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Brytho-Hellenic: Difference between revisions
→Formation of feminine
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Even the word '''awyn''' has substituted another Greek word, '''daevon''' < *''δαιμόνος'' < ''δαιμόνιον'', that now has the meaning of "puck, spirit"; the plural '''Awenae''' is also used to mean '''Mosae''', plural of '''Mos''' < ''Mοῦσα'', "Muse". | Even the word '''awyn''' has substituted another Greek word, '''daevon''' < *''δαιμόνος'' < ''δαιμόνιον'', that now has the meaning of "puck, spirit"; the plural '''Awenae''' is also used to mean '''Mosae''', plural of '''Mos''' < ''Mοῦσα'', "Muse". | ||
===Formation of feminine=== | ====Formation of feminine==== | ||
It isn't easy to distinguish between a masculine and a feminine noun, because there is no gender-linked ending. However, when we speak about entities that have got a physical gender, such as people and animals, it can be useful to be able to distinguish between masculine and feminine gender. | It isn't easy to distinguish between a masculine and a feminine noun, because there is no gender-linked ending. However, when we speak about entities that have got a physical gender, such as people and animals, it can be useful to be able to distinguish between masculine and feminine gender. | ||
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Sometimes the feminine form is obtained by changing the last vowel, ex.: '''keldh''' > '''kyldh''' (plural: ''keldhae''). | Sometimes the feminine form is obtained by changing the last vowel, ex.: '''keldh''' > '''kyldh''' (plural: ''keldhae''). | ||
===Articles=== | |||
Brythohellenic hasn't got ''indefinite article'', to translate phrases like "a cat" or "some women" we have just to omit the article: '''aelur''' means both "a cat" and "cat", and '''gnaeg''' means both "some women" and "women". | |||
There is only one kind of article, the ''definite'' one: this article is used to talk about well known things. These informations are familiar to the speakers, because they have already been talked about, or because they belong to the experiences baggage of the speakers, that is we use the definite article to talk about known informations, to talk about determined informations. | |||
The definite article has got one invariable form, '''to''', that is used both for masculine and feminine nouns, for singular and plural nouns: '''to omyr''', "the rain"; '''to sŷmadh''', "the body"; '''to lŷsae''', "the languages"; '''to nysoe''', "the islands", and so on. | |||
When a noun is determined, that is preceeded by the article or other determiners (such as possessives or demonstratives) and is followed by an adjective - in standard Elynig the adjectives always follow the substantives - the article shifts bewtween noun and adjective, ex.: | |||
* '''to omyr''' > '''omyr to sŷrin''' (= "the cold rain", lit. "rain the cold (one)"); | |||
* '''to nysoe''' > '''nysoe to euwedhoe''' (= "the fertile islands", lit. "islands the fertile (ones)"). | |||
Even when a noun doesn't need the article - for example proper nouns - it appears between this noun and the possible adjective, ex.: | |||
* '''Elas''' (= "Greece") > '''Elas ''to'' Kaen''' (= "the New Greece", lit. "Greece the New (one)";¹ | |||
* '''Elyn''' (= "Helena") > '''Elyn ''to'' plysd keil''' (= "the most beautiful Helena", lit. "Helena the most beautiful (one)". | |||
¹ Nowadays they tend to use the expression ''Elas'' to mean ''Elas to Kaen''. | |||