Carpathian nouns

Most of the Proto-Indo-European declensional classes were retained, with the exception of the consonant-stems, which were gradually falling out of use, being replaced by other, more productive classes.

Carpathian nouns have three grammatical categories: gender (masculine, feminine, common and neuter), number (singular, dual and plural) and seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative with only three different case forms being distinguished in the dual number.

Accent classes

All Carpathian nouns belong to one of the three accent classes:

• AS (acute stative) – acute accent (tone-1) fixed on (usually) the initial syllable.
• CS (circumflex stative) – fixed circumflex accent (tone-2) or grave accent (tone-3) on any syllable. For neuter stems it is the final syllable, while for all other genders it is typically the first or the second syllable.
• M (mobile) – the pitch (tone-2 or tone-3) alternates between final and non-final (usually initial) position.

The pitch accent is an important part of Carpathian morphology, since some noun cases are only distinct by their accent: rasā̃s [rɑ́.ˈsɑ̀ːs] “of dew (genitive case)”, ràsās [ˈrɑ̀.sɑ̀ːs] “dews (nominative case)”. Some words differ only in their accent paradigm: káltas “gouge” (from káltei “to strike”), AS-class and kal̃tas “obliged” (from kelḗtei “to be obliged”), M-class.

Classes

There are seven main stem classes in Carpathian, being defined by their specific case endings: a-stem, u-stem, i-stem ā-stem, ī-stem, ū-stem, and consonant-stem, the latter consisting of several subclasses. The following tables are examples of Eastern Carpathian noun-class paradigms, Western Carpathian has the same noun classes, so for the sake of brevity only the Eastern forms are shown. The example words belong to the M-paradigm, because the pitch pattern of the other two paradigms is predictable.

a-stem nouns

There are two subclasses: masculine "as"-nouns (deiwas “god”) and neuter "a"-nouns (àzera “lake”). In some dialects the nominative singular of the "as"-nouns is stressed, e.g. deiwàs instead of standard deĩwas, the latter being an innovation. In dialects the dative singular and the instrumental plural have the "ui"-diphthong instead of standard ai: deiwúi and deiwúis respectively. This is common for both Western and Eastern dialects and predate the original split.

Case	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Masculine	Neuter	Masculine	Neuter
Nominative	deĩwas	àzera	deĩwū	àzerai	deĩwai	azerā̃
Genitive	deĩwā	àzerā	deiwáu	azeráu	deiwū̃n	azerū̃n
Dative	deiwái	azerái	deiwamā̃	azeramā̃	deiwàmas	azeràmas
Accusative	deĩwun	àzerun	deĩwū	àzerai	deĩwōnas	azerā̃
Instrumental	deĩwū	àzerū	deiwamā̃	azeramā̃	deiwáis	azeráis
Locative	deĩwai	àzerai	deiwáu	azeráu	deiwáišu	azeráišu
Vocative	deĩwe	àzera	deĩwū	àzerai	deiwaĩ	azerā̃

ā-stem nouns

The "ā"-stem nouns are feminine. An example of this class is rasā “dew”. The Western dialects have tone-2 in the M-type nouns, while the Eastern dialects keep the original tone-1 (Western rasā̃ Eastern rasā́). Tone-1 was analogically eliminated from the M-paradigm in most Western Carpathian dialects, being replaced by circumflex, thus being restricted to the AS-type exclusively.

Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Feminine
Nominative	rasā́	ràsāi	ràsās
Genitive	rasā̃s	rasáu	rasū̃n
Dative	rasái	rasā́mā	rasā́mas
Accusative	ràsān	rasái	ràsānas
Instrumental	rasā́n	rasā́mā	rasā́mīs
Locative	rasái	rasáu	rasā́su
Vocative	ràsa	rasái	rasás

i-stem nouns

There are two subclasses: common "is"-stem (angilis “coal”), and neuter "i"-stem (mari “sea”). The "i"-stem class consists of a few words and is obsolete in most dialects, being replaced by either "a"-stem (maria) or "is"-stem (maris).

Case	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Common	Neuter	Common	Neuter	Common	Neuter
Nominative	angilìs	marì	ànglī	màrī	àngiliīs	màriī
Genitive	angiléis	maréis	angiliáu	mariáu	angiliū̃n	mariū̃n
Dative	àngilei	màrei	angilimā̃	marimā̃	angilìmas	marìmas
Accusative	àngilin	màrin	ànglī	màrī	àngilins	màrī
Instrumental	angilimì	marimì	angilimā̃	marimā̃	angilìmīs	marìmīs
Locative	angiléi	maréi	angiliáu	mariáu	angilišù	marišù
Vocative	ànglei	màri	ànglī	màrī	àngiliīs	màriī

u-stem nouns

There are two subclasses: masculine "us"-stem (ledus “ice”) and neuter "u"-stem (medu “honey”). The neuter "u"-nouns are rare, but still present in all dialects, unlike the corresponding "i"-nouns.

Case	Singular		Dual		Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Masculine	Neuter	Masculine	Neuter
Nominative	ledùs	medù	lèdū	mèdwī	lèdawis	mèdū
Genitive	ledáus	medáus	ledwáu	medwáu	ledū̃n	medū̃n
Dative	lèdawei	mèdawei	ledumā̃	medumā̃	ledùmas	medùmas
Accusative	lèdun	mèdun	lèdū	mèdwī	lèduns	mèdū
Instrumental	ledumì	medumì	ledumā̃	medumā̃	ledùmīs	medùmīs
Locative	ledáu	medáu	ledwáu	medwáu	ledušù	medušù
Vocative	lèdau	mèdu!	lèdū	mèdwī!	lèdawes	mèdū

ī-stem nouns

The "ī"-stem nouns are feminine. An example of this class is martī “married woman”. The "ī"-class consist of primarily deadjectival nouns of state or condition, as well as some old feminine noun forms, such as the example noun, as well as the Slavic borrowing pānī (from Polish pani “Mrs”). The last root consonant is palatalised in oblique cases, unless the consonant is labial or glottal.

Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Feminine
Nominative	martī́	màrtī	màrtīs
Genitive	martiā̃s	martiáu	martiū̃n
Dative	martiái	martiā́mā	martiā́mas
Accusative	màrtīn	martī́	màrtīnis
Instrumental	martiā́	martiā́mā	martiā́mīs
Locative	martiái	martiáu	martiā́su
Vocative	màrtia	màrtī	màrtīs

ū-stem nouns

The "ū"-stem nouns are feminine. An example of this class is burū “eyebrow”. The class consist of mostly abstract nouns, derived from adjectives or verbal nouns, as well as old inanimate nouns, such as lakū “lake”. Most of these nouns became is-stem in modern Carpathian (Western Carpathian lokwis “pond”).

Case	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Feminine
Nominative	burū́	bùrwai	bùrwis
Genitive	burwìs	burwáu	burwū̃n
Dative	burwéi	burwimā̃	burwìmas
Accusative	bùrwin	bùrū	bùrwins
Instrumental	burwī́	burwimā̃	burwìmīs
Locative	burwái	burwáu	burwìšu
Vocative	bùrwa	bùrwai	bùrwis

consonant-stem nouns

There are several subclasses, divided into masculine (wadū “water”, although its dual and plural forms are not used, so only the endings are shown), feminine (duktī “daughter”) and neuter (immī “name”). The individual subclasses are classified according to the stem consonant or consonant cluster: n-stem, s-stem, nt-stem and r-stem. The endings are the same for all subclasses, except for the nominative singular, which is different for every subclass.

Case	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	wadū̃	duktī̃	immī̃	-eCī	dùkterī	ìmmenī	-eCis	dùkteris	immenā̃
Genitive	wadenìs	dukterìs	immenìs	-eCáu	dukteráu	immenáu	-eCū̃n	dukterū̃n	immenū̃n
Dative	wàdenei	dùkterei	ìmmenei	-eCemā́	dukterimā́	immenimā́	-eCamàs	dukterimàs	immenimàs
Accusative	wàdenin	dùkterin	ìmmenin	-eCī	dùkterī	ìmmenī	-eCins	dùkterins	immenā̃
Instrumental	wadenimì	dukterimì	immenī́	-eCemā́	dukterimā́	immenimā́	-eCimī̃s	dukterimī̃s	immenimī̃s
Locative	wàdeni	dùkteri	wàdeni	-eCáu	dukteráu	immenáu	-eCišù	dukterišù	immenišù
Vocative	wàdene	dùktera	ìmmena	-eCī	dùkterī	ìmmenī	-eCis	dùkteris	immenā̃

• The letter C in the table above represents a consonant that defines the subclass: n, nt, s or r.

Possession

The category of possession is indicated with possessive affixes. The number of possessors and their person can be distinguished in both suffixes and prefixes. The prefixes are used with nouns that have no other prefixes attached, while in case, when a noun has at least one prefix, suffixes are used instead, for example: midamas “my house”, pasatiāti “your story”. Just as pronouns, the possessive suffixes distinguish between the more salient and the less salient argument of a sentence, also called fourth person. For instance both “widēji māterinsi” and “widēji māterinii” mean “he/she saw their mother”, but in the first sentence the person saw their own mother, while in the second sentence the person saw someone else’s mother. The sentence Martā Marijai atandōde paislanna “Martha gave Mary her pen” is not ambiguous in Carpathian (the -na suffix indicates, that it was Maria’s pen, not Martha’s). All Carpathian possessive affixes are represented in the table below:

Person	Prefixes			Suffixes			Meaning
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	mi-	nō-	na-	-mi	-nū	-nas	my, our
2nd person	ti-	wō-	wa-	-ti	-(j)ū	-was	your
3rd person Animate	ji(s)-	jī(s)-	ei(s)-	-(j)i	-(j)ī	-(j)eis	their (proximate)
3rd person Inanimate	ši(s)-	šī(s)-	šai(s)-	-ši	-šī	-šei	its (proximate)
3rd person Animate	an-	nō-	nai-	-na	-nī	-nais	their (obviate)
3rd person Inanimate	ta-	tō-	tai-	-ta	-tī	-tais	its (obviate)
Reflexive	si-			-sis			own

Certain case endings change their form, when used with possessive suffixes: samsēdū “two neighbours” and samsēdūn “of neighbours”, but samsēdōjī “their two neighbours” and samsēdōnī “of their neighbours”.