Ekrunakni: classes
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class motion phenomenon
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 11 Jun 2017, 06:23.
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Ekrunakni Sheimika
: Nominal classes :
[top]Overview
To master one of the trickiest parts of Hanitlami - the declensions - one shall learn the classes firsthand. In other words, this article will cover the animacy classes of Hanitlami. It is a language with 4 different leveled animacy classes - determining which set of declensions to use and to as well denote the noun's animacy status (divine, living, ghostly, truly dead). These classes can be either promoted or demoted (in a process called "motion"), to specifically convey the status of the object.
Anyways, with that being set, let's go to the topic. Here, I am explaining the classes. The declensions will be explained for another time, in another article.
[top]Classes
As previously mentioned in the above section, there are four classes. These are animacy classes. This includes the divine (extra-animate) class, the sentient (animate) class, the terrestrial (sub-animate) class, and the inanimate class. A noun is generally bound to one class in accordance to its meaning. For example, Nta "human" belongs to the sentient class while Lu "earth" belongs to the terrestrial class.
"Unbound" nouns do exist, although there are only a few - as in the word Di "thing", which can use any different classes to convey meaning. A divine class "Di" implies a divine object, and a terrestrial class "Di" corresponds to a geographic location in a somewhat similar fashion with the English word "place".
Nouns can be "class-promoted" or "class-demoted" to specifically convey things. This is as observed in the word Shmeru "crystal". With the terrestrial class, the crystal is presumed as a natural formation. Conversely, as an inanimate, the crystal is presumed artificial. More information can be seen at the Motion section.
To clear things up on which nouns get which classes, here be the summary of each classes.
- Divine (Extra-animate): This is used for divine, cosmic, and honored objects and beings, including planets, stars, gods, deities, angels, "holy grail", places of worship, worlds, etc. It also covers certain divine concepts, such as Genesis, and sometimes extend its usage to monarchs. Nouns that promote to this class imply a "thing of god". In rather rare cases, this is also used as a honorific. Certain nouns use a wholly different word for its deified form, such as inanimate Valia v. divine Flion, both meaning "call, yelling out".
- Sentient (Animate): This is used for sentient beings, such as Hanitlams themselves, humans, and animals. Objects that promote to this class are usually personifications of that object. It is also used for "dishonored" and/or mortalized divine objects and beings. For example, the word Hanna may mean either a monster as a divine class or a blue whale as a sentient class.
- Terrestrial (Sub-animate): This is used for plants, souls, ghosts, earth elements, certain time concepts (c.f. past, present, future), certain concepts (c.f. beauty, sense, dream), weather (c.f. thunder, storm, cloud) and also (geographical) locations. It is used as well for dead bodies of sentients, through class demotion. Through promotion to this class, inanimate objects can be implied as "haunted" or "contain a spirit/ghost". Terrestrial-class nouns have a rather vaguely defined extent, as the word Saria "next" is a concept of time, but is considered as an inanimate. All nouns that imply location (c.f. place, center, east) point to this class.
- Inanimate: This is used for inanimate objects, most of which are artificial objects and verbal nouns (act of ___ nouns). Implications upon demotion of higher-class nouns to this class vary in effects. For example, (gem)stones whose original classification is terrestrial is implied here as artificial, and animals whose original classification is sentient is implied here as a processed item, such as food. Divine-class nouns that take this class are implied as statues, paintings, or some sort.
[top]Motion
Nouns can be promoted or demoted to convey the object's status. This is known as class motion. One such example is on the word Kkei "fish". By default, it is in sentient class. However, when it dies but yet to be altered significantly, it becomes a terrestrial class. Furthermore, as a food, it is an inanimate. Conversely, promotions mostly serve as a personification device, apart from deification which is also used as a honorific. An inanimate object, for example, is presumed "haunted" and/or "spirit-containing" when promoted into the terrestrial class. At its sentient-class state, it is presumed as an actively living object. In other words, a sentient.
The following table gives an impression on how the 4 animacy classes correlate through motion:
| Extra-animate SPIRSpiritual (gender/class) deities, celestial beings | Animate SENTSentient (class) e.g. humans | Sub-animate TERRTerrestrial (gender) relating to the earth | Inanimate INInanimate (gender/class) for non-living things |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divine being or object | → Demotion Mortalized; Un-deified; Dishonored | → Demotion Dead; Soul/ghost form; Passive beings (e.g. plants) | → Demotion Becomes statue, food, etc; Dead souls; Dead plants; Wasted |
| Promotion ← Deified; Honored | Sentient beings; Humans; Hanitlams; Animals | ||
| Promotion ← Became sentient; Human hybrids; Talking plants; Talking inanimate objects | Plants, souls, spirits | ||
| Promotion ← Of souls; haunted; possessed; | Artificial objects |
[top]Conclusion
And with that ends the lesson (for now). There are 4 animacy classes in Hanitlami, that can be changed through "class motion" to denote the noun's status. What about the declensions? Well, we'll explain it further in the other article regarding cases and numbers.
For other Hanitlami stuff, like translations and the dictionary, you can look at the lang page here -
Hanitlami - and visit the Hanitlami grammar test page for a bit of grammatical perspective.
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