Nämty morphology: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:02, 8 July 2025

Main article: Nämty

This page gives an extensive description of Nämty morphological features.

Nouns

Nouns in Nämty language end almost exclusively in a vowel. A certain number of nouns, mostly loanwords, may unusually end in a consonant; in this case the typical nominal vowels, -e- in the singular and -i- in the plural, are added at the end of noun before the normal declension endings.

Nouns are grouped into two declension classes: animate nouns or class I and inanimate nouns or class II. The first class generally includes nouns indicating animate beings, namely capable of intentional motion or action, while the second class includes inanimate objects or entities. As a rule, we can sketch out the following scheme:

class I: human beings, animals, deities
class II: plants, objects, ideas, feelings, senses, perceptions

A noun is not irreversibly included in one of the two classes, as nouns lack clear morphological marks for each class. For example, the word lüse, light, shifts from a class to the other during the history of the language, as the noun ħäme, love, depending on the overall cultural perception of the noun’s animateness degree.

Despite the general lack of morphological markers in the basic forms, being thus unable to distinguish the two classes, the declension patterns depend on which class a noun belongs to.

There are two morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular and plural.

Cases

Nämty nouns do decline, according to an ergative-absolutive system with 6 cases:

Case	Meaning
Ergative	This case marks the subject of a transitive verb. It can be used only with nouns belonging to class I.
Absolutive	This case marks primarily the direct object of a transitive verb. It is also used to mark the subject of an intransitive verb. 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 can also mark the origin or the source.
Dative	This case marks primarily the indirect object. In a broad sense, it can also mark the final purpose of an action or a state.
Causative	This case marks the reason or the cause, which are the source of an action or a state.
Oblique	It has no specifical meaning and it is generally used only with prepositions.

Other types of clause complements are conveyed using various prepositions, which can select one or more cases.

A class II noun, referring thus to an intrinsically inanimate entity, cannot generally be declined in the ergative case.

Noun declension

Nouns are declined for number by changing the last vowel of the noun root. The general vowel changes are:

e → i

ä → ü

i → y

u → ü

y → ü

Other vowels display irregular changes, and these plurals are shown in the vocabulary.

Nouns are also declined in case by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:

ergative	-k
absolutive	-
genitive	-ħ
dative	-ɕ
causative	-n
oblique	-ma

Some examples are shown below: a class I noun, rome, father, and a class II noun, döme, house.

	rome		döme
	singular	plural	singular	plural
ergative	romek	romik
absolutive	rome	romi	döme	dömi
genitive	romeħ	romiħ	dömeħ	dömiħ
dative	romeɕ	romiɕ	dömeɕ	dömiɕ
causative	romen	romin	dömen	dömin
oblique	romema	romima	dömema	dömima

As for the rules, the endings for the ergative case cannot be added to a class II noun.

Adjectives and pronouns

Adjectives closely resemble the noun form, while usually differing in their last vowel. Pronouns, instead, may exhibit different forms in the root form.

Adjectives

Attributive adjectives are always placed before the nouns they specify, while predicative adjectives are always placed after them or before the verb.

symi hene
(the) young man

hene symi imüg
(the) man is young

All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings. They thus display a complete declension set, not belonging inherently to one of the two classes.

symiħ heneħ nuβi döme ta čoʂima dömšäma weħüg
the young man’s new house is located in the nearby village

Declension of qualifying adjectives

Adjectival declension follow the same rules as the nominal declension, with the same exceptions.

Adjectives are declined for number by changing the last vowel of the noun root. The general vowel changes are:

i → y

y → ü

Other vowels usually display the same changes as the nominal declension, or they are deemed as irregular and thus shown in the vocabulary.

All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings. They thus display a complete declension set, not belonging inherently to one of the two classes.

Examples: symi, young, and nuβi, new, with a class I noun, rome, father, and a class II noun, döme, house.

	symi rome
	singular	plural
ergative	symik romek	symyk romik
absolutive	symi rome	symy romi
genitive	symiħ romeħ	symyħ romiħ
dative	symiɕ romeɕ	symyɕ romiɕ
causative	symin romen	symyn romin
oblique	symima romema	symyma romima

	nuβi döme
	singular	plural
ergative	-	-
absolutive	nuβi döme	nuβy dömi
genitive	nuβiħ dömeħ	nuβyħ dömiħ
dative	nuβiɕ dömeɕ	nuβyɕ dömiɕ
causative	nuβin dömen	nuβyn dömin
oblique	nuβima dömema	nuβyma dömima

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns are:

	1^st sing.	2^nd sing.	3^rd sing.	1^st plur.	2^nd plur.	3^rd plur.
ergative	amek	idek	ogek	amik	idik	ogik
absolutive	ame	ide	oge	ami	idi	ogi
genitive	ameħ	ideħ	ogeħ	amiħ	idiħ	ogiħ
dative	ameɕ	ideɕ	ogeɕ	amiɕ	idiɕ	ogiɕ
causative	amen	iden	ogen	amin	idin	ogin
oblique	amema	idema	ogema	amima	idima	ogima

First and second person forms are meant as referents for class I nouns. Conversely, the third person forms may refer equally to nouns belonging either to class I or class II. The case usage mirrors the class which the noun belongs to.

The forms for the genitive case cannot convey possession or belonging, conveying only other roles of such case. Either possession or belonging are conveyed through possessive adjectives.

Numerals

The numeral system relies on a decimal base.

Cardinal numerals

The first ten cardinal numbers are forms on their own:

digit	full form
1:	česi
2:	moɕi
3:	βyni
4:	šäri
5:	ʂöpi
6:	gahi
7:	ňuʂi
8:	düħi
9:	bydi
10:	lümi

These numerals are treated as adjective-like forms: They precede a noun cluster and decline according to their adjoining nouns in case, but they do not agree in number. Numerals do decline only in singular number.

česiħ heneħ
of one man

ʂöpiɕ säriɕ
to the five women

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

digit	full form
11:	česilümʂi
12:	moɕilümʂi
13:	βynilümʂi
14:	šärilümʂi
15:	ʂöpilümʂi
16:	gahilümʂi
17:	ňuʂilümʂi
18:	düħilümʂi
19:	bydilümʂi

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

digit	full form
100:	ʂüki
1000:	käʂi

The numerals for tens, hundreds and thousands are:

tens:	lümʂi
hundreds:	ʂükʂi
thousands:	käʂi

The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM (without the final -i) + lümʂy / ʂukʂy / käʂy, with some irregularities:

	tens	hundreds	thousands
2x:	moɕlümʂy	moʂükʂy	moɕkäʂy
3x:	βynlümʂy	βynʂükʂy	βynkäʂy
4x:	šärlümʂy	šärʂükʂy	šärkäʂy
5x:	ʂöplümʂy	ʂöpʂükʂy	ʂöpkäʂy
6x:	galümʂy	gaʂükʂy	gakäʂy
7x:	ňuʂlümʂy	nuʂükʂy	ňuʂkäʂy
8x:	dulümʂy	düħʂükʂy	dukäʂy
9x:	bydlümʂy	bydʂükʂy	bydkäʂy

All cardinal numerals above the form for 10 are meant as invariable, except for the numeral for 100 and the numeral for 1000.

Composite numbers are built by linking them with the conjunction e, and, in descending order:

1985: käʂi e bydʂükʂy e dulümʂy e ʂöpi

When a composite numeral has a declined adjoining number, only its declinable numeral forms do decline in agreement.

Numbers above the multiples of thousands have no name and are specified by the lesser numerals.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the comparative ending -si- to the cardinal numeral form, with some irregularities:

digit	adjective form
1^st:	česisi
2^nd:	moɕisi
3^rd:	βynisi
4^th:	šärisi
5^th:	ʂöpisi
6^th:	gahisi
7^th:	ňuʂisi
8^th:	düħisi
9^th:	bydisi
10^th:	lümisi

The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands change their last vowel from -y- to -i-, before adding the suffix -si.

digit	adjective form
11^th:	česilümʂisi
12^th:	moɕilümʂisi
20^th:	moɕlümʂisi
30^th:	βynlümʂisi
600^th:	gaʂükʂisi
9000^th:	bydkäʂisi

If the numeral form is composite, the comparative ending is added to every form, and they agree with their adjoining noun in case and number:

378^th: βynʂükʂisi e nuʂlümʂisi e düħisi

Verbs

The verbal system of Nämty language displays the following features:

tense:
- present, imperfect, past, pluperfect, future, anterior future, future in the past
mood:
- definite moods: indicative
- indefinite moods: infinitive, active participle, passive participle

The different tenses are distinguished by a typical thematic vowel. All these vowel patters divide all verbs in 5 groups, called conjugations.

The citation form of verbs is the present infinitive, marked by different endings, depending on the conjugation. These endings, thus, mark the conjugation, which a verb belongs to. From such form the verbal root can be inferred and can be changed in every other verbal form.

The following personal endings are then added to the root in the indicative mood. In this way, verbs show their agreement with the clause subject in person and number:

1^st sing.	-m
2^nd sing.	-d
3^rd sing.	-g
1^st plur.	-my
2^nd plur.	-dy
3^rd plur.	-gy

The non-finite verbal forms are meant as nominal/adjectival forms of the same verbs. They do not add the personal endings, but they are declined as nouns or adjectives with the nominal declension endings.

As verbal forms, however, they can be built on the various temporal forms. The infinitive is regarded as an invariable form in tense.

The non-finite endings are:

infinitive: -se
agentive participle: -ty
passive participle: -ňi

The infinitival form is meant as a class II noun.

Conjugation of regular verbs

Sample verbs: märose, to see (1^st conjugation), pöħuse, to establish (2^nd conjugation), giɕëse, to pretend (3^rd conjugation), hëhɑse, to happen, to occur (4^th conjugation), pɑse, to shine (5^th conjugation).

Each conjugation features a typical identifying thematic vowel, which, however, do not recur in the different tenses:

1^st conjugation:	-o-
2^nd conjugation:	-u-
3^rd conjugation:	-ë-
4^th conjugation:	-ɑ-
5^th conjugation:	-

The fifth conjugation is regarded as inherently irregular and features no typical thematic vowel. All verbs belonging to this conjugation are irregularly conjugated. The following example for this conjugation is only for illustrative purpose and cannot be taken as a proper conjugation template.