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Proto-Rathmosian: Difference between revisions
→Morphology
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=Morphology= | =Morphology= | ||
==Nouns== | |||
Nouns belong to one of three classes and are declined into eight cases and three numbers. | |||
===Noun Classes=== | |||
There are three noun classes: '''animate masculine''' (AM), '''animate common''' (AC) and '''inanimate''' (IA). Strictly speaking, AM nouns are a subclass of Animate nouns which are marked. The class to which a particular noun belongs is semantically motivated and, in almost all cases, entirely predictable based on the following criteria: | |||
* '''Animate Masculine''': male humans, male deities and spirits, male domestic animals and some distinctive male wild animals. | |||
* '''Animate Common''': all other humans, deities, spirits and animals. | |||
* '''Inanimate''': all abstracts, non-living things and plants. | |||
===Case=== | |||
Nouns are declined according to eight cases: | |||
* '''Absolutive''' denotes the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb. | |||
* '''Ergative''' denotes the subject of a transitive verb. | |||
* '''Dative''' denotes the indirect object of a verb and describes motion towards. | |||
* '''Genitive''' denotes the possessor of an object. | |||
* '''Ablative''' denotes motion away from. | |||
* '''Instrumental''' denotes use of. | |||
* '''Locative''' denotes location in, at or on. | |||
* '''Comitative''' denotes location with or beside. | |||
===Number=== | |||
There are three numbers: '''singular''', '''plural''' and '''collective''', the last of which may denote a discrete group of objects or a class as a whole. | |||
=Syntax= | =Syntax= | ||
=Vocabulary= | =Vocabulary= | ||