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
• Below each template will be example for the word geta, which is Class 3 and the thematic infix is -et-

Default determiners

When there is no spatial deixis (i.e. it isn't 'this', 'that', 'the other' or 'something'), a default determiner is used. Note that no default determiner is needed in the Direct case, as the details are marked on the verb itself.

Direct (unmarked)	--
Ergative	lzV / lzVCi lze / lzeti
Accusative	nV / nVCo ne / neto
Locative	sV / sVCV se / sete
Instrumental	tV / tVCa te / teta
Dative	riV / riVCi rie / rieti

Determiners with spatial deixis

Determiners with a spatial dexis are inflected differently than default. There three spatial options: Proximal (this), Medial (that), and Distal (the other). There is also an 'unspecified' version for nouns that are not specific.

For the direct case, the base determiner is just placed before the noun, uninflected (e.g. ke geta, 'tan geta, etc.).

	Proximal	Medial	Distal	Unspecified
Direct (unmarked)	ke	tan	baru	xema
Ergative	lzikeV / lzVCike' lzike'e / lzetike	lzitanV / lzVCitan lzitane / lzetitan	lzibarV / lzVCiba lzibare / lzetiba	lziemV / lzVCie lzieme / lzetie
Accusative	nokeV / nVCoke noke'e / netoke	notanV / nVCotan notane / netotan	nobarV / nVCoba nobare / netoba	noxemV / nVCoe noxeme / netoe
Locative	sVkeV / sVCVke seke'e / seteke	sVtanV / sVCVtan setane / setetan	sVbarV / sVCVba sebare / seteba	sV(x)emV / sVCV(x)e sexem / setexe
Instrumental	takeV / tVCake take'e / tetake	tatanV / tVCatan tatane / tetatan	tabarV / tVCaba tabare / tetaba	taxemV / tVCaxe taxeme / tetaxe
Dative	rikeV / riVCike rike'e / rietike	ritanV / riVCitan ritane / rietike	ribarV / riVCiba ribare / rietike	rienemV / rienVCie rieneme / rienetie

Quantifier Inflections

If the quantifier is the first word in the noun phrase, it is inflected for case and noun class. (Number is not needed because of the quantifier). Like with above determiners with deixis, in the Direct case, the quantifier is put just uninflected. The examples use the number teyon "five" and is with the noun geta.

Direct	--
Ergative	lzi+(quantifier)+V lziteyone
Accusative	no+(quantifier)+V noteyone
Locative	sV+(quantifier)+V seteyone
Instrumental	ta+(quantifier)+V tateyone
Dative	rin+(quantifier)+V rinteyone

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