View source for Eyalian nouns

Eyalian is a moderately inflected language with four cases and three numbers (singular, plural, dual). All nouns also have two forms: independent and conjunct, though for many nouns these two forms are identical in the standard. In this article only the Tarnan variety is described, since Eyalian nowadays mostly refers to this variety only.

Nouns are grouped into "declensions", which are sets of nouns that form their cases in a similar manner. In this article they are divided into five declensions. The declension to which a noun belongs is determined largely by its nominative ending.
==Cases==
Eyalian nouns have four cases (''hieppala''): nominative, dative, genitive and vocative. In ''Tarmana'' ("the Book of Words"), which is the oldest known Eyalian text about grammar, the four cases are described as follows:

# ''Xattane'' "direct": "that which is free in action". This is the equivalent to the [[w:Nominative case|nominative]] case, but is only used when a subject performs its action voluntarily.
# ''Ohuonne'' "relative": "one that depends on others". This is similar to the [[w:Genitive case|genitive]] case, but can be used as the accusative too, when signifies an object of an action.
# ''O'xattane'' "indirect" "that which effects most." This in most cases is equivalent to the [[w:Dative case|dative]], which signifies a recipient, but can also mark a subject of an involuntary action.
# ''Eilėke'' "that is called": This is equivalent to the [[w:Vocative case|vocative]] case and is used in the same context.
==Possessive prefixes==
Instead of separate possessive pronouns, like "my" or "her", Eyalian uses [[w:Possessive affix|prefixes]]. The number of possessors and their person are distinguished.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[w:Grammatical person|Person]] !! [[w:Grammatical number|Number]] !! Ending !! colspan=2| Example !! Translation
|-
| rowspan="3" | first person || singular || zė- || '''''zė'''kono'' ||  '''''ze'''ilo''  || ''my house'', "my horse"
|-
| dual || za- || '''''za'''kono'' || '''''za'''ilo'' || ''our (du.) house'', ''our (du.) horse''
|-
| plural || zin- || '''''zi'''kono'' || '''''zin'''ilo'' || ''our house'', ''our horse''
|-
| rowspan="3" | second person   || singular || jė- || '''''jė'''kono'' || '''''je'''ilo'' || ''your (sing.) house'', ''your (sing.) horse''
|-
| dual || ėji- || '''''ėji'''kono'' || '''''ij'''ilo'' || ''your (du.) house'', ''your (du.) horse''
|-
| plural || in- || '''''i'''kono''<br>'''''ė'''kono''* || '''''in'''ilo'' || ''your (pl.) house'', ''your (sing.) horse''
|-
| rowspan="3" | third person an. || singular || hė- || '''''hė'''kono'' || '''''he'''ilo'' || ''his/her house'', ''his/her horse''
|-
| dual || ha- || '''''ha'''kono'' || '''''ha'''ilo'' || ''their (du.) house'', ''their (du.) horse''
|-
| plural || ho- || '''''ho'''kono'' || '''''ho'''ilo'' || ''their house'', ''their horse''
|-
| rowspan="3" | third person inan. || singular || ko- || '''''ko'''kono'' || '''''ko'''ilo'' || ''its house'', ''its horse''
|-
| dual || ki- || '''''ki'''kono''<br>'''''kė'''kono''* || '''''ke'''ilo'' || ''their (du.) house'', ''their (du.) horse''
|-
| plural || kȯn- || '''''kȯ'''kono'' || '''''kun'''ilo'' || ''their house'', ''their horse''
|-
| colspan=2 | reciprocal || ea- || '''''ea'''kono'' || '''''ea'''ilo'' || ''each other's house'', ''each other's horse''
|-
|}
*The second and the third inanimate person dual have two possible forms - with "i" and with "ė". The latter was levelled by analogy, but is widespread and entered the standard.

==Declensions==
===a-stems===
===e- and o-stems===
===i- and u- stems===
===consonant stems===

[[Category: Ketan languages]]