Biwdiw morphology
- Main article: Biwdiw
This page gives an extensive description of Biwdiw morphological features.
Nouns
Nouns in Biwdiw 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 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, there are some logical-semantical exceptions, like the word hɛčo, wind, ňuli, love, or sjɛňu, light, which freely shift from a class to the other during the history of the language, depending on the overall cultural perception of the nouns' animateness degree, being thus regarded as lifeless objects or concepts or as moving entities.
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 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):
līlušū subɛnu I see dogs (three, four, some, many, …)
līlušū subɛhiw 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.
līlušū hɛgiw subɛhiw I see two dogs (the amount of two is purposedly highlighted)
The dual number is not a continuously stable feature per se in the history of Biwdiw language. It is largely used in the classical period, while it tends to be always introduced by the numeral in the first later period. It begins to die out in the texts of the later period, except for the texts in the western area, where it is still widely used well into the earlier modern period.
Numerals
The numeral system relies on a decimal base.
The first ten cardinal numbers are noun-like forms on their own:
| ʂāhu | |
| hɛgiw | |
| miwgō | |
| gōli | |
| šāgi | |
| tūlɛ | |
| xɛšɛ | |
| čuhi | |
| ʈōǰu | |
| pēhu |
Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + pēhu + nɛ:
| ʂāhupēhunɛ | |
| hɛgiwpēhunɛ | |
| miwgōpēhunɛ | |
| gōlipēhunɛ | |
| šāgipēhunɛ | |
| tūlɛpēhunɛ | |
| xɛšɛpēhunɛ | |
| čuhipēhunɛ | |
| ʈōǰupēhunɛ |
The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are noun-like forms on their own:
| ňācju | |
| wiwhā |
The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + pēhudjunu / ňācjudjunu / wiwhādjunu, with some irregularities:
| hɛgiwpēhudjuhiw | hɛgiwňācjudjuhiw | hɛgiwiwhādjuhiw | |
| miwgōpēhudjunu | miwgōňācjudjunu | miwgōwiwhādjunu | |
| gōlipēhudjunu | gōliňācjudjunu | gōliwiwhādjunu | |
| šāgipēhudjunu | šāgiňācjudjunu | šāgiwiwhādjunu | |
| tūlɛpēhudjunu | tūlɛňācjudjunu | tūlɛwiwhādjunu | |
| xɛšɛpēhudjunu | xɛšɛňācjudjunu | xɛšɛwiwhādjunu | |
| čuhipēhudjunu | čuhiňācjudjunu | čuhiwiwhādjunu | |
| ʈōǰupēhudjunu | ʈōǰuňācjudjunu | ʈōǰuwiwhādjunu |
The numeral for “million” is formed from the word wiwhā. Numbers above the millions have no name and are specified by the lesser numerals.
| wiwhālu |
This form is treated as a regularly declinable noun:
| miwgō wiwhālunu | |
| hɛgiwpēhudjuhiw šāgi wiwhālunu |
If this numeral is used as a simple count form, it is declined in the passive case. Inside of a structured sentence, it is declined according the case required by its syntactical role. Nouns adjoining such numerals are introduced by the preposition čɛl and are declined in the ablative case.
hɛgiw wiwhāluhiwxjɛ čɛl pūgɛnušu to two millions people
Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:
- 1985: wiwhā ʈōǰuňācjudjunu čuhipēhudjunu šāgi
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").
ūdjušu miwgō mācudiwnurɛ sōgu my three friends' house
ʂāhu, hɛgiw, 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 display a complete declension set, not belonging inherently to one of the two classes, varying whether they refer to a I class noun (animated class) or to a II class noun (inanimated). They are declined only in the singular declension.
miwgōrɛ sōgu the house of both (of them)
Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the comparative ending -rō to the cardinal numeral form, with some irregularities:
| ʂāhurō | |
| hɛgiwrō | |
| miwgōrō | |
| gōlirō | |
| šāgirō | |
| tūlɛrō | |
| xɛšɛrō | |
| čuhirō | |
| ʈōǰurō | |
| pēhurō |
The ordinal numeral for “millionth” is regularly formed from its corresponding cardinal forms, while its multiples are formed by unifying the separated forms in an only adjectival word:
| wiwhālurō | |
| miwgōwiwhālunurō |
If the numeral form is composite, the ending is added only to the last numeral form:
- 25th: hɛgiwpēhudjunu šāgirō
