Viwdiwgu morphology

Main article: Viwdiwgu

This page gives an extensive description of Viwdiwgu morphological features.

Nouns

Nouns in Viwdiwgu language end almost exclusively in a vowel or in the recurring -iw diphthong. A certain number of nouns, mostly loanwords, may unusually end in a consonant; in this case a euphonic vowel, -u-, is added at the end of noun before the normal declension endings.

Nouns display neither gender nor class distinction. There are, however, three morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular, dual, and plural.

The dual number is used when two entities are mentioned (or when these entities are usually found in couple):

līlužū suvö
I see dogs (three, four, some, many, …)

līlužū suvɛhiw
I see two dogs (it cannot be any other number)

In this case, the usage of the numeral hɛgiw, two, is not required. It can be used, however, to highlight the value of the numeral.

līlužū hɛɣiw suvɛhiw
I see two dogs (the amount of two is purposedly highlighted)

There is a limited case system. If a noun is deemed as indefinite, a form of indefinite article is used and placed before it.

Cases

Viwdiwgu nouns do decline, according to a nominative-accusative system with 3 cases:

Case	Meaning
Direct	This case marks both the subject and the direct object of a verb. It is also used with some prepositions. It is regarded as the base form of the noun, and it is used as the vocative form.
Genitive	This case marks possession and belonging, either intentional, unintentional, or indirect. It is used with many prepositions. It is also used to mark the direct object of an infinitival form of a verb, marking thus the direct object of the negated form of a transitive verb.
Dative	This case marks primarily the indirect object. In a broad sense, it can also mark the final point of a movement (motion toward a place). It is used with many prepositions.

Articles

There is no article per se, but the numeral ṡāhu, one, can play the role of an indefinite article. It is placed before the noun, agreeing with it in case by using the adjectival endings.

	formal	informal
direct	ṡāhu	ṡāhu
genitive	ṡāhurɛ	ṡāhur
dative	ṡāhuxjɛ	ṡāhux

Examples:

suvɛ līlužɛc sōgu pūɣɛrɛ
the dog see the house of the man

ṡāhu suvɛ līlužɛc ṡāhu sōgu ṡāhurɛ/ṡāhur pūɣɛrɛ
a dog sees a house of a man

Numerals

The numeral system relies on a decimal base.

The first ten cardinal numbers are noun-like forms on their own:

digit	noun form
1:	ṡāhu
2:	hɛɣiw
3:	miwgō
4:	gōli
5:	šāɣi
6:	tūlɛ
7:	xɛžɛ
8:	čuhi
9:	tsōǧu
10:	pihu

Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + pihü, with some irregularities:

digit	noun form
11:	ṡāhupihü
12:	hɛɣiwpihü
13:	miwgōpihü
14:	gōlipihü
15:	šāɣipihü
16:	tūlɛpihü
17:	xɛžɛpihü
18:	čuhipihü
19:	tsōǧupihü

The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are noun-like forms on their own:

digit	noun form
100:	ňācju
1000:	viwhā

The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + -pihudjū / -ňācjū / -viwhādjū, with some irregularities:

	tens	hundreds	thousands
2x:	hɛɣiwpihudjuhiw	hɛɣiwňācjuhiw	hɛgiviwhādjuhiw
3x:	miwgōpihudjū	miwgōňācjū	miwgōviwhādjū
4x:	gōlipihudjū	gōliňācjū	gōliviwhādjū
5x:	šāɣipihudjū	šāɣiňācjū	šāɣiviwhādjū
6x:	tūlɛpihudjū	tūlɛňācjū	tūlɛviwhādjū
7x:	xɛžɛpihudjū	xɛžɛňācjū	xɛžɛviwhādjū
8x:	čuhipihudjū	čuhiňācjū	čuhiviwhādjū
9x:	tsōǧupihudjū	tsōǧuňācjū	tsōǧuviwhādjū

The numerals for “million” and “billion” are nominal forms on their own (the latter is an adapted loanword from Iðâɣ language):

digit	noun form
1,000,000:	viwhālu
1,000,000,000:	mesürentu (from I. mêšúrěntu)

These forms are treated as regularly declinable nouns:

digit	noun form
3,000,000:	miwgō viwhālū
6,000,000,000:	tūlɛ mesürentū

If these numerals are used as simple count forms, they are declined in the direct case. Inside of a structured sentence, they are declined according the case required by their syntactical role. Nouns adjoining such numerals are introduced by the preposition xāč and are declined in the genitive case:

hɛɣiw viwhāluhiwxjɛ xāč pūɣörɛ
to two millions people

Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:

• 1985: viwhā tsōǧuňācjū čuhipihudjū šāɣi

When cardinal numbers have an adjective-like function, or when they are used as as simple count forms, they are meant as indeclinable forms (except for "million" and "billion").

sōgu miwgō mācudürɛ çurɛ 
my three friends' house

ṡāhu, hɛɣiw, miwgō, gōli, ...
one, two, three, four, ...

Every numeral, however, can also have a pronominal function. In this case, they are declined in the required case. They are declined only in the singular declension.

sōgu miwgōrɛ 
the house of those three (people)

The numeral ṡāhu is a notable exception, since its role as an indefinite article in modern texts is rapidly increasing. It thus displays a complete adjectival declension.

In the earlier modern period the idea of “zero” is introduced from Cärähə language. This numeral is however usually limited to mathematics:

digit	noun form
0:	xesü (from C. xesü)

Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the ordinal ending -rō to the cardinal numeral form:

digit	adjective form
1st:	ṡāhurō
2nd:	hɛɣiwrō
3rd:	miwgōrō
4th:	gōlirō
5th:	šāɣirō
6th:	tūlɛrō
7th:	xɛžɛrō
8th:	čuhirō
9th:	tsōǧurō
10th:	pihurō
11th:	ṡāhupihürō
12th:	hɛɣiwpihürō
20th:	hɛɣiwpihudjuhiwrō
60th:	tūlɛpihudjūrō

Ordinal numerals for “millionth” and “billionth” are regularly formed from their corresponding cardinal forms, while their multiples are formed by unifying the separated forms in an only adjectival word:

digit	adjective form
1,000,000th:	viwhālurō
1,000,000,000th:	mesürenturō
3,000,000,000th:	miwgōmesürentūrō

If the numeral form is composite, the ending is added only to the last numeral form:

• 25^th: hɛɣiwpihudjū šāɣirō