Nouns
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This private article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 21 Sep 2022, 13:12.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
All Lindorenna nouns are declined in three numbers and six cases. In Old Lindorenna there were four numbers (singular, plural, dual and collective), but as the language evolved, the use of dual number gradually decreased. Nowadays the dual form may be used with some words, but for most words it has been fused with the plural form. As for the cases, there were once seven of them, but genitive and accusative are no longer in use as they merged into one single case now known as vocative.
There are no real articles in Lindorenna, but sometimes the three object articles (an, na, nan) may be used as such. They can however be used to mark both definite and indefinite forms. In addition, although the object articles would only be used as definite articles, is the use of them very irregular. It is not always clear where to put an article and where not to. Usually the speaker can deduce the place of the article, for the lack, or the presence, of it makes speech more fluent. Furthermore, object articles have several meanings. For example the article nan can mean both definite and indefinite articles, genitive particle, demonstrative pronouns ‘this’ and ‘that’ and the conjunction ‘that’.
The Lindorenna laws of plural are quite simple, but, at the same time, quite complex. Shortly, there are two different plurals: internal and terminal. The first one is for most of the consonant final words and the latter one for all of the vowel final and certain consonant final words.
The internal plural is formed by apophony and there are total of ten apophony rules. Apophony shifts the vowels forming new words that are then used as plural forms of the original words. All apophony rules of Lindorenna are listed below:
| a | always e |
| à | ê after a consonant, otherwise e |
| â | always a, following consonants doubles |
| e (first syllable) | usually ê |
| e (last syllable) | usually i or ì |
| e (only syllable) | êbetween two consonants, otherwise i |
| e + V | unchanged |
| i | usually unchanged, rarely î |
| o | always i |
| oï | always eï |
Sometimes the plural form of a word is formed entirely irregularly while following other plural rules only a little, if at all. These kinds of words are quite rare, but they exist anyway. Some examples of irregularly pluralised nouns include atëon - etïen (‘will - wills’) valonde - vllendi (‘sage - sages’), although the latter one may also be pluralised valonde - valondìr.
Most of the nouns in Lindorenna are pluralised, like the word above, with an ending added to the stem of the word. That ending is often called a terminal plural. All words in this category are either vowel final or end with consonants l, n or s. There are seven terminal plural endings (-ar, -air, -ir, -or, -al and –i) and they are used quite regularly. Some words with terminal plural ending might experience apophonical shifts, most notably the so-called e-ì-shift. That is why the plural form of ethe (‘lake’) is ethìr (not **ether). All rules for the Lindorenna terminal plural are listed below:
| -e | usually -ìr, sometimes -eir |
| -a | usually -ar, sometimes -air |
| -i | always -ir |
| -ll | always -ir |
| -ya | usually -yal, only very rarely -yar |
| -n / -nn | always -nni |
| -s | always -ssi |
| other | includes the rare exceptions, usually ends with -or e.g. èan - èanor ('human') |
There are six grammatical cases in Lindorenna, usually divided into two separate groups: addressing cases and locational cases. The first group includes nominative, vocative and partitive, while the latter group includes locative, ablative and allative. Each of the six cases have their own endings, that are quite regular: only some exceptions occur, usually with the vocative case.
The basic form of a noun in Lindorenna is the nominative form. It usually acts as a subject of a sentence, but it can also be used as an object form when there is an article or a possessive pronoun in front of the noun. Nominative inflects always for number, with some exceptions related to uncountable noun. The nominative form is unmarked.
bird.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity fly.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis sky.LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
(A) bird flies in the sky.
Calventa elnen am.
sky.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity blue.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]'.POSIPositive (class)
standard adjective COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate
(The) sky is blue.
Lintìr selennin millen.
bird.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few sing.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them beautiful.ADVAdverbial
e.g. English '-ly'
(The) birds are singing beautifully.
Nan linte a vannen atëannim.
DEFDefinite
"the" bird.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity have.INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb want.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I want to own that bird.
All Lindorenna nouns are also declined in vocative. It usually acts as an object form, especially as a total or abstract object, but sometimes it can also be the subject of a sentence (this usually relates to situations where the arbitrary rule of linking N is applied). Sometimes the vocative may be used as some kind of a definite form. It is also often used before the copula, also due to the linking N. Vocative singular is marked with an affix -n, usually attached to an auxiliary vowel (e.g. e or i). Vocative plural on the other hand is identical to the nominative plural.
bird.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]'.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few fly.INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' see.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis sky.LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
(I) saw birds flying in the sky.
Linten a vannen atëannim.
bird.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]'.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity have.INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb want.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I want to own (a) bird.
Linten im.
bird.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]'.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity COPCopula
used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I am a bird.
The partitive form is used as a partial object form. It usually indicates that the object is not affected wholly by the action, but rather only partially. Whether using a vocative or a partitive form may change the meaning of the sentence. Partitive is marked with an affix -t, usually attached to an auxiliary vowel (e.g. e or i).
book.PARTUnknown code.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few read.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
I'm reading books.
Lintet atëannim.
bird.PARTUnknown code.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity want.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I want (to eat) bird.
The first of the three locational cases is vocative, which is used to indicate position inside or at something. Locative is marked with an affix -nnil, usually attached to an auxiliary vowel (e.g. e or i).
PASSPassive voice (valency)
be verb-ed sun-shine.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis sky.LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
(The) sun is shining in the sky.
Val dhònìrnil mallon.
REFLReflexive (valency)
argument acts on itself home.LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few live.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
(We) live at (our) homes.
Another locational case, ablative, is used to indicate movement from our out of something. Ablative is marked with an affix -nnith, usually attached to an auxiliary vowel (e.g. e or i).
bird.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity PFVPerfective (aspect)
completed action fall.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis sky.ABLAblative (case)
away from.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
(A) bird fell from the sky.
Dhònennith ya aldan.
home.ABLAblative (case)
away from.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity IPFVImperfective (aspect)
'interrupted or incomplete' leave.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
(I) left from home.
Vennarnith dhaënar vannennim.
friend.ABLAblative (case)
away from.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few gift.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]'.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few get.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I get gifts from friends.
The sixth and the last case of Lindorenna is allative. It is used to indicate movement to, into, onto or at something. Allative is marked with an affix -nnin, usually attached to an auxiliary vowel (e.g. e or i).
bird.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity fly.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis sky.ALLAllative (case)
'to, onto'.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
(A) bird flies into the sky.
Linnèornin selennim.
child.ALLAllative (case)
'to, onto'.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few sing.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I
I sing to (the) children.
Dhònennin aite ellen.
home.ALLAllative (case)
'to, onto'.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity FUTFuture (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech go.INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis
(I) will go home.
In Lindorenna, a collective form or a collective plural is often used to refer to a group of unspecified size. Sometimes it can be also used to indicate genitive or a passive expression ‘some’. As the collective form is slowly disappearing from a common use, it is often used only in fixed idioms, like when talking about peoples and languages.
The collective ending is always -enna. If speaking of people groups, the ending shifts into -ènna, which as such is the collective form of word èan (‘human’). Not every noun gets its own collective form. Also sometimes the collective form may be a little irregular.
east.COLLUnknown code
(language/people) of the east
vllendïenna
sage.COLLUnknown code
some sages, of the sages
Some nouns have their own specified collective noun besides the regular collective plural. One noun of this kind is the word èan, whose collective noun is thedean. This collective noun inflects in number and cases (e.g. thedean, thedeannen, thedeannennil, thedeanni, thedeanni, thedeanninnil).
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