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Evaluative adjectives
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Some adjectives display a meaning difference depending on the presence or absence of agreement.

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Variable agreement with a meaning difference is found in idiomatic combinations of a bare noun and adjective before the quantifiers in a, gjin no, sa'n such a, hoe'n how. This is illustrated in the examples below:

1
a. In lestich man
a difficult man
An (inherently) difficult man
b. In lestig-e man
a difficult.NT man
A man that is being difficult
c. In grut man
a great man
A great man
d. In grutt-e man
a great.NT man
A great man
A tall man

The construction without agreement emphasizes an evaluative idiomatic interpretation of the construction. The adjective itself denotes a permanent property in this construction. The construction with agreement need not denote a permanent property, as the following minimal pair illustrates:

2
a. Der is in lestich man oan 'e doar
there is a difficult man at the door
There is a man with a difficult character at the door
b. Der is in lestig-e man oan 'e doar
there is a difficult.CG man at the door
There is a man who is being difficult at the door

In the plural, agreement must be used so that it seems that it is characteristic of this idiom that gender agreement is withheld but not number agreement:

3
a. Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma binne grutte skilders
Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma are great.PL painters
Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma are great painters
b. *Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma binne grut skilders
Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma are great painters
Alma Tadema en Ruurd Wiersma are great painters

After definites and demonstratives, the constructional -e must be used that invariably crops up:

4
a. De grutte skilder
the big painter
The great painter
b. *De grut skilder
the great painter
The big painter
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