Chlouvānem/Morphology: Difference between revisions

There are a few nouns which lack number; a few are singularia tantum and lack a plural (e.g. ''hærūm'' lips), other ones are plural only - most notably these include all ethnicities (e.g. ''chlǣvānem'', which is also an irregular plural). The singular is made by using the genitive form attributed to ''lila'' (person), e.g. ''chlǣvānumi lila'' (a Chlouvānem).<br/>

Chlouvānem does not have grammatical gender, and there are only a few natural gender terms; see [[Chlouvānem#Gendered_and_gender-neutral_terms|Chlouvānem § Gendered and gender-neutral terms]] for more information.  

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A few Chlouvānem nouns have irregular plurals:

* The word ''chlǣvānem'' itself is plural-only and irregular; direct and vocative are in ''-em'', but all other cases decline as a standard plural 1h noun (e.g. accusative ''chlǣvānānu'', ergative ''chlǣvānān'', genitive ''chlǣvānumi'');

* There are some pluralia tantum: ''pārye'' “hair”, ''kāraṇḍhai'' “guts”, also ''agṇyaucai'' “sons and daughters”, ''vailašaus'' "cutlery", ''šūlyakāše'' "dishes", and all ethnonyms.

** Some pluralia tantum are the plural forms of nouns with other (usually related) meanings - when they are used as semantic plurals, they're counted with cardinal numerals (and are singular); when they are used as pluralia tantum, with collective numerals (and are plural). Examples are ''hamvyenī'' "nursery" (''hamvyoe'' "cradle"), ''įsmirte'' "playground" (''įsmirtas'' "swing"), ''nacai'' "clothes" (''naca'' "cloth"), or ''garaṇai'' "clock, watch" (''garaṇa'' "hour").

** Many toponyms in the Inquisition and a few ones abroad are only ever used in the plural. Island groups are an obvious example, but this also includes descriptive names of dioceses such as ''Vīdhyašaṇṭrē'' ("regions of the Vīdhyai"), ''Samvālšaṇṭrē'' (lit. "the Western Regions"), and many cities even with originally non-Chlouvānem names such as ''Kašikanye'' (episcopal seat of Saṃhayolah), ''Rīkalīnai'' (episcopal seat of Dārṭijātia), or ''Kareñjoklai'' (episcopal seat of Yūgarthāma).

* A few nouns are singularia tantum: ''hærṣūs'' “lips”, ''maula'' “breasts”, ''kanai'' “spices”, ''paɂeh'' “dust”, ''nāmvāvi'' “dust (made by crushing something)”, ''måris'' “ash”, ''ñailūh'' “ice”; ''lāsīm'' "cereals" (individual terms for cereals may have duals and plurals meaning "two/more varieties of ..."), ''mæchlišam'' "leafy greens", ''mæcichā'' "spinach", and ''bågras'' "legumes" with all types of legumes (''dīlla'' "peas", ''mahīra'' "lentils", ''miltai'' "soybeans"...)

* Dvandva compounds are usually all dual and pluralizable - like ''yāṇḍamaišñukam'' “genitals”, or also many dyadic kinship terms (e.g. ''maihāmeinā'' “daughter and mother”) - but some of them are inherently “singular” and therefore are dual only, like ''lillamurḍhyāyunya'' (how some philosophical Yunyalīlti currents refer to the ''yunya'' “nature” and the ''lillamurḍhyā'' “natural harmony” as two aspects of the same thing). Note that dual inflections are not present on the noun itself in direct and vocative forms.

* Toponyms (except inherently dual or plural ones), personal names, and miscellaneous things that are semantically only singular (like many Yunyalīlti concepts, e.g. ''yunya'' or ''lillamurḍhyā'') are found exclusively in the singular.

==Verbs - Daradhaus==