Qtolqjimctadû: Difference between revisions
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===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
Nouns have definiteness, gender, and number. Definiteness is marked by definite and indefinite articles which agree in gender and number with the nouns. There are two numbers, singular and plural ; singular is unmarked while plural is marked with a suffix that differs depending on the ending of the noun. There are three genders : neuter, masculine, and feminine. | Nouns have definiteness, gender, and number. Definiteness is marked by definite and indefinite articles which agree in gender and number with the nouns. There are two numbers, singular and plural ; singular is unmarked while plural is marked with a suffix that differs depending on the ending of the noun. There are three genders : neuter, masculine, and feminine. | ||
<!--Nouns have three genders in Qtolqjimctadû : neuter, masculine, and feminine. Genders are marked by the ending. Nouns that represent inanimate things are usually neutral, with masculine and feminine generally found in nouns that represent animate things. Some nouns can have all three genders (for example, male and female animal names are often built on the same underlying neutral form). Nouns also have two numbers : singular and plural. The plural is marked with a suffix that comes after any gender mark, while the singular is unmarked. The "dictionary" form when a given noun can have several genders is the singular neuter. Most nouns in the singular neuter end either with a <nowiki><e></nowiki> or with a consonant. The plural takes a different form depending on the ending of the word, in the singular neuter if applicable.--> | <!--Nouns have three genders in Qtolqjimctadû : neuter, masculine, and feminine. Genders are marked by the ending. Nouns that represent inanimate things are usually neutral, with masculine and feminine generally found in nouns that represent animate things. Some nouns can have all three genders (for example, male and female animal names are often built on the same underlying neutral form). Nouns also have two numbers : singular and plural. The plural is marked with a suffix that comes after any gender mark, while the singular is unmarked. The "dictionary" form when a given noun can have several genders is the singular neuter. Most nouns in the singular neuter end either with a <nowiki><e></nowiki> or with a consonant. The plural takes a different form depending on the ending of the word, in the singular neuter if applicable.--> | ||
====Gender==== | |||
Gender is usually marked by the ending of the noun. Nouns that correspond to non-animate things are usually neutral whereas nouns that describe animate things are usually masculine or feminine. However, some nouns can have all three genders, with the masculine and feminine forms built on an underlying neutral form ; this is common for instance for animal names, or for professions. | |||
According to documentation, most neuter nouns in the singular end either in <nowiki><-e></nowiki> or in a consonant. There is however no indication of how to distinguish masculine and feminine nouns, but based on the description of neuter forms, it may be posited that they must typically end in some kinds of vowels. Nouns that end in <nowiki><-e></nowiki> in the singular neuter ar part of a paradigm that builds masculine and feminine forms on this underlying neuter form : | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ Ending in -e | |||
|- | |||
! Gender / Number !! Singular !! Plural | |||
|- | |||
| Neuter || -e /ə/ || -ea /ɛ/ | |||
|- | |||
| Masculine || -e /ə/ || -ebn /ɛjn/ | |||
|- | |||
| Feminine || -ea /ɛ/ || -ean /əɑ̃/ | |||
|} | |||
====Definiteness==== | ====Definiteness==== | ||
Earlier documentation does not explicitly state that the definite and definite articles must agree with nouns in number and gender, but it is apparent in corpus that there is at least a masculine or neutral singular definite article that differs from a feminine singular definite article. From this and comparison with other versions of Tolsian, one can infer that articles, both definite and indefinite, come in at least three forms : masculine singular, feminine singular, and a plural form that covers all genders. Based on the existence of a neutral gender, it may be posited that there must be a neutral singular form as well. There is however no actual indication of whether there is only one plural form for all genders, or if there are also different plural forms for different genders. We'll assume the following paradigm : | Earlier documentation does not explicitly state that the definite and definite articles must agree with nouns in number and gender, but it is apparent in corpus that there is at least a masculine or neutral singular definite article that differs from a feminine singular definite article. From this and comparison with other versions of Tolsian, one can infer that articles, both definite and indefinite, come in at least three forms : masculine singular, feminine singular, and a plural form that covers all genders. Based on the existence of a neutral gender, it may be posited that there must be a neutral singular form as well. There is however no actual indication of whether there is only one plural form for all genders, or if there are also different plural forms for different genders. We'll assume the following paradigm : | ||
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||