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:: '''Instrumental''' (''dṛvundīra dirūṃrūkṣah'') | :: '''Instrumental''' (''dṛvundīra dirūṃrūkṣah'') | ||
There are a few nouns which lack number; a few are singularia tantum and lack a plural (e.g. ''tambīya'' "lips"), other ones are plural only - most notably including all ethnicities, whose singular form is analytical, made by using the bound form (see below) to the word ''lila'' (person), e.g. ''dundulanyä | There are a few nouns which lack number; a few are singularia tantum and lack a plural (e.g. ''tambīya'' "lips"), other ones are plural only - most notably including all ethnicities, whose singular form is analytical, made by using the bound form (see below) to the word ''lila'' (person), e.g. ''dundulanyä lilarān'' (a Dundulanyä). | ||
The consensus among linguists is that Dundulanyä does not have grammatical gender or noun classes; however, it should be noted that natural gender is shown on some nouns referring to humans, and furthermore there are some verbs that have a complementary distribution - most notably the existential "to be" - where one verb can only be used for inanimate subjects and another only for animate ones; in a few cases, the animate "class" is also split between humans and non-humans. None of this, however, is reflected in morphology. | The consensus among linguists is that Dundulanyä does not have grammatical gender or noun classes; however, it should be noted that natural gender is shown on some nouns referring to humans, and furthermore there are some verbs that have a complementary distribution - most notably the existential "to be" - where one verb can only be used for inanimate subjects and another only for animate ones; in a few cases, the animate "class" is also split between humans and non-humans. None of this, however, is reflected in morphology. |
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