Order of multiple nouns and adjectives modifying the same noun


I'm wondering if you guys have any in-depth answers/links regarding:

-multiple adjectives modifying one noun (I'll go into the specifics below, I don't mean just the て form conjugations)

-order of adjectives and/or の when used in sequence

Adjective order:

  1. In English, we say “big black bear” but not “black big bear.” Is there a similar preferred order for adjectives used together to modify the same noun? If certain orders are preferred, does it have anything to do with whether the adjective is a「な」or「い」form? (ex. 静かなかわいい子 vs. かわいい静かな子) Or does it have to be 可愛 **く** 静かな子？

  2. What other sentence structures/conjugations can be used to link adjectives in a relative clause to modify the same noun? (Not structures like: 彼はダサくてきもい。)

When の comes into the equation:

  1. When a lot of のs are chained together, which modifies which? (ex. In「理想の店員の態度」, does it break down into 理想の **店員の態度** where “ideal” modifies “store clerk’s attitude” to mean the ideal attitude of a store clerk or into **理想の店員** の態度 where “ideal store clerk” modifies “attitude” to mean the attitude of an ideal store clerk?) I know in this example it doesn’t make much of a difference, but in some cases it would, like 最初の日本の専門家 (Disregard the fact there are better ways of saying the same thing). Does that mean “the first **specialists in/of Japan** ” _or_ “the specialists of **early Japan**?” Basically, is it open to interpretation or is there generally an order of which のs are considered first? such as AのBのCのD being _Aの_ [Bの( **CのD** )]

  2. What about when using の and an adjective to modify the same noun? (ex. 天来の美しい歌、美しい天来の歌)




We can say both 静かなかわいい子 and かわいい静かな子. かわいい and 静かな are attributive form and
they modify 子(a noun). You can also say かわいく静かな子 and 静かでかわいい子 and the former
adjective is 連用形(conjunctive form) and modify the adjective after it. They are
all the same meaning.

理想の店員の態度 can mean two ways as you said but I feel it indicates "the ideal
attitude of a store clerk." than the another. If you want to make sure the
meaning of "the attitude of an ideal store clerk", it would be
"理想の店員がする(行う)態度.

最初の日本の専門家 usually means “the first specialists in/of Japan” because 最初の日本
rarely means "early Japan" but 初期の日本 means it. In addition, even if you change
the order of 日本の and 最初の, the meaning is the same, but you can't change the
order of 日本の and 家の in 日本の家の専門家 because 家の日本 don't make sense. That is to say,
when you change the order, there are the cases that the meaning didn't change
like 初期の日本, there are the cases that it doesn't make sense like 日本の家 and there
are the cases that the meaning changes like 英語の先生.

For example, the order of the noun can't be changed in 私の家の庭の木の下の穴(the hole
under the tree in the garden of my house) because the each noun modifies a
immediate noun after it.

We can say both 天来の美しい歌 and 美しい天来の歌 as the same meaning but 天来 isn't common.




We can say both 静かなかわいい子 and かわいい静かな子. かわいい and 静かな are attributive form and
they modify 子(a noun). You can also say かわいく静かな子 and 静かでかわいい子 and the former
adjective is 連用形(conjunctive form) and modify the adjective after it. They are
all the same meaning.

理想の店員の態度 can mean two ways as you said but I feel it indicates "the ideal
attitude of a store clerk." than the another. If you want to make sure the
meaning of "the attitude of an ideal store clerk", it would be
"理想の店員がする(行う)態度.

最初の日本の専門家 usually means “the first specialists in/of Japan” because 最初の日本
rarely means "early Japan" but 初期の日本 means it. In addition, even if you change
the order of 日本の and 最初の, the meaning is the same, but you can't change the
order of 日本の and 家の in 日本の家の専門家 because 家の日本 don't make sense. That is to say,
when you change the order, there are the cases that the meaning didn't change
like 初期の日本, there are the cases that it doesn't make sense like 日本の家 and there
are the cases that the meaning changes like 英語の先生.

For example, the order of the noun can't be changed in 私の家の庭の木の下の穴(the hole
under the tree in the garden of my house) because the each noun modifies a
immediate noun after it.

We can say both 天来の美しい歌 and 美しい天来の歌 as the same meaning but 天来 isn't common.

