NewLang/Nouns

Noun Phrase

Form

[DETERMINER | QUANTIFIER | DETERMINER QUANTIFIER] (POSSESSIVE PRONOUN) NOUN (POSSESSOR) (ADJECTIVE)* (RELATIVE_CLAUSE)

Noun phrases will start with some sort of inflected word. Usually this is the determiner - if no locational deixis is indicated a 'dummy' or 'default' determiner is used.

If there is a quantifier but no specific determiner, the quantifier will be inflected. If there is a non-default determiner, the quantifier will appear uninflected following the determiner. Possessive pronouns, if any, will come next, followed by the noun itself.

The noun itself is usually uninflected except if there is a possessor. If there is a possessor (that is not covered by a possessive pronoun, that is), it will appear immediately following the noun.

Following that, optionally, will be adjectives (which are from a closed class or are participles). Further description will be in the form of relative clauses.

Noun

Classes

See Noun Classes for more information.

Nouns are all categorized into various noun classes based on semantic meaning. Some nouns are simply in one class or the other (and requires memorization), while others contain a noun classifier infix. These marked nouns are usually the result of derivation from the unmarked verbs - the infix is added, putting the new lexeme into a new class with a different meaning.

Number

Nouns can either be singular or plural. In most cases, this is not marked on the noun itself, however. Rather it is marked on the determiner, or in the case of a noun in the direct case, on the verb itself.

Determiners

• Determiners are the first element of the noun phrase (if present)
• The determiner is obligatory unless the noun is in the direct case or the noun is a topic.
• If a quantifier is present, the determiner is unmarked for number (i.e. uses the singular form) no matter the actual number. In this situation, the determiner is only marked for case and noun class.

The determiner indicates the case, number, and pragmatic distance (this, that, the other). The determiner also agrees with the noun class of the noun.

There is also an 'unspecified' determiner which is used for nouns that are not unique in the specific context. (This is different than definiteness. see the Wikipedia article on specificity for more explanation.)

Notes, in the following tables:

• The determiners are listed in singular/plural pairs
• VC in the determiner means the thematic infix of the class the determiner governs (that is, a vowel and a consonant)
• Just V means just the vowel of the thematic infix of the class the determiner governs

Default determiners

Direct (unmarked)	--
Ergative	lzV / lzVCi
Accusative	nV / nVCo
Locative	sV / sVCV
Instrumental	tV / tVCa
Dative	riV / riVCi

Determiners with spatial deixis

	Proximal	Medial	Distative	Unspecific
Direct (unmarked)	ke	tan	baru	xema
Ergative	lzikeV / lzVCike	lzitanV / lzVCitan	lzibarV / lzVCiba	lziemV / lzVCie
Accusative	nokeV / nVCoke	notanV / nVCotan	nobarV / nVCoba	nohemV / norVCoe
Locative	sVkeV / sVCVke	sVtanV / sVCVtan	sVbarV / sVCVba	sV(x)emV / sVCV(x)e
Instrumental	takeV / tVCake	tatanV / tVCatan	tabarV / tVCaba	taxemV / taxVCahe
Dative	rikeV / riVCike	ritanV / riVCitan	ribarV / riVCiba	rienemV / rienVCie

Quantifier Inflections

	Number/Adj
Direct	--
Ergative	lzi+(root)+V
Accusative	no+(root)+V
Locative	si+(root)+V
Instrumental	ta+(root)+V
Dative	rien+(root)+V
Vocative	(root)+V

Possession

Possession is indicated by the noun (the possessed) being suffixed with -mvi/-vi followed by the possessor.

segena-mvi	geta
ball-POSS	dog
the dog's ball

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are:

1st Person Singular	via
1st Person Plural	vi
2nd Person Singular	vima
2nd Person Plural	vimano
3rd Person Sentient Singular	vian
3rd Person Sentient Plural	vonin

3rd person non-sentients do not have their own possessive pronouns. Instead, possession for them is handled by normal possession using the thematic affix as the possessor

segena-mvi	et
ball-POSS	3s(CL3)
its ball

Adjectives

See NewLang/Adjectives for more information.

Adjective come in two forms: a closed class of simple adjectives, and participles. If both types occur, then the simple occur first then the participles.

Relative clauses

TBD