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Tameï: Difference between revisions
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* The feminine class (''ninyaŧow chiâ'') includes all nouns ending in ''-i'' and ''-e'' (excluding the ''-wałe'' deverbal suffix, which is neuter), and most ''-ū'' and ''-a'' ones (incl. all Russian borrowings in ''-a''). | * The feminine class (''ninyaŧow chiâ'') includes all nouns ending in ''-i'' and ''-e'' (excluding the ''-wałe'' deverbal suffix, which is neuter), and most ''-ū'' and ''-a'' ones (incl. all Russian borrowings in ''-a''). | ||
* The neuter class (''đalūnaŧow chiâ'') includes all nouns ending in ''-u'' and ''-o'', all those nouns ending in ''-x'' and ''-z'', and many ''-a'' ones. | * The neuter class (''đalūnaŧow chiâ'') includes all nouns ending in ''-u'' and ''-o'', all those nouns ending in ''-x'' and ''-z'', and many ''-a'' ones. | ||
There is no general pattern, not even semantic, for which ''-a'' nouns are feminine and which ones are neuter: for example among geographical features ''neyna'' "island" and ''r′ulka'' "beach" are feminine, while ''łäna'' "stream" is neuter, while among body parts ''kilka'' "foot" is neuter and '' | There is no general pattern, not even semantic, for which ''-a'' nouns are feminine and which ones are neuter: for example among geographical features ''neyna'' "island" and ''r′ulka'' "beach" are feminine, while ''łäna'' "stream" is neuter, while among body parts ''kilka'' "foot" is neuter and ''nʌmisa'' "leg" is feminine. | ||
A notable feature of Tameï classes is that they almost never correlate with natural gender: as such the word ''p′ūki'' "man" is feminine, while ''niny'' "woman" is masculine (as is ''đalūn'' "stone", which is the root ''đalūnaŧe'' "neuter" is built on). | A notable feature of Tameï classes is that they almost never correlate with natural gender: as such the word ''p′ūki'' "man" is feminine, while ''niny'' "woman" is masculine (as is ''đalūn'' "stone", which is the root ''đalūnaŧe'' "neuter" is built on). | ||