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:

1. Xattane "direct": "that which is free in action". This is the equivalent to the nominative case, but is only used when a subject performs its action voluntarily.
2. Ohuonne "relative": "one that depends on others". This is similar to the genitive case, but can be used as the accusative too, when signifies an object of an action.
3. O'xattane "indirect" "that which effects most." This in most cases is equivalent to the dative, which signifies a recipient, but can also mark a subject of an involuntary action.
4. Eilėke "that is called": This is equivalent to the vocative case and is used in the same context.

Possessive prefixes

Instead of separate possessive pronouns, like "my" or "her", Eyalian uses prefixes. The number of possessors and their person are distinguished.

Person	Number	Ending	Example		Translation
first person	singular	zė-	zėkono	zeilo	my house, "my horse"
	dual	za-	zakono	zailo	our (du.) house, our (du.) horse
	plural	zin-	zikono	zinilo	our house, our horse
second person	singular	jė-	jėkono	jeilo	your (sing.) house, your (sing.) horse
	dual	ėji-	ėjikono	ėjilo	your (du.) house, your (du.) horse
	plural	in-	ikono	inilo	your (pl.) house, your (sing.) horse
third person an.	singular	hė-	hėkono	heilo	his/her house, his/her horse
	dual	ha-	hakono	hailo	their (du.) house, their (du.) horse
	plural	ho-	hokono	hoilo	their house, their horse
third person inan.	singular	ko-	kokono	koilo	its house, its horse
	dual	ki-	kikono	keilo	their (du.) house, their (du.) horse
	plural	kȯn-	kȯkono	kunilo	their house, their horse
reciprocal		ea-	eakono	eailo	each other's house, each other's horse

Declensions