Læntixu morphology
- Main article: Læntixu
This page gives an extensive description of Læntixu morphological features.
Nouns
Nouns in Læntixu language end mostly in a vowel in their basic form. A certain number of nouns, however, ends in a consonant; in this case a euphonic vowel, mostly -i-, is added at the end of noun before the normal declension endings.
Nouns display neither gender nor class distinction. There are, however, two morphological numbers for almost all nouns, singular and plural, and a limited case system. If a noun is deemed as definite, a form of definite article is used and placed before it.
Cases
Læntixu nouns do decline, according to a nominative-accusative system with 3 cases:
| Basic-Vocative | It is regarded as the base form of the noun, and it is used only as the vocative form. |
| Direct | This case marks both the subject and the direct object of a verb. |
| Oblique | It has no specifical meaning and it is generally used only with prepositions. It can be occasionally used without prepositions in earlier texts and in crystallized forms, marking the indirect object. |
There are, moreover, some crystallized forms of a locative case, marked by the ending -cær, with the role of locative adverbs:
sowgucær at home (static location)
Articles
There is only one article, the definite article, æl‘, which is placed before the noun, agreeing with it in case and number. It lacks, however, any form in the basic case.
| - | - | |
| æl‘ | æn‘ | |
| æha | æn‘a |
In the later spoken language, the numeral šæf, one, is increasingly used as an indefinite article. This usage is, however, not allowed in the formal standard language.
æl‘ vjirul‘ kinusæh the man sings
formal: vjirul‘ kinusæh informal: šæf vjirul‘ kinusæh a man sings
Noun declension
Nouns are declined in case and number by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:
| - | -nu | |
| -l‘ | -nol‘ | |
| -ha | -noha |
Some examples are shown below: paɸu, father, and sowgu, house.
| paɸu | paɸunu | sowgu | sowgunu | |
| paɸul‘ | paɸunol‘ | sowgul‘ | sowgunol‘ | |
| paɸuha | paɸunoha | sowguha | sowgunoha | |
Nouns ending in a consonant in the singular direct case usually add a euphonic vowel before the endings of the other cases. This vowel is generally -i-, but other vowels are also possible.
bas. vær‘ → dir. vær‘il‘, obl. vær‘iha, ...
Some irregular nouns, conversely, change their last vowel in the root before adding other endings. The commonest changes are u → o, or i → e. A lot of these nouns display both irregular and regular forms, especially in earlier texts. In modern texts the amount of irregular forms is extremely limited, with a strong tendency towards regularization by analogy.
bas. sænu → dir. sænol‘, obl. sænoha, ... bas. voɸi → dir. voɸel‘, obl. voɸeha, ...
Adjectives and pronouns
Adjectives closely resemble the noun form, usually showing the same exceptions of nouns. Pronouns, instead, may exhibit different forms in the root form.
Adjectives
Both attributive and predicative adjectives are always placed after the nouns they specify, with a few exceptions.
æl‘ vjirul‘ jowɸæl‘ the young man
æl‘ vjirul‘ ojh jowɸæl‘ the man is young
All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings. However, in modern speech, attributive adjectives tend not to agree in number with their nouns, displaying only the singular declension. This feature is not accepted in the standard formal language.
Declension of qualifying adjectives
Adjectival declension follow the same rules as the nominal declension in the formal language, with the same exceptions.
Example: sur‘il‘, big, with sowgul‘, house
| sowgu sur‘i | sowgunu sur‘inu | sowgunu sur‘ | |
| sowgul‘ sur‘il‘ | sowgunol‘ sur‘inol‘ | sowgunol‘ sur‘il‘ | |
| sowguha sur‘iha | sowgunoha sur‘inoha | sowgunoha sur‘iha | |
| sowgul‘ ojh sur‘il‘ | sowgunol‘ onæh sur‘inol‘ | ||
Numerals
The numeral system relies on a decimal base.
Cardinal numerals
The first ten cardinal numbers are noun-like forms on their own:
| šæf | |
| æx‘ | |
| mixow | |
| gowbɛ | |
| pæžɛ | |
| uba | |
| haša | |
| ko | |
| coju | |
| few |
Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + fewna, with some irregularities:
| šæfewna | |
| æxifewna | |
| mixowfewna | |
| gowbɛfewna | |
| pæžɛfewna | |
| ubafewna | |
| hašafewna | |
| kofewna | |
| cojufewna |
The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are noun-like forms on their own:
| ñæθu | |
| vjæ |
The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + rɛ + few / ñæθu / vjæ, with some irregularities:
| æxirɛfew | æxirɛñæθu | æxirɛvjæ | |
| mixowrɛfew | mixowrɛñæθu | mixowrɛvjæ | |
| gowbɛrɛfew | gowbɛrɛñæθu | gowbɛrɛvjæ | |
| pæžɛrɛfew | pæžɛrɛñæθu | pæžɛrɛvjæ | |
| ubarɛfew | ubarɛñæθu | ubarɛvjæ | |
| hašarɛfew | hašarɛñæθu | hašarɛvjæ | |
| korɛfew | korɛñæθu | korɛvjæ | |
| cojurɛfew | cojurɛñæθu | cojurɛvjæ |
Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:
- 1985: vjæ cojureñæθu pæžɛñukorefew
Numerals from 21 to 99 are however built with the construction NUM + ñu + TEN. The -ñu- infix blends with the -æxi- numeral infix, resulting in -ñowxi-, blends with the -uba- numeral infix, resulting in -ñuba-:
| pæžɛñowxirɛfew | |
| mixowñumixowrɛfew | |
| hašañubarɛfew |
All cardinal numerals up to these forms are meant as invariable. They can however be used without an adjoining noun by putting the articles before them:
æn‘ vjæ the one thousand
Numerals for “million” and “billion” are loanwords from Iðâɣ language:
| šurentu (from I. šúrěntu ) | |
| mešurentu (from I. mêšúrěntu ) |
These forms are treated as regularly declinable nouns:
| mixow šurentunu | |
| uba mešurentunu |
If these numerals are used as simple count forms, they are declined in the basic 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 jæl and are declined in the oblique case:
kowf æx‘ šurentunoha jæl fuxanoha to two millions people
In the earlier modern period the idea of “zero” is introduced from Iðâɣ language. This numeral is however usually limited to mathematics:
| xesu (from I. xesú) |
Ordinal numerals
Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the adjectival ending -xu- to the cardinal numeral form, with some irregularities:
| šæwxul‘ | |
| æxixul‘ | |
| mixowxul‘ | |
| gowbɛxul‘ | |
| pæžɛxul‘ | |
| ubaxul‘ | |
| hašaxul‘ | |
| koxul‘ | |
| cojuxul‘ | |
| fewxul‘ |
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:
| šurentuxul‘ | |
| mešurentuxul‘ | |
| mixowmešurentuxul‘ |
If the numeral form is composite, the ending is added only to the last numeral form:
- 125th: ñæθu pæžɛñowxirefewxul‘
