"Genders" in Marinese.
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A short description of the genders in Marinese.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 13 Feb 2023, 22:44.
[comments] mrnegendersnounsverbsconjugations
There are four gender categories in
Marinese : Earth, Water, Fire and Ether. They concern both nouns and verbs, and affect how each word will conjugate and declinate. In Translations:
Earth is glossed as G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes
Water is glossed as G2Gender 2 (gender/class)
Fire is glossed as G3Gender 3 (gender/class)
Ether is glossed as G4Gender 4 (gender/class)
Each verb ends a particular way. For verbs, this is quite simple.
Water verbs end in -as
Earth verbs end in -us
Fire verbs end in -is
Ether verbs end in -ár
These endings effect how each verb is inflected due to person. For example, for first person singular, the final letter on each is removed. So, for an Earth verb such as suŋus /suŋus/ - to come, removing just the final letter creates the first person singular.
suŋ -u
come -G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I come.
Each verb can be inflected for agent in one of eight ways. First person singular, second person singular, third person animate singular (equating to he or she, animals included), third person inanimate singular (equating to it, an object), first person plural, second person plural, third person animate plural (equating to those people or those animals) and third person inanimate plural (those objects).
So, if we wanted to say 'Those people come' we inflect like so.
suŋ -uźā
come -G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3PAThird person plural animate (person)
they
The word would also be inflected if a named person or object is mentioned.
Ɉona suŋuz.
John comes
Ɉōna suŋ-uź.
John come-G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3AThird person animate (person)
he/she/they, not it
Ɉ'āvar suŋuź
A bird comes.
Ɉ'āvar suŋ-uź
INDEFIndefinite
a nonspecific referent.ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.bird.G4Gender 4 (gender/class) come-G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3AThird person animate (person)
he/she/they, not it
Tá skrīvan suŋuźe
The letter comes.
Tá skrīvan suŋ-uźe
DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun letter.G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes come-G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they
Tenses
Marinese has nine tenses (with eight markers) which at first may seem a little daunting, but it's actually quite simple. They are the same across all verb genders and don't change the actual word or inflected word. They are small particles placed before the word.
The present simple has no article.
Present progressive - te
Present perfect - ton
For past tense simple, ad hu, and for future, add ná then combine those with the perfect and progressive mentioned above.
Past perfect - huton
Future progressive - náte
and so on.
T'āvar ton suŋuź
The bird has come.
T'-āvar ton suŋ-uź
DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun-bird.G4Gender 4 (gender/class) PRPFPresent perfective (tense/aspect)
have done come-G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3AThird person animate (person)
he/she/they, not it
Tá skrīvan náton suŋuźe
The letter will have come
Tá skrīvan náton suŋ-uźe
DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun letter.G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes FUTPERFuture perfect (tense)
"will have been" come-G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.3IThird person inanimate (person)
it, not he/she/they
This is where it gets a little more complicated. Again, we have the same four genders, and each has a selection of letters their nouns can end in.
Earth Nouns end one of three nasals: M, N or Ŋ
Water Nouns end one of four sibilants: S, Ś, Z or Ź
Ether Nouns end in one of four liquids: Ɉ, L, R or Ħ
Fire Nouns end in one of three plosives or two uvular fricatives: P, D, G, J or ĵ
Nouns can be inflected by the following cases:
| Case | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Addessive | near the house |
| Allative | moving onto the house |
| Illiative | moving into the house |
| Inessive | inside the house |
| Perlative | moving through or along the house |
| Subessive | underneath the house |
| Superessive | above the house |
They can also can be pluralised, both on their own and with inflection.
Let's take a look at an Earth Noun first. Earth Nouns in Marinese are so called because generally they are considered grounded concepts, are natural in the sense of being associated with the ground or considered to be unchanging. Such as the Marinese word for city: séntam /sɛi̯ntam/
To pluralise this word, we first remove the final letter (the case for all nouns), and then we add '-hi'. So, cities is séntahi /sɛi̯ntahi/
If we were to be talking about travelling through a city, we would add the perlative case, which for Earth Nouns is removing the final letter and adding '-śun', making séntaśum /sɛi̯ntaʃum/ and to pluralise this, we add '-i' to the end (the same with all Earth conjugations)
Séntaśumi
/sɛi̯ntaʃumi
Through the cities
Water nouns in Marinese are so called because they are considered to be changeable, fickle, capricious or natural in the sense of being associated with water. The Marinese word mārsas /ma:ɹsas means 'belief' or 'conviction'. This is a water noun because the Marinese understand that people's beliefs can change over time.
Plurals of Water Nouns are created by adding '-va' to the stem and '-a' to all but two of the conjugated versions. The allative conjugation is pluralised with the addition of '-ā' and the perlative with '-s'
Ɉani mārsakusa
/jani ma:ɹsakusa/
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.POSPossessor
generic possessive article beliefG4Gender 4 (gender/class).ADEAdessive (case)
near/by.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
Close to my beliefs
Ɉani mārsalur
/jani ma:ɹsaluɹ/
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.POSPossessor
generic possessive article beliefG4Gender 4 (gender/class).INEInessive (case)
'inside'
In my belief
Ether Nouns in Marinese are so called because they are ephemeral, abstract, fleeting or natural in the sense of being associated with the air or space or are considered unnatural. A good example of an Ether Noun is the word 'vantar' /vantar/ meaning 'ghost', 'phantom' or 'apparition'. (Another Ether Noun derived from this is nartuvantar which means nightmare.)
Ether Nouns are pluralised by adding '-ho' to the stem or '-o' to the conjugated word.
Ɉe vantair hu trola.
/vantaiɹ hu tɹɔla/
INDEFIndefinite
a nonspecific referent.ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun ghost.G4Gender 4 (gender/class).PERPerlative (case)
'through, along' PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech walk.G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I walked through a ghost.
Ɉani nartuvantajelo.
/jani naɹtuvantaxɛlɔ
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSPossessor
generic possessive article nightmare.G3Gender 3 (gender/class).INEInessive (case)
'inside'.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few
In my nightmares
Finally, we come to the Fire Nouns. Fire Nouns are so called as they are generally thought to be emotional, polarising, dangerous or natural in the sense of being associated with energy and forces. A nice example of a Marinese fire noun is 'eptep' /ɛptɛp/ which means end. The end of something can be a polarising thing, as it could be a happy ending or a tragic one.
To pluralise a Fire Noun, add '-rs' to the stem or '-s' to the conjugated word.
T'eptege
tɛptɛgɛ
DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.end.G3Gender 3 (gender/class).INEInessive (case)
'inside'
In the end.
T'eptekets ád t'arálan.
tɛptɛkɛts au̯d taɹau̯lan
DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.end.G3Gender 3 (gender/class).ALLAllative (case)
'to, onto'.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few of DEFDefinite
"the".ARTArticle
indicate the type of reference being made by the nounworldG1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes
To the ends of the world.
So, that was a brief lesson into the genders of the
Marinese language. I hope that was somewhat informative. For more information on how to conjugate the nouns and verbs, please take a look at the grammar tables! I hope this also went some way to exploring why the genders in Marinese are the way that they are. Happy Conlanging!
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