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===Morphophonology===
===Morphophonology===
==Morphology==
==Morphology==
<!-- ===Nouns===
===Nouns===
Cerian nouns have lost most of the inflections of Íscégon, leaving only a predictable agglutinative pattern, regular for almost all nouns. Cerian nouns distinguish two cases - one called "nominative" (but also used as accusative), and an "indirect" (<small>AKA</small> oblique) case used after all prepositions and as the object of some verbs.<br/>
Cerian (and its sister languages) lost the case system of Íscégon, maintaining only a plural inflection that is formed with the same suffix for all nouns, regardless of gender; the plural suffix actually derives from the Íscégon accusative, not nominative, plural. There are, however, quite a few irregular plurals, of Íscégon origin: as Cerian lost virtually all word-final consonants (save ''-n''), their plural forms didn't have those consonants at the end, so they resurface again in the plural form.
Nouns also distinguish between singular and plural, but the two forms are identical for all nouns ending in a vowel; to avoid ambiguity, Cerian has developed a marked plural (usually called the "indefinite plural") used when the plurality is important but not otherwise shown in a sentence. Every noun has the indefinite plural (which is completely regular), even nouns ending in ''-n'' which do mark plural normally. The indefinite plural, however, is never used in the indirect case, as indirect plurals are always marked.


The regular inflection of a Cerian noun is as follows:
The pluralizing suffix is '''-uó''' {{IPA|[woː]}}, with a short vowel if the preceding one is long, and removing the final vowel of the word if it is anything but ''-o''.
{| class="wikitable"
* ''reišan'' "daughter" → ''reišanuó'' "daughters";
|-
* ''reide'' "son" → ''reiduó'' "sons";
! rowspan=2 | !! colspan=3 | Vowel noun - ''rutó'' "hawk" !! colspan=3 | N-noun - ''vútin'' "tree"
* ''míe'' "noun, name" → ''míuo'' "nouns, names"
|-
* ''jóbo'' "finger" → ''jóbo'' "fingers" (invariable)
! Singular !! Plural !! Pl. Indef. !! Singular !! Plural !! Pl. Indef.
* ''tasú'' "foot" → ''tasuó'' "feet"
|-
Regular nouns ending in ''-ti, -di, -si'' have their plural forms in ''-čuo, -juo, -šuo'':
! Nominative
* ''jéti'' "house" → ''jéčuo'' "houses"
| rutó || rutó || rutó'''oran''' || vútin || vútin'''é''' || vútin'''oran'''
 
|-
Íscégon word-final ''-t'' and ''-s'' resurface and assimilate the consonant of the suffix:
! Indirect
* ''dúšo'' "axe" (Ísc. ''duxios'') → ''dúšossó'' "axes"
| rutó'''n''' || rutó'''in''' ||  || vútin'''i''' || vútin'''en''' ||
* ''šeti'' "river" (Ísc. ''sítis'') → ''šetissó'' "rivers"
|}
* ''cómé'' "chair" (Ísc. ''cármet'') → ''cómettó'' "chairs"
Íscégon word-final ''-r'' also resurfaces, but does not assimilate the consonant:
* ''dé'' "wall" (Ísc. ''dír'') → ''deruó'' "walls"
Finally, nouns that ended in ''-x'' in Íscégon typically end in ''-ːso'' in Cerian; in the plural, they have no consonant but a long vowel (even with the previous one being long) – the {{IPA|[w]}} in the plural wasn't there to begin with in Íscégon.
* ''haréso'' "Calémerian avocado"  (Ísc. ''harex'') → ''harésó'' "avocadoes" (cf. Ísc. ''harexát'').
 
Some nouns have completely irregular plurals:
* ''účen'' "fish" → ''ússó'' "fish (plur.)" (here, the singular actually derives from the diminutive ''uóscien'', while the plural derives from the plural of the unmodified noun ''uós'')
* ''épsis'' "person" → ''iúressó'' "people" (completely different roots)


====Gender and Articles====
====Gender and articles====
Cerian has grammatical gender and two definite articles, one for each gender, used in the singular only (plural vs. plural indefinite inflection does the same effect in the plural). As in most Evandorian languages, ''-n'' is a marker of feminine gender, so that most nouns (not all) ending with that letter are feminine; those which end in vowels are usually masculine. Note that natural gender is prevalent, as shown e.g. by couplets such as "brother" and "sister" where the nouns have the "wrong" ending.<br/>
Cerian has grammatical gender and two definite articles, one for each gender, used in the singular only (plural vs. plural indefinite inflection does the same effect in the plural). As in most Evandorian languages, ''-n'' is a marker of feminine gender, so that most nouns (not all) ending with that letter are feminine; those which end in vowels are usually masculine. Note that natural gender is prevalent, as shown e.g. by couplets such as "brother" and "sister" where the nouns have the "wrong" ending. As many consonant-final nouns were feminine in Íscégon (although the common ''-s'' finals could be of both genders), there are more feminine exceptions than masculine ones.<br/>Also note that demonyms generally always end in ''-n'', but may be invariably used in the masculine or feminine as needed.
The masculine article is '''šo'''; the feminine one is '''šen'''.


Examples:
The masculine article is '''šo'''; the feminine one is '''šen'''.  
* Masculine nouns: ''šo rutó'' "the hawk"; ''šo sérešu'' "the language"; ''šo jéče'' "the word"; ''šo císenen'' "the brother".
* Feminine nouns: ''šen réboten'' "the price"; ''šen číečón'' "the flower"; ''šen putuánen'' "the wall"; ''šen ránéco'' "the sister".


Note that adjectives do '''not''' have gender in any way, and nouns which have the same form as an adjective may be used in either gender (prevalent in Púrítonen Cerian) or are feminine and have a marked masculine form (prevalent in most dialects). This is most notable with denonyms, as the corresponding adjectives usually end in ''-n''. "Cerian" is an exception, as it has two forms (different from the adjective) in all dialects.
Masculine nouns:
* ''šo quíto'' "the foreigner"; ''šo jóbo'' "the finger"; ''šo lerio'' "the pomegranate"; ''šo ínéma'' "the city"; ''šo ronuo'' "the sword".
* BUT: ''šo císenen'' "the brother"; ''šo ín'' "the water", ''šo tieibin'' "the money".


Examples:
Feminine nouns:
* ''šo Čérízuo'' "the Cerian man"; ''šen Čérízen'' "the Cerian woman" (all dialects)
* ''šen ruban'' "the wine"; ''šen niún'' "the wolf"; ''šen účen'' "the fish"; ''šen reišan'' "the daughter"; ''šen lun'' "the mouth".
* ''čérízon'' "Cerian"; ''nódógolénen'' "Nordulaki"; ''imúnigúronen'' "Chlouvānem" (all dialects)
* BUT: ''šen ránéco'' "the sister"; ''šen dé'' "the wall", ''šen tení'' "the sun".
* ''šo Nódógoléo'' "the Nordulaki man", ''šen Nódógolénen'' "the Nordulaki woman"<ref>Old Cerian: ''-euo'', ''-eunen''.</ref>; ''šo Imúnigúronno'' "the Chlouvānem man"; ''šen Imúnigúronen'' "the Chlouvānem woman". (Standard Evandorian Cerian; most dialects)
* ''šo Nódógolénen, šen Nódógolénen'' "the Nordulaki man/woman"; ''šo Imúnigúronen, šen Imúnigúronen'' "the Chlouvānem man/woman" (most Púrítonen Cerian dialects)


There are words that can be used in both genders - ''šo bésuon'' "the son" and ''šen bésuon'' "the daughter" is a notable example.
Demonyms and nouns of both genders:
* ''šo/šen Helinetízon'' "the Helinetian man/woman"; ''šo/šen Nódóion'' "the Nordûlaki man/woman"; ''šo/šen Ímúnigúronen'' "the Chlouvānem man/woman".
** cf. adjectives ''helinetízon'' "Helinetian", ''nódóion'' "Nordûlaki'', ''ímúnigúronen'' "Chlouvānem".
* BUT: ''šo Čérízuo'' "the Cerian man", ''šen Čérízen'' "the Cerian woman" (different from the adjective ''čérízon'' "Cerian").
* non-demonyms: ''šo/šen tífude'' "the husband/wife"; ''šo/šen vajúni'' "the boy/girl" (dialectal, Púrítonen Cerian).


===Pronouns===
<!-- ===Pronouns===
Cerian pronouns are simple, even though they are more complex than nouns, with four forms: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative/oblique (post-prepositional).
Cerian pronouns are simple, even though they are more complex than nouns, with four forms: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative/oblique (post-prepositional).
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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** ''-u'' and ''-o'' become ''-ó'' (< pre-Cerian *ou), e.g. ''ramo'' "first" → ''ramó''; ''čufutú'' "enough" → ''čufutó''. Those that already end in ''-ó'' are practically invariable, e.g. ''egoró'' "ninth" → ''egoró'', as are those in ''-Vːo'', e.g. ''béo'' "no, not any" → ''béo''.
** ''-u'' and ''-o'' become ''-ó'' (< pre-Cerian *ou), e.g. ''ramo'' "first" → ''ramó''; ''čufutú'' "enough" → ''čufutó''. Those that already end in ''-ó'' are practically invariable, e.g. ''egoró'' "ninth" → ''egoró'', as are those in ''-Vːo'', e.g. ''béo'' "no, not any" → ''béo''.


<!--====Numbers====
====Numbers====
Numbers, in Cerian, are simple adjectives and only have two forms: cardinal and ordinal. As all Evandorian languages, and most Calemerian languages anyway, its counting system is decimal.
Numbers, in Cerian, are simple adjectives and only have two forms: cardinal and ordinal. As all Evandorian languages, and most Calemerian languages anyway, its counting system is decimal.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 313: Line 321:
! 100
! 100
| '''téčá''' || téčošon
| '''téčá''' || téčošon
|}-->
|}


===Prepositions===
===Prepositions===
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