Ďomün Gender
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A description of the Ďomün gender system
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 4 Jul 2016, 01:12.
[comments] dmngender
2. Ďomün Conjunctions
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3. Ďomün Gender
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5. Ďomün Noun Cases
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6. Ďomün Script
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7. Ďomün Stress
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10. Voice in Ďomün
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Ďomün nouns have two levels of gender. The superclass is divided into two genders:, rational and irrational. These two genders are in turn divided into two subclasses each, resulting in a total of four subclass genders. The rational gender's subclass genders are masculine and feminine, while the irrational gender's subclass genders are tangible and intangible. Nouns very predictably fall into the appropriate gender categories.Nouns
On nouns, superclass gender is only explicitly marked via the plural formation, while subclass gender is entirely unmarked. This means that singular nouns are entirely unmarked for gender of any sort.
As mentioned above, the two superclass genders have dedicated plural markers:
The rational plural marker is w- before vowels and u- before consonants:
| an- | "woman" | wan- | "women" |
| vë- | "man" | uvë- | "men" |
The irrational plural marker is b- before vowels, bi-/bï- before consonants, and ṃ- before nasals:
| ëlïkï- | "talisman bag" | bëlïkï- | "talisman bags" |
| neg- | "word" | ṃneg- | "words" |
Verbs
Verbs mark only subclass gender, but they do so consistently for both subject and object. This is described in detail on the verb conjugation page.
Adjectives
Certain adjectives mark both classes of gender, while others only mark the superclass. The distinction between those that mark both and those that do not is lexical. Those that do are generally adjectives with more basic meanings. Those that do not are typically multimorphemic adjectives and adjectives that mark irrational gender through ablaut rather than suffixes. According to the forms of agreements adjectives take, they can be divided into four groups: marked subclass adjectives, regular unmarked subclass adjectives, ablaut unmarked subclass adjectives, and multimorphemic, unmarked subclass adjectives. Their agreement paradigms are listed below:
| Marked subclasses (sar- "young/new") |
singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| rational | masculine | sarïq | usarïq |
| feminine | saraq | usaraq | |
| irrational | tangible | saruz | bïsaruz |
| intangible | saraz | bïsaraz | |
| Regular, unmarked subclasses (ebi- "white") |
singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| rational | ebiq | webiq |
| irrational | ebiz | bebiz |
| Ablaut, unmarked subclasses (nok- "far; distant") |
singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| rational | nok | ünok |
| irrational | nek | ṃnek |
The ablaut changes are as follows:
| rational | irrational |
|---|---|
| Multimorphemic, unmarked subclasses (ďenlü- "active; energetic") |
singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| rational | ďenlüq | üďenlüq |
| irrational | ďenlüz | biďenlüz |
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