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Nouns in Knódtser and General Grammar
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An explanation of nouns, noun genders, pronouns, determiners, and word order
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 19 Jan 2017, 03:36.

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Menu 1. Introduction 2. Characteristics of Nouns 3. Determiners 4. Pronouns 5. Adjectives 6. General Word Order 7. Conclusion
[edit] [top]Introduction

In this lesson, you'll be introduced to the way nouns function in sentences in order to understand the general grammar and word-order of  Knødtser. You should remember how words are conjugated from the previous lesson, so those will not be explained again.

[edit] [top]Characteristics of Nouns

Nouns in Knódtser have two traits: gender and number. In terms of gender, nouns use the same gender as people do. These are aerial, aqueous, and terrene. Aerial nouns can be summarized as "things that can be perceived, but not touched": gases, sounds (including the words for the names of letters, numbers, and parts of speech), and smells. Aqueous nouns are limited to liquids and words for lengths of time, or "things that flow" in the Knódtser mindset. Finally, the terrene gender encompasses everything else, including solids, abstract concepts, textures, and tastes. Singular nouns always end with a specific letter that corresponds to their gender. The table below gives some examples of nouns with their identifying letters underlined.

EnglishKnódtserGender
waterneúdAqueous
happinesspishetTerrene
airnorAerial
iceneútTerrene
nightknudAqueous

Using this table, answer the questions below.

What letter do singular Aerial nouns end with?
 

What letter do singular Aqueous nouns end with?
 

What letter do singular Terrene nouns end with?
 

You may have noticed something interesting in the table above. The words for "ice" and "water" both begin with the root neú-. The only difference is the final letter, which marks the phase of matter, because these are recognized as different presentations of the same matter. Not all roots can be used in this way, but it is important to remember that when two words have the same root, they are always related.

Nouns in Knódtser are also identified by number. As mentioned above, the ending letters r, d, and t mark singular nouns. These endings create the default form of the word. For plurals, the final letter changes to an alternate. Plural aerial nouns end with s, plural aqueous nouns end with n, and plural terrene nouns end with b. With this information and the information from the table, try to answer the following questions.

How would you translate "nights" to Knódtser?
 

Is the unfamiliar Knódtser word pit singular or plural?
 

What does neún mean in English?
 

[edit] [top]Determiners

The table below shows most of Knódtser's determiners. These are extremely straightforward; they do not change to reflect plurality or gender.

EnglishKnódtserIPA
every/allgoh[goʔ]
anyguh[gɘʔ]
thefoh[foʔ]
a/somefuh[fɘʔ]
this/theseheh[hɛʔ]
that/thosebeh[bɛʔ]

Because determiners do not change based on the number of the noun they describe, their translation to English depends on the noun. For example, heh let means "this tree", while heh leb means "these trees".

[edit] [top]Pronouns

Pronouns, on the other hand, are a little more involved. Because these words are not only introducing a noun, but standing in its place, pronouns must convey as much information as possible about the noun in question in order to avoid confusion. They use the same roots as determiners, but instead of ending with an h, they end with the last letter of the noun being replaced, the one that indicates gender and number. In the table below, all the pronouns are conjugated to replace a singular terrene word.

EnglishKnódtserIPA
every one/all of themgot[got̪]
anygut[gɘt̪]
it/theyfot[fot̪]
onefut[fɘt̪]
this/thesehet[hɛt̪]
that/thosebet[bɛt̪]


[edit] [top]Adjectives

In Knódster, adjectives always follow the noun they describe. The table below shows some examples of adjectives in their singular Terrene form.

EnglishKnódtser
firstósrtik
adorablekeketik
rainyknódtik

Unlike with nouns and pronouns, the gender/number indicator is not the last sound in the word. Adjectives always end with ik, and the sound before follows the same rules as determiners use: r becomes s, d becomes n, and t becomes b. It is also important to keep in mind that Knódtser does not allow double letters. When this happens, one of the repeated letters is simply deleted. With all this in mind, try to complete the translations below. If you're not sure how to type the accented letters, just copy and paste from the table.

"a rainy night"
fuh knud  

"some adorable monkeys"
fuh ónub  

"the first tree"
foh let  

[edit] [top]General Word Order

Now that you have a basic understanding of these aspects of grammar, we can string together longer sentences. For example, we can say "I [terrene] see some adorable monkeys", Itsheútig fuh ónub kekebik. We can add an adverb using the same rules as we do for adjectives by placing it after the verb. For example, to say "I saw some adorable monkeys again", we say Itsheútish srutik fuh ónub kekebik. The word for "again", srutik, uses the singular terrene t in order to match the subject of the verb.

We can also introduce subordinate clauses with ftuh, "that". This word must always be used between two conjugated verbs. In English, we can say either "I see you like the monkeys" or "I see that you like the monkeys". In Knódtser, we must use the second version, "Itsheútig ftuh dednetig fuh ónub". In that example, the word for "to like", neton, is conjugated for a single aqueous individual.

Questions are also easy to form. We can ask, "Do you like the monkeys?" by saying "Idih dednetig fuh ónub?" Idih is an interrogative word that asks if something is true. By following this pattern of placing interrogative words, which always end with ih, before a conjugated verb, we can form any number of questions.

[edit] [top]Conclusion

Now that you've reached the end of this lesson, you should have a good understanding of how to form more complex sentences in Knódtser. You may also have picked up some new words. If you'd like to test yourself, try to perform the tasks below.

1. Which consonant sound marks the plural for the aqueous gender?
 

2. What would the word be for "any" if the noun it replaces to is singular and terrene?
 

3. Fill in the blank with the properly declined word for "adorable" to complete the statement, "I like the adorable monkey".
Itnetig foh ónut  .

4. Fill in the blank with the properly declined word for "again" to complete the statement "You see again".
Dedsheútig  .

5. What would the gender be for a Knódtser word that meant "verb".
 

You're done! Thanks for reading, and have a nice day. :)

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