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Agreement
quickinfo

Frisian nouns are marked for number (singular, plural) and gender (neuter, common). Number is visible in the phonological shape of the noun:

singular: boek book

plural: boek-en book-s

Gender is usually not visible in the morpho-phonological shape of the noun:

neuter gender: boek book

common gender: man man

Gender is systematically visible in the singular from the morpho-phonological shape of the definite article and of the demonstrative article that may accompany the noun. Hence, the article and the demonstrative may be said to agree with the noun, showing a distinction between the neuter singular and all others. This type of agreement is called strong.

The article: neuter gender: it boek the book common gender: de man the man

The proximate demonstrative: neuter gender: dit boek this book common gender: dizze man this man

The distal demonstrative: neuter gender: dat boek that book common gender: dy man that man

Adjectives may exhibit strong or weak agreement. The choice between strong or weak agreement depends on the nature of the preceding quantifier. Weak agreement is a unary agreement characterised by the invariable presence of a schwa (see agreement on adjectives.

As mentioned, some quantifiers may themselves exhibit strong agreement, whereas others do not, as is discussed for the following classes of elements: the definite article and the demonstrative, numerals, quantifiers and possessors.

Strong agreement may under certain conditions vary: it can be absent or it can be variable. In addition, there is other information about agreement: from historical linguistics and from dialect linguistics.

References
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