Talk:Macedonian grammar

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Contents 1 Comparison 2 Tag questions 3 Tag questions 4 Balkan features in lead

[edit] Comparison

There exists in Macedonian a way of saying "too heavy" (претежок) by simply adding a particle (пре-) like the comparative and superlative. Is this a fourth degree of comparison? If so, could someone please explain it, or add it to the article. --AimLook 08:07, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

There are similar examples in Literary Bulgarian like пренатоварен and пресилен but I don't think they could justify such a conclusion. --Vladko 09:39, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

It's a subcategory within one of the degrees of comparison. I believe it's called a super-comparative or something like that. That would be something interesting to add to the article. --Hegumen (talk) 06:36, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Update: the correct term is actually "absolute superlative". --Hegumen (talk) 15:30, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tag questions

Need advice from a linguist. Add the following to the article, or is it incorrect?

Tag questions can be made by adding дали to the beginning of a statement. Eg. Дали зборувате англиски? ("Do you speak English?").

--AimLook 16:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tag questions

Yes, that is correct. You can use that. --StojanDimitrovski (talk) 21:20, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Of course it's correct usage, but is it considered a tag question? --Hegumen (talk) 06:34, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Off the top of my head I can think of the words дали, нели, зарем/зар and да не. I don't know if they can all be considered such though. There's also the particle ли, but it isn't used as often as the others. --Hegumen (talk) 06:52, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Да не is interesting in that it uses negation. For example: да не знаеш каде го ставив? ("you wouldn't happen to know where I put it?"). --Hegumen (talk) 06:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Balkan features in lead

I am going to again remove the crossed-out phrase from the following sentence in the lead, which was reinserted by User:Hegumen:

It has a number of grammatical features that distinguish it from most other Slavic and indeed neighboring languages, such as the elimination of case declension, the development of a suffixed definite article, and the lack of a verb infinitive, among others.

All these features are shared characteristics of the Balkan linguistic union; stressing their distinctiveness rather than their commonality is therefore misleading. It is true that none of them is shared with all neighbouring languages, and the case syncretism has been driven further in Macedonian/Bulgarian than in any of the others, but even so, that only means it has gone further in the same trend that is shared across the sprachbund. Fut.Perf. ☼ 06:44, 1 March 2008 (UTC)