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Wendlandish nouns inflect for definitiveness and number; the definite article is suffixed and changes for gender, being ''-il'' for masculine nouns and ''-la'' for feminine ones (with ''l'' becoming ''r'' if there's another ''l'' in the stem).<br/> | Wendlandish nouns inflect for definitiveness and number; the definite article is suffixed and changes for gender, being ''-il'' for masculine nouns and ''-la'' for feminine ones (with ''l'' becoming ''r'' if there's another ''l'' in the stem).<br/> | ||
It is not always possible to know what is the gender of the noun; generally nouns in ''-a'' are feminine (e.g. ''margva'' "carrot", ''tøla'' "table") as are many in ''-e'' (e.g. ''førke'' "girl") but for many other nouns it is not possible to know it from the form, e.g. ''kan'' "cane" is feminine but ''kæn'' "dog" is masculine; similarly ''oran'' (eagle) and ''agjin'' (fire) are both masculine while ''jalin'' (deer) is feminine. | It is not always possible to know what is the gender of the noun; generally nouns in ''-a'' are feminine (e.g. ''margva'' "carrot", ''tøla'' "table") as are many in ''-e'' (e.g. ''førke'' "girl") but for many other nouns it is not possible to know it from the form, e.g. ''kan'' "cane" is feminine but ''kæn'' "dog" is masculine; similarly ''oran'' (eagle) and ''agjin'' (fire) are both masculine while ''jalin'' (deer) is feminine. Some nouns may be used in both genders: ''ælektra'' (tram/Stadtbahn), for example, is most commonly feminine but is also used as masculine due to its etymology (it is a shortening of ''ælektratsuk'' "electric train"; also "train", ''pojst'', is masculine). | ||
The basic pattern is as follows: | The basic pattern is as follows: |
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