Nouns and noun phrases

    Singular and Plural

    Mon does not have separate forms for singular and plural:

  1. so't pakaw / so't kaw
    apple

  2. so't pakaw mòa mèa
    apple one CL
    one apple

  3. so't pakaw ba mèa
    apple two CL
    two apples

    Classifiers

    Mon has some "classifiers" to count things:
    (In this text, 'CL' shows classifiers.)

  4. kaneh mòa tanu'ng
    pen one CL
    one pen

    * kaneh mòa mèa
    pen one CL

    As seen above, each noun is assigned to a classifier.

  5. chup mòatana'm
    treeoneCL
    one tree

  6. loitmòa7up
    bookoneCL
    one book

  7. kayhacawcaw7mèa
    furnitureto sittenCL
    ten chairs

  8. loitpoa7tana7
    paperthreeCL
    three sheets of paper

    People do not take any classifier when counted:

  9. manèpo'n
    peoplefour
    four people

    Numerical Expressions

    The following are Numerical Expressions in Mon:

  10. mòa
    one

  11. ba
    two

  12. poa7
    three

  13. po'n
    four

  14. masa'ng / masun
    five

  15. karaw / taraw
    six

  16. thapo7
    seven

  17. tacam / hacam
    eight

  18. tacit / hacit
    nine

  19. cao7
    ten

    21. cao7mòa
    tenone
    eleven

    22. cao7ba
    tentwo
    twelve

    23. baco
    twoten
    twenty

    24. bacomòa
    twotenone
    twenty-one

    25. cosa'ng
    tenfive
    fifteen

    26. bacosa'ng / bacosun
    twotenfive/twotenfive
    twenty-five

    27. baisa'ng/ baisun
    twotenfive/twotenfive
    twenty-five

    28. poacosa'ng/ sun
    threetenfive/five
    thirty-five

    29. poaisa'ng/ sun
    threetenfive/five
    thirty-five

    30. masa'ngco/ masunco
    fiveten/fiveten
    fifty

    31. mòaklo'm
    onehundred
    a hundred

    32. mòalangè'm/ mòangè'm
    onethousand/onethousand
    a thousand

    33. mòala7
    oneten thousand
    ten thousand

    34. mòaka't
    onehundred thousand
    a hundred thousand

    Possessive in Mon

    To express possessive in Mon, place pronoun after a possessed noun:

  34. hakua7ua
    catmy
    my cat

  35. hakuacakaw
    catyour
    your cat

  36. hakuade7
    cathis/her
    his/her cat (same age or younger than the speaker)

  37. hakuade7taw7
    cathis/herPL
    their cat (same age or younger than the speaker)

  38. hakuanyeh
    cathis/her
    his/her cat (older than the speaker)

  39. hakuanyehtaw
    cathis/herPL
    their cat (older than the speaker)

  40. hakuapoi
    catour
    our cat

  41. hakuaMin
    catMin
    Min's cat

    When possessive is not the only one elements in the noun phrase, the possessive pronoun comes right after the possessed noun:

  42. hakua7uapoa7
    catmythree
    my three cats

    Adjectives in Mon

    An adjective also comes after a noun:

  43. 7akah
    sky

  44. 7akahklù
    skydark
    dark sky

    The examples of Mon adjective:

  45. do
    small

  46. hno7 / cahno7
    big

  47. paray
    ugly

  48. tama7 / kama7 / cama7
    bright

  49. klu'
    clear

    The followings are colors used as adjectives. When these words are used as nouns, attach /say/ 'color' in front of these adjectives.

  50. sayday7
    colorred
    red (noun)

  51. day7 / hake7
    red

  52. kaca'w
    black

  53. day7 mit
    orange / yellow

  54. pù
    white

    Demonstrative

    Mon has three demonstratives:

  55. kayhacawnaw7
    furnitureto sitthis
    this chair

  56. kayhacawte7
    furnitureto sitthat
    that chair

    When third objects exists, the following demonstrative is used for an object which is placed in between other two objects.

  57. kayhacawka'
    furnitureto sitthat
    that chair

    In this case, /kay hacaw te7/ should be translated to "the chair over there."

    Comparative and Superlative in Mon

    In Mon, comparative is expressed with /nu ka'/ 'than', and superlative is expressed with /7a't/ 'most':

  58. Maryka'7nu ka'John.
    Marynice[ than ]John
    Mary is nicer than John.

  59. Minto'manèka'77a't.
    Minbepersonnicemost
    Min is the nicest person.

  60. Minka'77a't.
    Minnicemost
    Min is the nicest.

  61. Kamotnaw7klù7a't.
    lightthisdarkmost
    This light is the darkest.

    * Kamotnaw7to'kamotklù7a't.
    lightthisbelightdarkmost
    This light is the darkest.

    The above form of the sentence cannot be applied to inanimate subject.