Dusun has a rich stock of adjectives—mostly native, with a few adapted from Malay—that describe a noun’s quality or condition (size, color, speed, texture, age, health, etc.). When the adjective is the main statement about something, Dusun typically places the adjective first and the subject after it (ADJ + subject), foregrounding the noun’s character or condition before the subject.
Note on emphasis: Dusun often foregrounds the adjective to highlight the noun’s condition or character, so the natural, everyday order is ADJ + subject (e.g. olombon ih John “John is fat”). By contrast, Malay more commonly places the subject before the description (e.g. Malay: John gemuk), so the state follows the person. Both orders can occur in Dusun (see ih John nopo nga olombon for a more formal/identificational pattern), but the ADJ-first order is used frequently because it places immediate attention on the quality or condition being described.
Examples:
• Dusun (natural): olombon ih John — “John is fat.”
• Malay (typical): John gemuk — “John is fat.”
• Dusun (formal/emphatic): ih John nopo nga olombon.
In Dusun, most of the adjectives (though not all) begin with vowels like O or A. Examples include: olombon (fat), alaju (fast), agahui (skinny), atarang (bright), oringang (fast).
The most commonly used intensifier for adjectives in Dusun is tomod, which means very, really, so, or too (equivalent to sangat or sungguh in Malay).
Rule: tomod always comes after the adjective:
In Dusun, you can transform verbs into adjective-like forms to describe either:
To describe whether something is drinkable, climbable, pushable, etc., use the prefixes:
These forms describe what can be done to an object — often translated as “able to be ___.”
| Verb (root) | Adjective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| takad | atakad | climbable |
| tulud | otulud | pushable |
| inum | oinum | drinkable |
| gampot | agampot | reachable |
Examples:
When you want to say that a person or subject is able to do something, use:
Examples:
Adjectives can form various nouns through different affixes, expressing people, reasons, or things related to that adjective:
In Dusun, adjectives can be turned into verbs using specific prefixes to express either:
The two most common prefixes are:
si- → expresses desire or intentionpapa- / popo- → expresses causation or action towards change| Adjective | Verb (Desire)si- + adj |
Verb (Cause)papa-/popo- + adj |
|---|---|---|
| olombon (fat) | silombon – want to be fat | popolombon – to fatten (someone/something) |
| alaju (fast) | silaju – want to be fast | papalaju – to speed up |
Examples:
🔎 Practice Time
Make 2 verbs and 2 nouns from the adjective osogit (cold):
Understanding how adjectives interact with verbs and nouns helps you express qualities, emotions, and intentions more naturally in Dusun. Try using what you’ve learned in your own daily sentences!
Want to study every adjective in the dictionary? Use the Flashcards and Quiz modules. The flashcards let you review Dusun words with English glosses and example uses (and listen to pronunciation). After reviewing, take the Quiz (Adjective category) to test your recall and reinforce learning.
Tip: study the flashcards by group (Appearance / Emotional / General) and repeat the short quizzes until you feel confident.