Aratasa

Case and Number

The Yivrian noun inflects for case and number. In general, Yivrian nouns follow a simple rule whereby case endings are suffixed to stems which end in a consonant, but infixed before the final vowel of a stem that ends in a vowel. This general rule is further modified in a number of special cases, but this basic principle is illustrated below.

C-class nouns

The C-class nouns are those which end in a consonant, and which use the suffix -i as the plural marker. The plural marker follows the case marker.

Case	Affix	mirrid “wind” (sg)	(pl)
Nominative	(none)	mirrid	mirridi
Genitive	a-	amirrid	amirridi
Ablative	-on-	mirridon	mirridoni
Dative	-os-	mirridos	mirridosi
Malefactive	ru- -os	rumirridos	rumirridosi

(The usage and significance of the cases is discussed below.)

V-class nouns

The V-class nouns are those which end in a vowel, and which use the suffix -r as a plural marker. The case marker, as mentioned above, is infixed before the final vowel of the stem.

Case	Affix	gaimo “ewe”	(pl)
Nominative	(none)	gaimo	gaimor
Genitive	a-	agaimo	agaimor
Ablative	-on-	gaimono	gaimonor
Dative	-os-	gaimoso	gaimosor
Malefactive	ru- -os	rugaimoso	rugaimosor

U-class nouns

The U-class nouns are a distinctive set of nouns that end in a consonant and are typically monosyllabic, which are marked by two distinctive features:

• They feature a vowel alternation in the stem. The stem has a strong form, found in the nominative and the genitive, and a weak form found in all of the other cases.
• They use an alternate form of the case endings featuring a raised vowel.

Case	Affix	wel “wolf”	(pl)
Nominative	(none)	wel	weli
Genitive	a-	awel	aweli
Ablative	-un-	walun	waluni
Dative	-us-	walus	walusi
Malefactive	ru- -us	ruwalus	ruwalusi

The vowel alternation between the strong and the weak form of the U-class nouns is predictable, and follows the following pattern:

Strong vowel	Weak vowel
e, o	a
i	e
u	o
ei, oi	ai
ii	ei
ui	oi

Note that diphthongs are uncommon in the stems of U-class nouns, but are listed in this table for completeness.

Minor classes

The following noun classes are largely the same as one of the three classes above, but they exhibit minor additional alternations or complications.

K-class nouns

The K-class nouns are a variant of the V-class nouns which exhibit an alternation between s and k in the dative and malefactive cases.

Case	Affix	vassa “song”	(pl)
Nominative	(none)	vassa	vassar
Genitive	a-	avassa	avassar
Ablative	-on-	vassona	vassona
Dative	-os-	vakkosa	vakkosar
Malefactive	ru- -os	ruvakkosa	ruvakkosar

IND-class nouns

The IND-class nouns are a variant of the U-class nouns which are characterized by the ending -ind in the nominative and dative, which is dropped in the other three cases. These nouns are, as a rule, disyllabic in the nominative but have a monosyllabic stem in the other cases, and they do not show a vowel alternation.

Case	Affix	akkind “knot”	(pl)
Nominative	(none)	akkind	akkindi
Genitive	a-	aakkind	aakkindi
Ablative	-un-	akkun	akkuni
Dative	-us-	akkus	akkusi
Malefactive	ru- -us	ruakkus	ruakkusi

Semantics of the noun cases

Yivrian is, at its core, a nominative/accusative language, and the usage of the cases will be mostly analogous to those familiar with European case systems, though there are some wrinkles.

• The nominative is used as:
  • The reference form for all nouns
  • The subject of sentences (transitive or intransitive)
  • The object of active verbs (equivalent to the accusative in European languages)
  • The object of adjectival prepositions (that is, prepositional phrases that occur within a noun phrase)
• The genitive is used to indicate possessors.
• The ablative is a very diverse case, the result of phonological collision between multiple ancestral cases:
  • Meaning at this time when used with nouns indicating time or occasions
  • Meaning in this place when used with nouns indicating places
  • Instrumental when used with nouns for inanimate objects: using X or by means of X
  • The agent of a verb in the passive voice
  • The object of adverbial prepositions (that is, prepositional phrases that are not part of a noun phrase and modify the verb or the sentence as a whole)
• The dative is used as:
  • The recipient or beneficiary of an action, especially in ditransitive verbs
  • The object of most stative verbs
  • Meaning to/towards/into this place when used with nouns indicating places
• The malefactive is a variant of the dative which is usually used to indicate that someone is harmed or deprived by an action:
  • The recipient of an action with ditransitive verbs, when the recipient is harmed
  • With an elative meaning when used alongside the dative, i.e. “I take something from you (malefactive) for him (dative)”
  • The object of some stative verbs with negative affect

(I should provide examples of all of these elsewhere.)

Possessive suffixes

Yivrian has an extensive set of suffixes which indicate that a noun has a pronominal possessor, ie. my hand, their house. These possessive suffixes attach a suffix to the noun stem and modify the final vowel.

The common elements of the possessive suffixes are:

• The vowel i is attached to the final vowel of the stem, forming a diphthong. The vowels i and e become ii and ei (which are pronounced as monophthongs).
• If the stem ends in a consonant, an epenthetic e is added
• The pronominal suffix proper is added.

V-class nouns

A basic V-class noun is illustrated below. As described above, the final -a of the stem is changed to -ai-, and the pronominal suffix is attached to that lengthened stem.

Form	Meaning
keiha	hand
keihaiva	my hand
keihaivi	our hand
keihaisa	your (m.sg.) hand
keihaise	your (f.sg.) hand
keihaisi	your (m.sg.) hand
keihaiso	your (f.pl.) hand
keihaila	his hand
keihaile	her hand
keihaili	their (m.pl.) hand
keihailo	their (f.pl.) hand
keihaita	its hand
keihaiti	their (n.pl.) hand
keihaipa	someone’s hand
keihaika	whose hand?

C-class nouns

A basic C-class noun is illustrated below. The vowel e in the last syllable of the stem is lengthened to ei, and an epenthetic e is added before the pronominal suffix itself.

Form	Meaning
enned	lodge
enneideva	my lodge
enneidevi	our lodge
enneidesa	your (m.sg.) lodge
enneidese	your (f.sg.) lodge
enneidesi	your (m.sg.) lodge
enneideso	your (f.pl.) lodge
enneidela	his lodge
enneidele	her lodge
enneideli	their (m.pl.) lodge
enneidelo	their (f.pl.) lodge
enneideta	its lodge
enneideti	their (n.pl.) lodge
enneidepa	someone’s lodge
enneideka	whose lodge?

Alongside these nouns, there is a small set of nouns whose stems end in a liquid plus a nasal (ie. ln, rn, lm, rm). These nouns insert the diphthong ai between the liquid and the nasal, but otherwise behave as regular C-class nouns for the purposes of pronominal inflection.

Form	Meaning
tiln	thing, possession
tilaineva	my thing
tilainevi	our thing
etc

U-class nouns

U-class nouns form their possessives with the weak form of the stem, and add the vowel ii between the stem and the possessive suffix.

Form	Meaning
rod	head
radiiva	my head
radiivi	our head
radiisa	your (m.sg.) head
radiise	your (f.sg.) head
radiisi	your (m.sg.) head
radiiso	your (f.pl.) head
radiila	his head
radiile	her head
radiili	their (m.pl.) head
radiilo	their (f.pl.) head
radiita	its head
radiiti	their (n.pl.) head
radiipa	someone’s head
radiika	whose head?

IND-class nouns behave analogously, using the weak stem without -ind, and suffixing ii and the pronominal suffix as above.

Form	Meaning
akkind	knot
akkiiva	my knot
akkiivi	our knot
etc.

Inflection of possessed forms

Possessed forms always end in a vowel, and the possessed form inflects for case and number as a regular V-class noun.

Case	rod “head”
Nominative	radiiva
Genitive	aradiiva
Ablative	radiivona
Dative	radiivosa
Malefactive	ruaiivosa*

(* The initial r of the stem is dropped due to consonant haplology.)