives

Adjective declension chart

	singular				dual		plural
	masculine		neuter	feminine	virile	nonvirile	virile	nonvirile
	animate	inanimate
nominative, vocative	-y/-i		-e/-je	-a/ja	-ej/-jej		-e/-je
genitive	-ego/-jego -eg/-jeg¹			-eje/-jeje -ej/-jej¹	-eju/-jeju		-ych/-ich
dative	-emu/jemu -em/-jem¹			-ej/-jej	-yma/-ima		-ym/-im
accusative	-ego/jego -eg/-jeg¹	-y/-i	-e/-je	-u/-ju	-eju/-jeju	-ej/-jej	-e/-je, -ych/-ich	-e/-je
instrumental	-ym/-im			-eju/-jeju -ej/-jej¹	-yma/-ima		-ymi/-imi
locative	-em/-jem -ym/-im²			-ej/-jej	-yma/-ima		-ych/-ich

• 1: like in Upper Sorbian, somes cases drop final vowel for poetic and colloquial language;
• 2: singular locative masculine and neuter in older texts and dialects uses -ym/-im endings instead;
• rad is the only adjective with nominative-only forms;
• some adjectival pronouns have also other irregularities in their declensions, e.g. naš, waš, ten, žeden, sam;
• there is group of indeclinable adjectives, usually of foreign origin, like blond (“blond”);

Adjective declension

Ending in hard stem

	singular				dual		plural
	masculine		neuter	feminine	virile	nonvirile	virile	nonvirile
	animate	inanimate
nominative, vocative	dobry		dobre	dobra	dobrej		dobre
genitive	dobrego dobreg¹			dobreje dobrej¹	dobreju		dobrych
dative	dobremu dobrem¹			dobrej	dobryma		dobrym
accusative	dobrego dobreg¹	dobry	dobre	dobru	dobreju	dobrej	dobre, dobrych	dobre
instrumental	dobrym			dobreju dobrej¹	dobryma		dobrymi
locative	dobrem dobrym²			dobrej	dobryma		dobrych

Ending in soft stem

	singular				dual		plural
	masculine		neuter	feminine	virile	nonvirile	virile	nonvirile
	animate	inanimate
nominative, vocative	tuni		tunje	tunja	tunjej		tunje
genitive	tunjego tunjeg¹			tunjeje tunjej¹	tunjeju		tunich
dative	tunjemu tunjem¹			tunjej	tunima		tunim
accusative	tunjego tunjeg¹	tuni	tunje	tunju	tunjeju	tunjej	tunje, tunich	tunje
instrumental	tunim			tunjeju tunjej¹	tunima		tunimi
locative	tunjem tunim²			tunjej	tunima		tunich

Ending in -g, -k, -j, -ś, -šć

	singular				dual		plural
	masculine		neuter	feminine	virile	nonvirile	virile	nonvirile
	animate	inanimate
nominative, vocative	drogi		droge	droga	drogej		droge
genitive	drogego drogeg¹			drogeje drogej¹	drogeju		drogich
dative	drogemu drogem¹			drogej	drogima		drogim
accusative	drogego drogeg¹	drogi	droge	drogu	drogeju	drogej	droge, drogich	droge
instrumental	drogim			drogeju drogej¹	drogima		drogimi
locative	drogem drogim²			drogej	drogima		drogich

Comparative and superlative forms

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are used to compare degree of intensity of the same feature described by the adjective. Adjectives constitute three degrees of comparison - positive: pěkny (“pretty”), comparative: pěknjejšy (“prettier”) and superlative: nejpěknjejšy (“the prettiest”). In Lower Sorbian there are three different types of comparison: regular, irregular and descriptive. In the case of superlative adjectives, the accent falls on the second syllable, e.g. nejlěpšy [nejˈlʲɪpʃɨ].

Superlative is always formed by adding a prefix nej- to the comparative form or, if the adjective is compared in a descriptive way, by using the word nejwěcej instead of comparative wěcej.

Regular comparison

Comparative of adjectives is formed by adding the ending -šy:

• -y/-i → -šy (nowy → nowšy, młody → młodšy)

which is often accompanied by alternatiom of an adjective stem:

• -ł-y → -l-šy (kisały → kisalšy);
• -oł-y → -el-šy (wjasoły → wjaselšy);
• -łk-i → -l-šy (měłki → mělšy);
• -n-y → -ń-šy (šykowany → šykowańšy);
• -n-i → -ń-šy (tuni → tuńšy);
• -g-i → -šy (drogi → drošy);
• -ch-y → -šy (śichy → śišy);
• -sk-i → -šy (niski → nišy);
• -sok-i → -šy (wusoki → wušy);
• -žk-i → -šy (śěžki → śěšy);
• -k-i → -šy (gładki → gładšy);
• -k-i → -šy (śańki → śańšy);
• -k-i → -šy (krotki → krotšy);
• -ok-i → -šy (daloki → dalšy);
• -ok-i → -šy (dłymoki → dłymšy);
• -ok-i → -šy (šyroki → šyršy).

or the ending -ejšy (with alternation in a stem):

• -d-y → -ź-ejšy (gjardy → gjarźejšy);
• -ł-y → -l-ejšy (śopły → śoplejšy);
• -n-y → -nj-ejšy (pilny → pilnjejšy);
• -r-y → -rj-ejšy (mudry → mudrjejšy);
• -rk-i → -rc-ejšy (górki → górcejšy);
• -sk-i → -sč-ejšy (wuski → wusčejšy);
• -st-y → -sć-ejšy (cysty → cysćejšy);
• -tš-y → -tś-ejšy (wótšy → wótśejšy);
• -žk-i → -žč-ejšy (lažki → lažčejšy).

Irregular comparison

There is a number of adjectives which have an irregular comparative form. Compare:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
dłujki	dlejšy	nejdlejšy
dobry	lěpšy	nejlěpšy
górucy	górucejšy	nejgórucejšy
mały	mjeńšy	nejmjeńšy
wjeliki	wětšy	nejwětšy
zły	góršy	nejgóršy
kšuty	kšuśejšy	nejkšuśejšy
žydki	žydčejšy	nejžydčejšy

Descriptive comparison

Some adjectives form comparatives and superlatives by using the adverbs wěcej and nejwěcej (which themselves are comparative and superlative of the adverb wjele respectively) before an adjective.

It is possible to form comparatives and superlatives this way even for adjectives whose comperative can be formed regularly or irregularly (as described earlier). For instance: znaty (“famous, well-known”) → wěcej znaty (“more famous”) → nejwěcej znaty (“the most famous”).

Adjectives derivied from nouns (e.g. drjewjany (“wooden”), metalny (“metal”)) do not form comparatives and superlatives. Additionaly, adjectival participles, adjectival pronouns and ordinal numerals do not either.

Declension

Adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms are declinable. They are declined in accordance to the earlier mentioned pattern. Analogously, they depend on gender, number and case and receive similar case endings.

Forming adverbs

Adverbs are derived by removing an adjective ending and replacing it with the -o or -e suffix.

Examples:

• jěsny → jěsno, wjasoły → wjasele etc.

If an adjective ends in -r-y, the adverb receives the -rj-e ending:

• mudry → mudrje etc.