Hoð‘i morphology
- Main article: Hoð‘i
This page gives an extensive description of Hoð‘i morphological features.
Nouns
Nouns in Hoð‘i can end either in a vowel or in a consonant in their basic form. Nouns ending in a consonant usually add a vowel in their declension. There is no clear tendency on which vowel is to be added and the vowel is deemed as part of the noun root.
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
Hoð‘i nouns do decline, according to a nominative-accusative system with 2 cases:
| Direct | This case marks both the subject and the direct object of a verb. It is regarded as the base form of the noun, and it is used as the vocative form. |
| Oblique | This case marks primarily possession and belonging, either intentional, unintentional, or indirect. Other functions are expressed by using prepositions. |
Articles
There is only one article, the definite article, ek‘, which is placed before the noun, agreeing with it in case and number.
| ek‘ | ek‘i | |
| evo | ivo |
Noun declension
Nouns are declined in case and number with different models, depending on the last phoneme of the root.
Nouns, whose root ends in a consonant, are divided into two groups: non-palatal and palatal group. Both groups add a different thematic vowel in their declension. Nouns in the non-palatal group do also palatalize the last consonant of the root, if possible, in the plural forms.
There is, however, a certain amount of irregular nouns, like some nouns which seemingly belong to the palatal group, while declining like a non-palatal noun, and vice versa.
Nouns, whose root ends in a vowel, change this last vowel. The general vowel changes are:
| (The last consonant of the root undergo palatalization, if possible) | |
| (The last consonant of the root undergo palatalization, if possible) | |
| (The last consonant of the root undergo palatalization, if possible) | |
Some nouns, conversely, display unpredictable irregularities in pluralization.
Nouns are also declined in case by adding the following endings to the base form of the noun:
| - | |
| -vo |
Some examples of nouns, whose root ends in a consonant, are shown below: a noun belonging to the non-palatal group, towm, house, and a noun belonging to the palatal group, l‘irs‘, plant.
| towm | towm‘e | l‘irs‘ | l‘irs‘i | |
| towmevo | towm‘evo | l‘irs‘ivo | l‘irs‘ivo | |
As it can be noticed, nouns in the palatal group do not distinguish the singular from the plural form in the oblique case.
Some examples of nouns, whose root ends in a consonant, are shown below: cæšæ, lake, and ðowmo, wheel.
| cæšæ | cæše | ðowmo | ðowmu | |
| cæšævo | cæševo | ðowmovo | ðowmuvo | |
An example of irregular nouns is shown below: mɛw, mouse.
| mɛw | m’ɛw | |
| mɛwvo | m’ɛwvo | |
Adjectives and pronouns
Adjectives closely resemble the noun form, usually showing the same exceptions of nouns, but differing in their thematic vowel. 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.
ek‘ żen s‘em‘ the young man
ek‘ żen imo s‘em‘ 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.
ek‘ towm nyb‘ evo żenevo s‘em‘ivo jeso ða towmšævo kuh‘ivo 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.
All adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they specify, being declined with the nominal endings.
Examples: s‘em‘, young, and nyb‘, new, with two nouns, om, father, and towm, house.
| om s‘em‘ | om‘e s‘em‘i | |
| omevo s‘em‘ivo | om‘evo s‘em‘ivo | |
| towm nyb‘ | towm‘e nyb‘i | |
| towmevo nyb‘ivo | towm‘evo nyb‘ivo | |
Numerals
The numeral system relies on a decimal base.
Cardinal numerals
The first ten cardinal numbers are forms on their own:
| he | |
| moš | |
| b‘in | |
| šæ | |
| ɔv | |
| kag | |
| ňow | |
| tuɣ | |
| p‘et | |
| lun |
Numerals from 11 to 19 are built with the construction NUM + -eňe + lun, with some irregularities:
| heňelun | |
| mošeňelun | |
| b‘ineňelun | |
| šæňelun | |
| ɔveňelun | |
| kageňelun | |
| ňowňelun | |
| tuɣeňelun | |
| p‘eteňelun |
The numerals for (one) hundred and (one) thousand are forms on their own:
| ux | |
| x‘æ |
The numerals for tens, hundreds and thousands are:
| lum‘e | |
| ux‘e | |
| x‘æ |
The numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + lum‘e / ux‘e / x’æ, with many irregularities:
| mošlum‘e | mošux‘e | mošx‘æ | |
| b‘inlum‘e | b‘inux‘e | b‘inx‘æ | |
| šælum‘e | šɔx‘e | šæx‘æ | |
| ɔlum‘e | ɔvux‘e | ɔx‘æ | |
| kaglum‘e | kox‘e | kax‘æ | |
| ňulum‘e | ňux‘e | ňyx‘æ | |
| tulum‘e | tux‘e | tux‘æ | |
| p‘etlum‘e | p‘ux‘e | p‘ex‘æ |
All cardinal numerals up to these forms are meant as invariable.
Composite numbers are built by just putting them beside, without any conjunction, in descending order:
- 1985: x‘æ p‘ux‘e tulum‘e ɔv
Numerals for “million” and “billion” are loanwords from modern Læntixu language:
| šurentu (from L. šurentu) | |
| mešurentu (from L. mešurentu) |
These forms are treated as regularly declinable nouns:
| b‘in šurentow | |
| kag mešurentow |
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 declined in the oblique case:
he šurentu ðiɣ‘evo one million people
moš mešurentow ðiɣ‘evo to two billions people
In the earlier modern period the idea of “zero” is introduced from modern Læntixu language. This numeral is however usually limited to mathematics:
| xesu (from L. xesu) |
Ordinal numerals
Ordinal numerals are formed by adding the adjectival ending -i (-ir) to the cardinal numeral form. However, most ordinal forms are irregulary built. The first 10 ordinal numerals are:
| hi | |
| moši | |
| b‘ini | |
| šɛ | |
| ɔvi | |
| kagi | |
| ňy | |
| tuɣi | |
| p‘eti | |
| lumi |
Ordinal numerals from 11th to 19th are built with the construction NUM + -eňe + lumi, with some irregularities:
| heňelumi | |
| mošeňelumi | |
| b‘ineňelumi | |
| šæňelumi | |
| ɔveňelumi | |
| kageňelumi | |
| ňowňelumi | |
| tuɣeňelumi | |
| p‘eteňelumi |
The ordinal numerals for hundredth and thousandth are also irregularly formed:
| ux‘i | |
| x‘æ |
The ordinal numerals for the multiples of tens, hundreds and thousands are built with the construction NUM + lum‘i / ux‘i / x’ɛ, with many irregularities:
| mošlum‘i | mošux‘i | mošx‘ɛ | |
| b‘inlum‘i | b‘inux‘i | b‘inx‘ɛ | |
| šælum‘i | šɔx‘i | šæx‘ɛ | |
| ɔlum‘i | ɔvux‘i | ɔx‘ɛ | |
| kaglum‘i | kox‘i | kax‘ɛ | |
| ňulum‘i | ňux‘i | ňyx‘ɛ | |
| tulum‘i | tux‘i | tux‘ɛ | |
| p‘etlum‘i | p‘ux‘i | p‘ex‘ɛ |
Ordinal numerals for “millionth” and “billionth” are irregularly formed from their corresponding cardinal forms, while their multiples are formed by unifying the separated forms in an only adjectival word:
| šurent’y | |
| mešurent’y | |
| b‘inmešurent’y |
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:
- 378th: b’inux‘i ňulum‘i tuɣi
