Northian grammar: Difference between revisions
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The view that nom. sing. is not characterized by final *-s is more often supported by scholars specialized in Northian, since this phonetic change (dropping final *-s after resonant) is attested later than the proto-language, which militates against its presence there. Nevertheless, final *-s has definitely been inserted to animate nouns quite broadly but haphazardly in prehistoric Northian, so there is no obvious pattern to its distribution. We may distinguish three situations in Northian as to the nom. sing., stems ending in vowel, in resonant, and in non-resonants. Final *-s where present is always preserved after *i- and *u-, and their absence there indicates a noun is obligatorily neuter. Final *-s seems to have been mostly absent in resonant-stems, whose nom. sing. takes the long grade instead (i- and u-stems never have long grade in the nom. sing.). After consonants their distribution is not predictable: ''nepōt'' "grandchild" was asigmatic, but ''nohs'' "night", ''pontōs'' "path", and nouns ending in -tēθs certainly had *-s, which is altered after most stems. | The view that nom. sing. is not characterized by final *-s is more often supported by scholars specialized in Northian, since this phonetic change (dropping final *-s after resonant) is attested later than the proto-language, which militates against its presence there. Nevertheless, final *-s has definitely been inserted to animate nouns quite broadly but haphazardly in prehistoric Northian, so there is no obvious pattern to its distribution. We may distinguish three situations in Northian as to the nom. sing., stems ending in vowel, in resonant, and in non-resonants. Final *-s where present is always preserved after *i- and *u-, and their absence there indicates a noun is obligatorily neuter. Final *-s seems to have been mostly absent in resonant-stems, whose nom. sing. takes the long grade instead (i- and u-stems never have long grade in the nom. sing.). After consonants their distribution is not predictable: ''nepōt'' "grandchild" was asigmatic, but ''nohs'' "night", ''pontōs'' "path", and nouns ending in -tēθs certainly had *-s, which is altered after most stems. | ||
The vocative consists of the bare strong stem in all cases. Where the stem had *-s it is dropped, and without *-s the stem is in the full grade or short-vowel grade. In the proto-language, the accusative ended in *-m. In consonant stems it is vocalized as -m̥ > PNN *-um. After resonants, it is generally the ending *-m̥ that is vocalized as PNN *-um. But in Galic an unaccented ending *-um is always altered unless preceded by *y. | The vocative consists of the bare strong stem in all cases. Where the stem had *-s it is dropped, and without *-s the stem is in the full grade or short-vowel grade. In the proto-language, the accusative ended in *-m. In consonant stems it is vocalized as -m̥ > PNN *-um. After resonants, it is generally the ending *-m̥ that is vocalized as PNN *-um. But in Galic an unaccented ending *-um is always altered unless preceded by *y, to -ə̄m if the preceding syllable is light, and the short variant thereof, if heavy. Where the ending is a vowel or a glide, the bare ending of -m is found. | ||
In the genitive, dative, and instrumental (oblique) cases, the acrostatic, proterokinetic, and hysterokinetic ablaut patterns in various suffixes give rise to different endings. The ending *-os > Galic -ō is proper to the hysterokinetic nouns, but in the Epic language (-os) it is often applied to other stems; in either dialect, the ending rarely interacts with the stem and stays mostly visible. The proterokinetic and acrostatic ending was PNN *-s. After a full-grade ending, expected in a proterokinetic pattern, it is preserved where the suffix ends in a vowel as in -ei̯-š and -eu̯-š, and the same for acrostatic patterns. After a resonant it is usually dropped and causes the preceding vowel to lengthen, cf. -mēn < *-men-s, but -ō could be re-attached to it when metrically convenient. After a zero-grade ending, in an acrostatic pattern, the fate of *-s is varied. In consonant clusters it usually caused deletion of intervening consonants, e.g. PNN *nekʷts > Galic ''nehš''. After PNN *-un it generates -ūn, after *-um it was -ə̄ṇġ, after *-ur and *-ul it was -ūš. | |||
====Thematic==== | ====Thematic==== |
Revision as of 05:11, 13 April 2022
Northian grammar is highly synthetic.
Overview
Ablaut
Ablaut is a system of vowel apophony, altering the quality or quantity of vowels but not their meaning, that is inherited from Proto-Nordic-Northian and ultimately Proto-Erani-Eracuran. It affects nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs in Northian. Though ablaut was a regular process closely tied to accent in the reconstructed proto-language, by Galic times new ablaut formulae are no longer being made, and only a few ablauting formulae remained productive. Moreover, existing formulae have been disrupted by sound change and both general and sporadic analogical replacement. The result that surfaces in Galic Northian is a rich yet unpredictable set of alternate morphologies that confuses both modern readers and, often, even ancient Northians.
In nouns, there are three main ablaut patterns that Northian inherited from its ancestors, in the discourse of PEE called acrostatic, proterokinetic, and hysterokinetic. All three patterns are preserved in Galic Northian to one degree or another, summarized below. The proparoxytone category continues the PEE acrostatic pattern and its characteristic o/e ablaut, though synchronically this ablaut pattern is but attested in a few forms of a minority of nouns (e.g. nemə̄ṇġ gen. of nomə̄), the majority of proparoxytone nouns having arbitrarily generalized either o- or e-grade across the paradigm. The paroxytone group largely continues
Case | Root | Stem | Ending | PNN | Galic | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PP | Nom. sg. | ó ~ é | Ø | *pot-i-s | potiš, "lord" | |
Acc. sg. | é | Ø | *pot-i-m | potim | ||
Gen. sg. | é | Ø | Ø | *pet-i-s | petiš | |
Nom. pl. | é | Ø | *pet-i̯-es | peθi̯iš | ||
Acc. pl. | é | Ø | *pet-i-ns | petīn | ||
PX | Nom. sg. | é | Ø | *ment-i-s | menθiš, "mind" | |
Acc. sg. | é | Ø | *ment-i-m | menθim | ||
Gen. sg. | Ø | é | Ø | *munt-ei̯-s | munθēš | |
Nom. pl. | é | é | *ment-ei̯-es | menθēiš | ||
Acc. pl. | é | Ø | *ment-i-ns | menθīn | ||
OX | Nom. sg. | é | Ø ~ ó | *sēkl-oi̯-s | sēkloi̯š, "treaty" | |
Acc. sg. | Ø | é | *səkl-ei̯-um | saklēum | ||
Gen. sg. | Ø | Ø | é | *səkl-i-os | sakli̯ō | |
Loc. sg. | Ø | é | *səkl-ei̯-i | saklei̯e | ||
Nom. pl. | Ø | é | *səkl-ei̯-es | saklēiš | ||
Acc. pl. | Ø | é | *səkl-ei̯-uns | saklåṇġ |
These processes have occurred to the greater extent in the Epic language, but there the word forms were subject to more rigorous regularization.
Noun endings
Athematic
The following chart recapitulates the ordinary endings of athematic nouns in Galic Northian.
The nominative and genitive singular forms are often unpredictable and variable under the influence of ablaut, laryngeals reflexes, analogy, vowel contraction, and compensatory lengthening for illegal consonant clusters in coda position. With few exceptions, all other endings are further modified according to the shape of the nominal stem, most often the behaviour of -s- in the environment of resonants and vowels and avoidance of similar long vowels. OX stands for the oxytone group of patterns, and PX for the paroxytone group. Certain neuter nouns do not take plural endings but collective endings with a lengthened stem; these nouns are not formally predictable. Because neuter nouns always have the same nominative and accusative forms, only their nominative endings will be listed, and in grey.
Basic athematic endings | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Collective | ||||
OX | PX, PPX | OX | PX, PPX | OX, PX, PPX | OX | ||
Nominative | -V̄-Ø, -s, -å, -Ø | -s, -Ø | -ē, -ī | -a, -V̄, -V̄R-Ø, -ī | -es, -iš, -a, -V̄R-Ø | -V̄-Ø | |
Vocative | -Ø | ||||||
Accusative | -m, -um, -əm, -ə̄m | -V̄n, -əṇġ, -ə̄ṇġ | |||||
Locative | -i, -eC-Ø | -eC-Ø | -ō | -o, -i̯-u | -hu | ||
Genitive | -ō | -s, -V̄s, -V̄n, -V̄ṇġ | -ōs | -uš, -u̯-ō | -õ | = sing. | |
Dative | -ē | -ai̯-e, -ei̯-e, -Vi̯ | -mō | -V̄-m, -ma | -muš | ||
Instrumental | -ē, -å | -a, -V̄R-Ø |
A general discussion of the athematic declension cannot omit to mention that many of these divergent forms are conditioned on phonetic change, but so too there are divergences because the proto-forms themselves were likely divergent. Animate (= masculine and feminine) nouns may have been in the proto-language sigmatic in the nominative singular, that is ending in *-s, or asigmatic, that is without final *-s and instead taking a lengthened final vowel. The source of this lengthening is disputed: some authorities regard it as a consequence of a final *-s dropping after a resonant, but others hold it had no *-s originally and attribute the long vowel to ablaut variation sensitive to the morphologically strong case. In the case where a universal *-s as a designation of the nom. sing. is not accepted, some propose it is instead a designation for those terms originally neuter in gender used as an animate noun.
The view that nom. sing. is not characterized by final *-s is more often supported by scholars specialized in Northian, since this phonetic change (dropping final *-s after resonant) is attested later than the proto-language, which militates against its presence there. Nevertheless, final *-s has definitely been inserted to animate nouns quite broadly but haphazardly in prehistoric Northian, so there is no obvious pattern to its distribution. We may distinguish three situations in Northian as to the nom. sing., stems ending in vowel, in resonant, and in non-resonants. Final *-s where present is always preserved after *i- and *u-, and their absence there indicates a noun is obligatorily neuter. Final *-s seems to have been mostly absent in resonant-stems, whose nom. sing. takes the long grade instead (i- and u-stems never have long grade in the nom. sing.). After consonants their distribution is not predictable: nepōt "grandchild" was asigmatic, but nohs "night", pontōs "path", and nouns ending in -tēθs certainly had *-s, which is altered after most stems.
The vocative consists of the bare strong stem in all cases. Where the stem had *-s it is dropped, and without *-s the stem is in the full grade or short-vowel grade. In the proto-language, the accusative ended in *-m. In consonant stems it is vocalized as -m̥ > PNN *-um. After resonants, it is generally the ending *-m̥ that is vocalized as PNN *-um. But in Galic an unaccented ending *-um is always altered unless preceded by *y, to -ə̄m if the preceding syllable is light, and the short variant thereof, if heavy. Where the ending is a vowel or a glide, the bare ending of -m is found.
In the genitive, dative, and instrumental (oblique) cases, the acrostatic, proterokinetic, and hysterokinetic ablaut patterns in various suffixes give rise to different endings. The ending *-os > Galic -ō is proper to the hysterokinetic nouns, but in the Epic language (-os) it is often applied to other stems; in either dialect, the ending rarely interacts with the stem and stays mostly visible. The proterokinetic and acrostatic ending was PNN *-s. After a full-grade ending, expected in a proterokinetic pattern, it is preserved where the suffix ends in a vowel as in -ei̯-š and -eu̯-š, and the same for acrostatic patterns. After a resonant it is usually dropped and causes the preceding vowel to lengthen, cf. -mēn < *-men-s, but -ō could be re-attached to it when metrically convenient. After a zero-grade ending, in an acrostatic pattern, the fate of *-s is varied. In consonant clusters it usually caused deletion of intervening consonants, e.g. PNN *nekʷts > Galic nehš. After PNN *-un it generates -ūn, after *-um it was -ə̄ṇġ, after *-ur and *-ul it was -ūš.
Thematic
The chart below illustrates the ordinary endings of the thematic (o-stem) declension of Galic. Because accentuation difference categorically does not trigger ablaut in o-stem nouns, their endings do not vary according to their accentual pattern, which is lexically fixed on the same syllable. Additionally, the presence of the theme vowel e ~ o obviates, in most cases, the resolution of consonant clusters and consequent irregularity in surface forms. With the exception of a few fixed athematic patterns, o-stem is the primary productive pattern in the Epic language.
Basic thematic endings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
Nominative | -ō, -om | -ō, -oī | -ōs, -ē | |
Vocative | -e | |||
Accusative | -om | -ōn | ||
Genitive | -ōhi̯o | -ōs | -āõ | |
Locative | -ē | -ō | -ohu | |
Dative | -ōi̯ | -omō | -omuš | |
Instrumental | -ōd |
Verbs
The relationship between verb-stems and endings they receive are as follows in the Galic language:
Present stem | Aorist stem | Perfect stem | |
---|---|---|---|
Primary endings | Present indicative tense | ||
Secondary endings | Injunctive tense | Aorist indicative tense | |
Imperative endings | Imperative tense | Aorist imperative tense | |
Future imperative endings | Future imperative tense | ||
Perfect endings | Perfect tense | ||
Perfect imperative endings | Perfect imperative tense |
From each root, which is agnostic as to part of speech in the proto-language, can arise multiple stems classified as present, aorist, or perfect, differentiated by their affixes. To these stems are attached endings to constitute the finite verb, which conveys tense/aspect, mood, voice, person, and number.
Primary active endings | Primary middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | -me | -ōne | -mei̯ne | 1P | -ai | -ōzθa | -mozθa |
2P | -se | -tas | -te | 2P | -tai | -tom | -θō |
3P | -te | -tes | -nθe | 3P | -toi | -tēm | -ūs |
Secondary active endings | Secondary middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | -m | -ō | -me | 1P | -a | -ōθa | -meθa |
2P | -s | -tas | -te | 2P | -ta | -ate | -θō |
3P | -t | -tes | -nθ | 3P | -to | -atē | -r |
Thematic active endings | Thematic middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | -ō | -ou̯ōs | -omōs | 1P | -ōi | -ou̯ōzθa | -omozθa |
2P | -ei̯e | -etas | -ete | 2P | -etai | -etom | -eθō |
3P | -ei̯te | -etes | -o | 3P | -etoi | -etēm | -ēr |
Imperative active endings | Imperative middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | — | — | — | 1P | — | — | — |
2P | -θe | -ta | -te | 2P | -to | -te | -nθo |
3P | -sō | -te | -θō | 3P | -tō | -tē | -nθō |
Perfect active endings | Perfect middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | -a | -ō | -me | 1P | Where the perfect has transitive meaning, the middle is formed with the injunctive of es "to be" + perfect active participle | ||
2P | -ta | -eta | -e | 2P | |||
3P | -e | -ēte | -r | 3P |
Evolution
Northian is one of the few Erani-Eracuran languages that retains multiple productive ablaut patterns in nouns, though hysterokinetic endings have gained ground in many stem-classes at the expense of proterokientic and acrostatic formations. This tendency is attributed to surface consistency in hysterokinetic endings, which are regularly accented sing. gen. -ō < *-os and dat. -ē < *-ei̯. The proterokinetic and acrostatic endings tended to disappear through the erosion of final consonants and unaccented vowels. After most consonants, final -s disappears, lengthening the preceding vowel and modifying consonants in several ways, while final -i lowers to -e and causes preceding -e- > -ei̯- and -a- > -ai̯-. The places where *-s and *-i remain in situ are the i-, u-, ī-, ū-, ē-, and neuter n-stems (*-i only).
Despite recession, former proterokinetic nouns appear from "irregular" nouns that either retain proterokinetic endings, accentual positions, or both. The hysterokinetic ending is often simply appended to the stem already reflecting the proterokinetic ending, e.g. Epic pau̯ḗnō from Galic pau̯ḗn + hysterokinetic gen. ending -ō, whereas a "true" hysterokinetic noun would have ending -ṓ and not a full-grade suffix.
In the dual nom. the preference for hysterokinesis was evident, and only neuter nouns were consistently inflected proterokinetically, probably because it had a distinct ending -ī that resisted phonetic assimilation. Where the stem ended in a resonant, the animate ending *-ə disappeared by regular sound change and cause compensatory lengthening. This created an anomalous stem with long vowel where it was not expected (only in the nom. sing. was long vowel expected). When this happened, only stem and root ablaut distinguished it from the inst. sing., so if the stem had lost ablaut, as often was the case, it would become identical to that form. In the other dual cases, however, proterokinetic forms survived for longer, but once the hysterokinetic form was introduced to the nom., it too often crept into the other cases (especially in the same speaker's utterances).
Some linguists propose that Galic poets retained more archaic patterns for their flexibility in verse, as full-grade endings generated heavy syllables and zero-grade generated light syllables. It is criticized that metrical considerations are absent in common speech, so it is questionable if ablaut patterns were retained there as long as it did in the poetic language. Indeed, while younger Galic metre may have been written as late as the 5th century BCE, productive proterokinetic patterns in Epic verse has been whittled to the i-, u-, and n-stems. The acrostatic pattern has been a vestigial, closed set since the earliest stages of Northian canon—it seems hard to avoid this conclusion if a term as basic as E.Nr. maetūr (G.Nr. mētūš) "mother's" was disappearing from children's speech in favour of maeθrō. Acrostatic n- and s-stems were no longer viable even while their proterokinetic cousins were. On the other hand, acrostatic formations have spread prehistorically to proterokinetic ones, in the ins. sing. of i- and u-stems, which often show zero-grade ending where full grade is expected.
Awareness of multiple ablaut patterns persisted well into the period of the Late Canon, attested in the chastisement of children who substitute oxytone endings for their paroxytone counterparts. Ancient grammarians divided nouns into two kinds based on the position of the accent in the gen. sing. form. The oxytone group includes all nouns that have accented endings, and paroxytone group, nouns that have unaccented endings. The grammarians teach that this predicts the endings and accent positions in other forms. Modern scholars accept that some parts of their teaching correctly identifies the contrast between proterodynamic and hysterodynamic endings, but the shape of the stem was not connected by the ancient grammarians to the position of the accent. Acrostatic nouns were considered an irregular type of proterokinetic nouns and not as its own class.
Nouns
Classes
The principal classes of nouns are discussed first. The following chart lists the stems and accent patterns that are attested in Galic Northian, as well as the genders of attested nouns. A green cell indicates that the attestation of a stem-accent paradigm is solid (three lemmas or more); a yellow cell indicates a marginal attestation (one or two); a red cell indicates no attestation or only dubious attestations.
Root | -m | -ns | -mn | -n | -r | -l | -s | -os/es | -i | -u | -h₁ | -h₂ | -ī | -ū | -r/n | -d | -t | -a | -o | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OX | M/F | F/M | M | M/F | M/F | M/F | All | M/F | N | M/F | M/F | 1, M | No | M/F | F | N, Pl. | M/F | M/F | F | M/N |
PX | F/N | No | No | N | No | M/F | No | No | N | All | All | No | 2, F | F | F | N | N | No | No | No |
PPX | F/N | No | No | N | No | No | 1, M | N | All | All | 3, N | No | No | No | N | No | All | No | No |
As will appear from this schematic, there are few noun classes that exhibit all three patterns that continue the ablaut patterns of the proto-language; rather, there was a strong tendency for noun classes to coalesce on one pattern identified with the stem, or for masculine and feminine nouns to coalesce on one pattern and neuter nouns on another. In the latter case, neuter nouns are almost always identified with the paroxytone pattern, and masculine and feminine nouns with the oxytone. The exception is for i-stems and u-stems, where a considerable portion of masculine and feminine nouns inherit acrostatic patterns from the proto-language. In other cases, the skewed distribution of gender is inherited from the proto-language, as in the case of ī- and ū-stems, which historically are combinations of *i-h₂- and *u-h₂- and therefore take their feminine gender and proterokinetic pattern from the h₂-stems in PEE. Some nouns of this class have been further elaborated with an -s ending, which brings about the oxytone pattern and can be masculine in gender.
With the r-stems the acrostatic pattern has bled into the PX pattern.
Root nouns
The category of root nouns is slightly removed from the category of the same name in PNN or PEE. In Northian, root nouns consist only of those that end in plosives, while resonant- and vowel-stem root nouns are discussed together with their suffixed cousins, as the phonological processes that apply to them generate similar results.
se poθs, "foot" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | poθs | pedē | pediš |
Vocative | pod | ||
Accusative | pedum | pedəṇġ | |
Genitive | θvō | θvōs | θvõ |
Locative | péi̯de | θvō | peššu |
Dative | θvē | pesmō | pesmus |
Instrumental | θvē |
Generally speaking, the reflexes of PEE *pods "foot" shows proterodynamic inflection with stems *pod- ~ *ped-, but the oblique cases in Galic Northian show an unexpected zero grade stem reflecting *pd- > *bd- > θv-.
se dõ, "house" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | då | dō | domiš |
Vocative | dō | ||
Accusative | domum | domuṇ | |
Genitive | dēṇġ | demuš | demõ |
Locative | déi̯me | demo | deṇhu |
Dative | dei̯ma | deṇhmuš | |
Instrumental | dēm |
dõ "house", an extremely common noun, also displays three ablaut grades; however, its stems differ by the quantity and quality of the vowel in the same root syllable, as it has no suffix. In the sing. nom., final vowel is lengthened already in PEE. The regular strong stem is visible in the sing. acc., which has two forms. dōm stands as a poetic or dialectal term in place of expected domum sometimes; its creation is either late, as it does not have vowel nasalization, or reflects compensatory lengthening from dropping the final syllable of domum. dõ displays a paroxytone accentual pattern and has the zero-grade endings: sing. gen. dēŋ < *dems and dat. déi̯me < *demi, the latter showing regular mutation after the lowering of the final *-i.
m-stems
This class is known from only three but important nouns, θéɣõ "earth", žõ "winter", and dõ "house". All m-stem nouns in Northian are feminine in gender, though with only three examples, this may not be an actual rule.
se θéɣõ, "earth" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | θéɣõ | zθémē | zθémiš |
Vocative | θéɣom | ||
Accusative | zθémum | zumuṇ | |
Genitive | zmō | zu̯ōs | zu̯õ |
Locative | zθéi̯me | zu̯ō | zumsu |
Dative | zmē | zəṇġu̯ō | zəṇġu̯ō |
Instrumental | zūm |
θéɣõ is one of the rarer Northian words that reflects all three ablaut grades.
θéɣõ "eath" is from the full-grade stem of Proto-Erani-Eracuran *dʰeǵʰōm "earth", where final -m drops and causes the preceding long vowel to become nasalized. Gen. zmō and dat. zmē are the results of the zero-grade stem *dʰǵʰm̥ > *zm̥- > zm-. Final *-os regularly contracts to -ō, lengthening the vowel, and *-ey monophthongized into -ē. The e-grade stem is visible in the strong cases in singular and dual, sing. loc., as well as plural nom., as zθém < *dʰǵʰem-. In the sing. loc., the lowering of final *-i triggered the regular mutation in the preceding short vowel. The plural acc. unexpectedly displays zero-grade stem; final *-n̥s regularly > *-uns > Galic -ə̄ṇġ. The stem ending in -m mutates with the initial m- of the du. and pl. dat.-ins. endings.
The behaviour of žõ "winter" is underlyingly similar to that of θéɣõ, but other phonetic changes have caused the surface forms to be altered in other ways.
ns-stems
måə̄ṇġ "moon" has one of the less transparent paradigms in Galic. In the received texts this word is always written as måṇġ, which contradicts the metrical requirement of five morae, but the spelling does not reveal what the missing vowel is. In view of the general development of PEE *-Hn̥s, most authorities write this word as måə̄ṇġ, standing for [māʔaʔə̄ŋɡ̚]. It stands for PEE *mḗh₁n̥s > PNN *mḗuns > PN *māunh.
sē måə̄ṇġ, "moon, month" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | måə̄ṇġ | måə̄ṇhē | måə̄ṇhiš |
Vocative | måṇġ | ||
Accusative | mēṇhum | måə̄həṇġ | |
Genitive | mēṇhō | mēṇhmōs | mēṇhõ |
Locative | mə̄ṇġ | mēṇhō | mēṇhsu |
Dative | māi̯ṇhe | mēṇhmō | mēṇhmuš |
Instrumental | mə̄ṇha |
mn-stems
The mn-stems are prolific in Northian in both the Galic and Epic languages, and they exhibit three ablaut patterns. In this case, the oxytone pattern was normalized in masculine and feminine nouns, and the paroxytone in neuter nouns. The acrostatic ablaut pattern is restricted to a few inherited terms.
sē akmō, "stone" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | akmō | akmenē | akmeniš |
Vocative | akmo | ||
Accusative | akmenum | kəṇġmuṇ | |
Genitive | kəṇġmō | kəṇġmōs | kəṇġmõ |
Locative | kumeine | kumnō | kumuṇsu |
Dative | kəṇġmē | kəṇġmō | kəṇġmuš |
Instrumental | kəṇġma |
tod θēmə̄, "house of a god, temple" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | θēmə̄ | θēmnī | θēmnō |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | šmēn | šmenuš | θumnō |
Locative | šmeno | šmeni | |
Dative | šmeni | šmeŋma | θumunmuš |
Instrumental | šmēn |
tod nomə̄, "name" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | nomə̄ | nomnī | nomnō |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | nemə̄n | nemnuš | nemnõ |
Locative | nemnu | nemsu | |
Dative | nemne | nemuṇma | nemuṇmuš |
Instrumental | nemūn |
n-stems
The PNN stems are *wey-on- and *wī-n-. In the nom. sing. the root vowel is attracted by the final ō and becomes wāō.
sē wāō, "wine" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | wāō | wēonē | wēoniš |
Vocative | wēon | ||
Accusative | wīonum | wēonəṇġ | |
Genitive | wīnō | wīnōs | wīnõ |
Locative | wīen | wīnō | wīṇhu |
Dative | wīē | wīṇmō | wīṇmuš |
Instrumental | wīn |
r-stems
R-stem nouns contain members from all three accentual patterns. mētə̄ "mother" represents the group with PPX accent, which persists on the root syllable and always takes suffix and ending in zero-grade. βrētur "brother" is declined in the same manner. This is a small group of nouns recognized by their unaccented endings in -ə̄.
sē mētə̄, "mother" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | mētə̄ | mētūr | mēθriš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | mēθrum | mētə̄rəṇġ | |
Genitive | mētūš | mēθruš | mēθrõ |
Locative | mēθre | mēθro | mētuššu |
Dative | mēturma | mēturmuš | |
Instrumental | mēθra |
Gen. mētūš < PNN *mēturs < PEE *meh₂tr̥s, while māetūr is from the Epic language, which has restored the *r that has been dropped in *-rs. Dat. mēθre < PEE *meh₂tri, with the (possibly) innovated zero-grade ending, contra full-grade ending *-ei̯. In the du. the stem ending in resonant causes final *-ə to drop and lengthen the preceding *u. The acc. pl. seems to reflect PEE *meh₂tr̥ns, but the other Nordic languages point to *meh₂tern̥s, and neither form is particularly informative as both are in unison with respective nom. pl. stems.
sóhitə̄ "daughter" represents the oxytone group of the r-stems, which includes many agentive nouns that terminate in -er and -or. They are recognizable by their zero-grade nom. endings and full-grade -ō endings in gen. The behaviour of the word ɣenə̄ "arm" is underlyingly identical.
sē sóhitə̄, "daughter" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | sóhitə̄ | duɣaterē | duɣateriš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | duɣaterum | duɣaterəṇġ | |
Genitive | duɣaθrō | duɣaθrōs | duɣaθrõ |
Locative | duɣaθrē | duɣaterō | duɣatuššu |
Dative | duɣaturmō | duɣaturmō | |
Instrumental | duɣaθra |
patēr "father" is a variation of the pattern of "daughter", where in the nom. the accent is on the ending instead of the stem; otherwise, it follows the pattern of "daughter" exactly.
sē patēr, "father" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | patēr | paterē | pateriš |
Vocative | pater | ||
Accusative | paterum | paterəṇġ | |
Genitive | paθrō | paθrōs | paθrõ |
Locative | paθrē | paterō | paθruššu |
Dative | patu̯rmō | patu̯rmō | |
Instrumental | paθra |
The paroxytone declension of āštə̄ "star" has a unique blend of formations expected from PPX and PX patterns. The nom. sing. āštə̄ reflects PEE *h₂eh₁str̥, a form not seen elsewhere in Erani-Eracuran. Gen. strūš < PNN *stros, but the zero-grade stem has crept in from "mother" or "brother" and displaced the hysterokinetic ending, in a way contrary to the general rule in Northian.
sa āstə̄, "star" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | āštə̄ | stēr | steriš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | āsterum | strəṇġ | |
Genitive | strūš | struš | sterõ |
Locative | steire | stro | steššu |
Dative | sterma | stermuš | |
Instrumental | stēr |
An r-stem noun not within the formation -tr is nēr "man", gen. drō < PNN *nros. As it is seen this noun originally has hysterokinetic accent, but acc. sing. drum and pl. drə̄ reflect PEE zero-grade stem *nr-. Nom. pl. neriš is the only place where the full-grade stem appears in the paradigm.
l-stems
The l-stems originally inflect as other ablauting consonant stems, but because intervocalic *-l- regularly > -y-, the resulting paradigm presents certain quirks not seen in the normal consonant-stem paradigm.
sa sē, "salt" = ἅλς | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | sē | sai̯ē | sai̯iš |
Vocative | se | ||
Accusative | sai̯um | sai̯ə̄ṇġ | |
Genitive | slō | slōs | slõ |
Locative | sai̯i̯e | slō | sullu |
Dative | slē | sō | sullus |
Instrumental | sla |
sa abō, "apple" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | abō | aboi̯ē | aboi̯iš |
Vocative | abo | ||
Accusative | aboi̯um | aboi̯ə̄ṇġ | |
Genitive | ablō | ablōs | ablõ |
Locative | abei̯e | ablō | abllu |
Dative | ablē | abllō | abllus |
Instrumental | abla |
s-stems
There are two classes in the s-stem group, one for masculine and feminine nouns, and another for neuter ones. The masculine and feminine nouns are formally indistinct but behave like other consonant-stem nouns, with or without ablaut. The noun muš "mouse" is unique in its preservation of an initial accent. The neuter nouns fall into two groups, those with oxytone or paroxytone accents.
sē nēs, "nose" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | nēs | nazē | naziš |
Vocative | nes | ||
Accusative | nahum | nazəṇġ | |
Genitive | nahō | nahōs | nahõ |
Locative | nai̯ze | nahō | nassu |
Dative | nazē | nahmō | nahmuš |
Instrumental | naza |
os/es-stems
tod kretō, "intellect, power" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | kretō | kreteza | kreteza |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | kretehō | kretehuš | kretehõ |
Locative | kretei̯ze | kretehu | kretessu |
Dative | kretesma | kretesmuš | |
Instrumental | kretera |
tod menō, "mind" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | menō | meneza | meneza |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | menēs | menehuš | menehõ |
Locative | menei̯ze | menehu | menessu |
Dative | menehma | menehmuš | |
Instrumental | meneza |
tod mēŋ, "meat" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | mēṇġ | meṇhī | meṇha |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | mēṇġ | meṇhuš | meṇhõ |
Locative | meṇġ | meṇhu | meṇho |
Dative | meṇhma | meṇhus | |
Instrumental | meṇha |
i-stems
The i-stems were a prolific class of nouns in Northian during the Galic period. In PEE, the i-stems were completely parallel to the u-stems in virtually all contexts, but due to sound changes their surface forms in Northian are quite different. Accordingly, they are considered separate classes in Northian tradition.
sa socis, "ally" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | socis | skoi̯ē | sokoi̯iš |
Vocative | soci | ||
Accusative | socim | skoin | |
Genitive | skiō | skiōs | skiõ |
Locative | skoi̯e | skiō | skisu |
Dative | skiē | skimō | skimuš |
Instrumental | skī |
sē mentis, "thought" | tod more, "sea" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | mentis | mentēa | mentēiš | more | morēa | morēi̯ |
Vocative | meinte | |||||
Accusative | mentim | mentīn | ||||
Genitive | muntēs | muntēuš | muntēõ | mrēs | mrēuš | mrēõ |
Locative | muntēi | muntēu | muntēsu | mrēē | mrēo | mrēsu |
Dative | muntēma | muntēmuš | mrēma | mrēmuš | ||
Instrumental | muntēa | mrē |
sa potis, "master" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | potis | potī | potiiš |
Vocative | poti | ||
Accusative | potim | potīn | |
Genitive | petis | petiuš | petiõ |
Locative | peti | petiu | petisu |
Dative | petima | petimuš | |
Instrumental | petī |
u-stems
sē genus, "chin" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | genōs | geneu̯ē | geneu̯iš |
Vocative | genō | ||
Accusative | genōm | geneu̯ṇġ | |
Genitive | genuō | genuōs | genuõ |
Locative | geneu̯i | genuō | genuru |
Dative | genuē | genumō | genumuš |
Instrumental | genua |
sa sui̯us, "child" = υἱύς | tod pōi̯o, "flock" = πῶυ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | sui̯uš | sui̯ēu̯ | sui̯eu̯iš | pōi̯o | pai̯ēu̯ | pai̯ēu̯ |
Vocative | sui̯o | |||||
Accusative | sui̯um | sui̯uṇġ | ||||
Genitive | sui̯eu̯s | sui̯eu̯uš | sui̯eu̯õ | pai̯eu̯s | pai̯eu̯uš | pai̯eu̯õ |
Locative | sui̯eu̯i | sui̯eu̯o | sui̯eu̯so | pai̯eu̯i | pai̯eu̯o | pai̯eu̯so |
Dative | sui̯eu̯ma | sui̯eu̯muš | pai̯eu̯ma | pai̯eu̯muš | ||
Instrumental | sui̯ēu̯ | pai̯ēu̯ |
sa θeɣus, "fish" = ἰχθύς | tod doru, "wood" = δόρυ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | θeɣuš | θeɣō | θeɣōs | doru | dorō | dorō |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | ||||||
Genitive | zuš | zuuš | zuõ | deruš | deruuš | deruõ |
Locative | zui | zuo | zuru | derō | deruo | denuru |
Dative | zuma | zumuš | deruma | derumuš | ||
Instrumental | zū | derū |
xͮōn
xͮōn "woman" continues the PEE proterodynamic declension ending in *-h₂. This suffix also underlies the ī- and ū-stem declensions in Northian but is otherwise rarely seen alone. The full-grade stem is from *gʷénh₂-, and the zero-grade *gʷnéh₂-.
sē xͮōn, "woman" = γυνή | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | xͮōn | žnē | xͮenas |
Vocative | xͮen | ||
Accusative | xͮenum | xͮenaṇġ | |
Genitive | žnēs | žnēuš | žnēõ |
Locative | žnēi | žnēo | žnēhu |
Dative | žnēma | žnēmuš | |
Instrumental | žnå |
ī-stems
The ī-stems in oxytone is rare and contains only a few nouns.
sē sθerīs, "heifer" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | sθerīs | sθerī | sθurīiš |
Vocative | sθerī | ||
Accusative | sθerīum | sθurīəṇġ | |
Genitive | sθurīō | sθurīōs | sθurīõ |
Locative | sθurīē | sθurīō | sθunīru |
Dative | sθurīmō | sθurīmuš | |
Instrumental | sθurīē |
By contrast, the ī-stems in paroxytone has remained productive down to the Epic period as a feminizing suffix for athematic nouns.
sē genaθrī, "genitrix" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | gēnθrī | genaθrī | genaθrīes |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | gēnθrīum | genaθrīəṇġ | |
Genitive | gunaθri̯ēs | gnaθri̯ēuš | gnaθri̯ēõ |
Locative | gnaθri̯ēi | gnaθri̯ēo | gnaθri̯ēhu |
Dative | gnaθri̯ēma | gnaθri̯ēmuš | |
Instrumental | gnaθri̯ē |
ū-stems
The ū-stems were exactly parallel to the ī-stems at the PEE and PNN levels, but due to phonetic changes have become nearly unrecognizable. The nom. sing. of hysterokinetic stems had accented root syllable and an ending in PEE *-uh₂-s > *PNN *-ūs > Galic *-ūš. The acc. would have ended in PEE *-u̯eh₂-m̥ > PNN *-wē-um. In Galic, *-wē- regularly > -i̯ō-, as also in loc. In the oblique cases, the stem ended in -ū-, to which full-grade endings were added. The zero-grade stem has replaced the original full-grade one in the dual nom. such that it projects the (implausible) PEE form *tn̥-uh₂-h₁. The metrically trimoraic -ū ending represents final *-ūᵊ, as otherwise it would have become *-ō.
sē tenūš, "body" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | tenūš | tunū | tunōs |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | tuni̯ōum | tunu̯ēəṇġ | |
Genitive | tunūō | tunuōs | tunuõ |
Locative | tuni̯ōi | tunuō | tunuru |
Dative | tunūē | tunumō | tunumuš |
Instrumental | tunūē |
The ū-stems also includes one member with paroxytone accent, namely sokrō "mother-in-law".
sē sokrō, "mother-in-law" = socrus | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | sokrō | sokrēu̯ | sokrēu̯iš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | sokrēu̯u̯ŋ | sokrēu̯ŋ | |
Genitive | sokrēu̯s | sokrēu̯uš | sokrēu̯õ |
Locative | sokrēi̯e | sokrēu̯ō | sokrēu̯ru |
Dative | sokrēu̯ma | sokrēu̯muš | |
Instrumental | sokrēu̯[a?] |
The term pūlθvēs "crowd, multitude" has a unique pattern and is only found in the singular.
sē pūlθvēs, "crowd, multitude" = plebs | |
---|---|
Singular | |
Nominative | pūlθvēs |
Vocative | pūlθvē |
Accusative | pūlθvēum |
Genitive | pūlθuō |
Locative | pūlθvē |
Dative | pūlθuē |
Instrumental | pūlθuē |
r/n-stems
i̯å "year", with acrostatic ablaut, is from PNN *yō-ur, gen. *yē-uns. In Galic, unaccented final -ur regularly drops and lengthens preceding syllable. The strong stem with *-r- is visible in the dual. In the oblique stem, *uns > *ə̄ṇġ. In the dat. the long vowel resists mutation caused by final short *-i. The ins. ending has dropped, but the preceding long vowel cannot be further lengthened to *å because it is closed.
tod i̯å, "year" = ὥρα | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Collective | |
Nominative | i̯å | i̯ōrī | i̯ēōr |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | i̯ə̄ṇġ | i̯ēnuš | īnō |
Locative | i̯ēne | i̯ēno | iei̯ne |
Dative | i̯ēi̯ṇhma | īnē | |
Instrumental | i̯ēn | īnā |
pāō "fire" represents the heteroclitic nouns with proterokinetic pattern, with accented stem in the oblique cases. The PNN form is *pēwur and gen. *pəwens, from PEE *peh₂-wr̥ and gen. *ph₂wen-s. In the nom., the sequence *-wu- differentiates to *-wo- prehistorically and then gives -ō- regularly. *-ēō- is assimilated to -āō- because the preceding consonant is a labial. In the gen. *ə before -e- regularly becomes -a-. Final *-s drops and causes the preceding *-e- to lengthen. Mutation occurs in the dat. with *-e- > -ei̯-.
tod pāō, "fire" = πῦρ | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Collective | |
Nominative | pāō | pāōrī | pēwō |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | pau̯ēn | pau̯enuš | pūnō |
Locative | pau̯ei̯ne | pau̯eno | pūne |
Dative | pau̯ei̯ṇhma | pūnē | |
Instrumental | pau̯ēn | pūn |
sāu̯u̯ō
The noun sāu̯u̯ō "sun" continues the PEE heteroclitic stem in *-l/n-. The nominative is due to assimilation of approximants and the regular sound change of *wu > wo. Genitive has hu̯ə̄ṇġ, for expected *hwēn < *swens < *sh₂wens; this possibly suggests the proterokinetic ending *-ens was replaced by acrostatic ending *-n̥s prehistorically, as from from PNN *swuns < PEE *sh₂wn̥s. However, because other Nordic languages show a reflex of *sh₂wens, the insertion of the acrostatic ending must have occurred only after Northian diverged from PNN.
sē sāu̯u̯ō, "Sun" | |
---|---|
Singular | |
Nominative | sāu̯u̯ō |
Vocative | |
Accusative | |
Genitive | xͮu̯ə̄ṇġ |
Locative | xͮu̯ei̯ne |
Dative | |
Instrumental | xͮu̯ēn |
d-stems
The d-stems are a special class in Northian because *-d behaves like a resonant, rather than an obstruent, in certain phonetic environments and permits compensatory lengthening when final *-ə drops after it, cf. dual nom. in paroxytone.
sē xͮrēθs, "root" | tod kerd, "heart" = καρδία | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | xͮrēθs | xͮrēθē | xͮrēθiš | kerd | krēd | kordō |
Vocative | xͮrēd | |||||
Accusative | xͮrēdum | xͮrēdəṇġ | ||||
Genitive | ōrdō | ōrdōs | ōrdō | krēθs | kreθuš | kurdō |
Locative | xͮrēd | ōrdo | ōrššu | kerde | kreθu | kerde |
Dative | ōrdē | ōrhmō | ōrhmuš | kresma | kurdē | |
Instrumental | ōrdē | krēd |
t-stems
sa nēp, "grandchild" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | nēpōt | nepotē | nepotiš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | nepotum | neptəṇġ | |
Genitive | neptō | neptōs | neptõ |
Locative | nepoti | neptō | neptru |
Dative | nepte | neptmō | neptmuš |
Instrumental | nepta |
sē nōi̯h, "evening, night" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | nōi̯h | nexͮša | noxͮšiš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | noxͮšum | noxͮšəṇġ | |
Genitive | nēh | nexͮšuš | nexͮšõ |
Locative | nexͮše | nexͮšo | nexͮššu |
Dative | naohma | naohmuš | |
Instrumental | nexͮša |
From PEE *n̥-mr̥teh₂ts.
sē ummurtēθs, "immortality" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | ummurtēθs | ummurtētē | ummurtētiš |
Vocative | ummurtēθ | ||
Accusative | ummurtētum | ummurtētəṇġ | |
Genitive | ummurtētō | ummurtētōs | ummurtētõ |
Locative | ummurtēθ | ummurtētō | ummurtēššu |
Dative | ummurtētē | ummurtēsmuš | |
Instrumental | ummurtēta |
ponθōs
The word ponθōs "path" had a stem ending in PEE *póntoh₁- ~ pn̥th₁-, with dual ablauting syllables that always show the same grades. This word appears to be unique in all Erani-Eracuran languages in the stem formation it has.
sa ponθōs, "path, way" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | ponθōs | ponθōi̯ | ponθōiš |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | ponθōm | punθōn | |
Genitive | punθō | punθōs | punθõ |
Locative | ponθō | punθō | punθu |
Dative | punθē | punθmō | punθmuš |
Instrumental | punθē |
a-stems
sē mihrə̄, "mist" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | mihrə̄ | mihreī | mihrās |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | mihrām | mihrāṇġ | |
Genitive | mihrēō | mihrēōs | mihrõ |
Locative | mihrēi | mihrēō | mihru |
Dative | mihrāē | mihrēmō | mihurmuš |
Instrumental | mihrē |
o-stems
sa θūmō, "smoke" | tod i̯uɣõ, "yoke" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | θūmō | θūmō | θūmōis | i̯uɣõ | i̯uɣōī | i̯uɣō |
Vocative | θūme | |||||
Accusative | θūmõ | θūmōn | ||||
Genitive | θūmōhi̯o | θūmōuš | θūmōõ | i̯uɣōhi̯o | i̯uɣōuš | i̯uɣōõ |
Locative | θūmē | θūmōu | θūmōi̯o | i̯uɣē | i̯uɣōu | i̯uɣōi̯o |
Dative | θūmōi̯ | θūmōma | θūmōmuš | i̯uɣōi̯ | i̯uɣōma | i̯uɣōmuš |
Instrumental | θūmō | i̯uɣō |
Acrean words
Many words in Northian are Old Nordic loanwords from speakers of Acrean, which was used as a lingua franca in western Eracura for centuries under the influence of the Acrean Empire. These words were so numerouš that many were not nativized and were declined according to an approximation of the thematic declension in Old Nordic. For the most part, these endings are exact cognates with the thematic ones in Northian, but because of intervening sound changes, they are taught separately. Where there was a distinct vocative, the nominative form has displaced it. There are also no dual forms for these nouns, for which neologisms have sometimes been suggested, to no general acceptance. Since Old Nordic had no locative case, this form is always identical to the dative where Northian syntax demands the locative.
sa wulhʷā, "any lupine animal" = lupus | tod ēta, "food" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual and plural | Singular | Dual and plural | |
Nominative | wulhʷā | wulhʷōs | ēta | ētō |
Vocative | ||||
Accusative | wulhʷuŋ | wulhʷān | ||
Genitive | wulhʷas | wulhʷõ | ētas | ētõ |
Locative | wulhʷāi | wulhʷamas | ētai̯ | ētamas |
Dative | ||||
Instrumental | wulhʷō | wulhʷamis | ētō | ētamis |
Irregular nouns
Country names
"Æþurheim", the name of the country to the southwest of Shalum, has an invariant stem with full grade throughout and initial persistent accent in Aí̯θrō-, which takes oxytone endings. The vocative form is identical to the nominative, showing full grade. Because the accent is in its expected position in the nom. and voc. forms, the acute accent on the i is not necessary there, while it is found in all other forms to denote the irregular accent.
"Shalum" behaves in a manner more reminiscent of a regular n-stem noun in oxytone and has the expected endings and accentual positions, but the stem does not display apophony as is usual in this class of nouns.
"Acrea" is named Aṇhrōs, which is a compound from aṇh- "lord" and rōs "realm, power", gen. Aṇhurō.
sē Ai̯θrō, "Æþurheim" | sē Halō, "Shalum" | sē Aṇhrōs, "Acrea" | sē Silū, "Silua" | sē Hu̯inī, "Svinia" | sē Ossorī, "Ossoria" | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Singular | Singular | Singular | Singular | Singular | |
Nominative | Ai̯θrō | Halō | ||||
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | Aí̯θrōnum | Halomnum | ||||
Genitive | Aí̯θrōnō | Halomnō | ||||
Locative | Aí̯θrōni | Halomei̯ne | ||||
Dative | Aí̯θrōnē | Halomnē | ||||
Instrumental | Aí̯θrōn | Halomna |
Adjectives
Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case, within their lexical paradigms. Inasmuch as nouns have differing endings that convey the same number and case, so too do adjectives have lexical paradigms; adjectives do not agree with the paradigms of nouns that they modify.
u-stems
Two-stem
meθus; umθeus
m. and f. meθus, "sweet" | n. meθu, "sweet" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | meθus | meθēu | meθeuiš | meθu | meθuī | meθū |
Vocative | meθu | |||||
Accusative | meθum | meθūŋ | ||||
Genitive | umθeus | umθeuō | umθeuõ | umθeus | umθeuō | umθeuõ |
Locative | umθeu | umθeuo | umθeuhu | umθeu | umθeuo | umθeuhu |
Dative | umθeui | umθeuma | umθeumus | umθeui | umθeuma | umθeumus |
Instrumental | umθēu | umθēu |
-us/-o/-ō
m. tenus, "thin" | n. teno, "thin" | f. tenō, "thin" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | tenus | tenēu̯ | teneu̯iš | teno | teneu̯ī | tenēu̯ | tenō | tenū | tenuas |
Vocative | teno | ||||||||
Accusative | tenum | tenuṅ | tenūum | tenūūŋ | |||||
Genitive | tuneu̯s | tuneu̯ō | tuneu̯õ | tuneu̯s | tuneu̯ō | tuneu̯õ | tunu̯ōs | tunu̯ōus | tunu̯ōõ |
Locative | tuneu̯ | tuneu̯o | tuneu̯hu | tuneu̯ | tuneu̯o | tuneu̯hu | tunu̯ōi | tunu̯ōu | tunu̯ōhu |
Dative | tuneu̯i | tuneu̯ma | tuneu̯mus | tuneu̯i | tuneu̯ma | tuneu̯mus | tunu̯ōi | tunu̯ōma | tunu̯ōmus |
Instrumental | tunēu̯ | tunēu̯ | tunu̯å |
-us/-u/-wī
m. hu̯ēθus, "sweet" | n. hu̯ēθo, "sweet" | f. hu̯ēsu̯ī, "sweet" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | hu̯ēθus | hu̯ēθēu̯ | hu̯ēθeu̯iš | hu̯ēθo | hu̯ēθeu̯ī | hu̯ēθēu̯ | hu̯ēsu̯ī | hu̯ēsu̯īi | hu̯ēsu̯ias |
Vocative | hu̯ēθo | ||||||||
Accusative | hu̯ēθum | hu̯ēθuṅ | hu̯ēsu̯īəm | hu̯ēsu̯īə̄ṅḫ | |||||
Genitive | hūθeu̯š | hūθeu̯ō | hūθeu̯õ | hūθeu̯š | hūθeu̯ō | hūθeu̯õ | hūθui̯ēs | hūθui̯ēus | hūθui̯ēõ |
Locative | hūθeu̯ | hūθeu̯o | hūθeu̯šu | hūθeu̯ | hūθeu̯o | hūθeu̯šu | hūθui̯ēi | hūθui̯ēu | hūθui̯ēhu |
Dative | hūθeu̯i | hūθeu̯ma | hūθeu̯muš | hūθeu̯i | hūθeu̯ma | hūθeu̯muš | hūθui̯ēi | hūθui̯ēma | hūθui̯ēmuš |
Instrumental | hūθēu̯ | hūθēu̯ | hūθui̯ō |
i-stems
m. θrēstiš, "sad" | n. θrēste, "sad" | f. θristēī, "sad" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | θrēstiš | θrēstī | θrēstēiš | θrēste | θristēī | θristē | θristēī | θristēīi | θristēas |
Vocative | θrēste | ||||||||
Accusative | θrēstim | θrēstiuṅ | θristēīəm | θristēīə̄ṅḫ | |||||
Genitive | θristēš | θristēus | θristēõ | θristēš | θristēus | θristēõ | θristiēs | θristiēus | θristiēõ |
Locative | θristēi̯ | θristēo | θristēhu | θristēi̯ | θristēo | θristēhu | θristiēi | θristiēu | θristiēhu |
Dative | θristēi | θristēma | θristēmuš | θristēi | θristēma | θristēmuš | θristiēi | θristiēma | θristiēmuš |
Instrumental | θristēi̯ | θristēi̯ | θristiē |
nt-stems
From PEE *rh₁-wénts, "rich in possessions", from *reh₁s, "possession".
m. raå, "wealthy" | n. raōn, "wealthy" | f. raōnθī, "wealthy" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | raå | raōnθē | raōnθiš | raōn | raōnθī | raōnθa | raōnθī | raōnθī | raōnθias |
Vocative | raōn | ||||||||
Accusative | raōnθum | raōnθə̄ṇġ | raōnθīum | raōnθīə̄ṇġ | |||||
Genitive | raunθō | raunθōs | raunθõ | raunθō | raunθōs | raunθõ | raunθi̯ēs | raunθi̯ōus | raunθi̯ōõ |
Locative | raōn | raunθō | raunššu | raōn | raunθō | raunššu | raunθi̯ō | raunθi̯ōu | raunθi̯ōhu |
Dative | raunθē | raūṇhmō | raunθmus | raunθē | raūṇhmō | raunθmus | raunθi̯ēi̯ | raunθi̯ōma | raunθi̯ōmus |
Instrumental | raunθē | raunθē | raunθi̯å |
The present active participles of verbs have a stem ending in -nt-. From PEE *h₁es-n̥ts.
m. ehūš, "being" | n. ehūnθ, "being" | f. ehunθī, "being" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | ehūš | ehunθē | erunθiš | ehūnθ | ehunθī | ehunθa | ehunθī | ehunθī | ehunθīas |
Vocative | ehūθ | ||||||||
Accusative | senθum | senθə̄ṇġ | senθīum | senθīə̄ṇġ | |||||
Genitive | hunθō | hunθōs | hunθõ | hunθō | hunθōs | hunθõ | hunθi̯ēs | hunθi̯ōuš | hunθi̯ōõ |
Locative | senθe | hunθō | hunššu | senθe | hunθō | hunššu | hunθi̯ō | hunθi̯ōu | hunθi̯ōhu |
Dative | hunθē | huṇhmō | hunθmuš | hunθē | huṇhmō | hunθmuš | hunθi̯ēi̯ | hunθi̯ōma | hunθi̯ōmuš |
Instrumental | hunθē | hunθē | hunθi̯å |
es-stems
m. and f. humenēs, "well-intended" | n. huméniš, "well-intended" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | humenēs | humenerē | humeneriš | huméniš | humenerī | hunmeneha |
Vocative | huméniš | |||||
Accusative | humenehum | hunenehəṇġ | ||||
Genitive | humenezō | humenehōs | humenehõ | humenezō | humenehōs | humenehõ |
Locative | humenes | humenehō | humenessu | humenes | humenehō | humenessu |
Dative | humenezē | humenehmō | humenehmus | humenezē | humenehmō | humenehmus |
Instrumental | humenezē | humenezē |
woḏs-stems
From PEE *bʰebʰidʰ-wṓs, forms perfect active participles from the zero-grade perfect root. The exact proto-form of the perfect active participle in Northian has long been an unresolved issue, as the final *-s of the stem does not undergo rhotacism as expected in other words. This has led to be postulation that the pre-form was actually *-wos-s or *-wōs-s, with a restored final *-s. The first *s then changed into a consonant of unknown value usually written *ḏ, which then disappeared in all forms except in the neuter nominative singular, where it surfaces as an anomalous -ḫ.
m. vevizvå, "sympathetic" = πεποιθώς | n. vevizōḫ, "sympathetic" = πεποιθός | f. veviθuzī, "sympathetic" = πεποιθυῖα | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | vevizvå | vevizōha | veviθōziš | vevizōh | vevizōhī | vevizōha | veviθūhī | veviθūhī | veviθūhias |
Vocative | veviθōh | ||||||||
Accusative | vevizōhum | veviθūhē | veviθūhīum | veviθūhīəṇġ | |||||
Genitive | veviθūhō | veviθūhōs | veviθūhõ | veviθūhō | veviθūhōs | veviθūhõ | veviθūhi̯ēs | veviθūhi̯ōus | veviθūhi̯ōõ |
Locative | veviθūhe | veviθūhō | veviθūššu | veviθūhe | veviθūhō | veviθūššu | veviθūhi̯ō | veviθūhi̯ōu | veviθūhi̯ōhu |
Dative | veviθūhē | veviθūhmō | veviθūhmus | veviθūhē | veviθūhmō | veviθūhmus | veviθūhi̯ēi̯ | veviθūhi̯ōma | veviθūhi̯ōmus |
Instrumental | veviθūhē | veviθūhē | veviθūhi̯å |
yos-stems
i̯å, irō, i̯orum; i̯erī, ihi̯ēs, i̯erīum; i̯ō wesyoss, wesyos, wesyesiH; wesisos, wesisyeHs; wesyesm, wesyesiHm
m. ōhi̯å, "better" | n. ōhi̯ō, "better" | f. ōhi̯ēzī, "better" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | ōhi̯å | ōhi̯eha | ōhi̯ehiš | ōhi̯ō | ōhi̯ezī | ōhi̯eha | ōhi̯ēzī | ōhi̯ēzīạ | ōhi̯ēzīas |
Vocative | ōhi̯ō | ||||||||
Accusative | ōhi̯ehum | ōhi̯ehūŋ | ōhi̯ēzīum | ōhi̯ēzīəṇġ | |||||
Genitive | ōzizō | ōzizōs | ōzizõ | ōzizō | ōzizōs | ōzizõ | ōzihi̯ēs | ōzihi̯ōus | ōzihi̯ōõ |
Locative | ōzize | ōzizō | ōziššu | ōzize | ōzizō | ōziššu | ōzihi̯ō | ōzihi̯ōu | ōzihi̯ōhu |
Dative | ōzizē | ōzihmō | ōzihmus | ōzizē | ōzihmō | ōzihmus | ōzihi̯ēi̯ | ōzihi̯ōma | ōzihi̯ōmus |
Instrumental | ōzizē | ōzizē | ōzihi̯å |
r/n-stem
m. pei̯wō, "fat" | n. pei̯ōr, "fat" | f. pīə̄rī, "fat" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | pei̯wō | pei̯ōnē | pei̯ōniš | pei̯ōr | pei̯ōrī | pei̯ōr | pīə̄rī | pīə̄rīạ | pīə̄rias |
Vocative | pei̯ōn | ||||||||
Accusative | pei̯ōnum | pei̯ōnə̄ṇ | pīə̄rīum | pīə̄rīə̄ṇġ | |||||
Genitive | pīənō | pīənōs | pīənõ | pīə̄n | pīə̄nuš | pīə̄nõ | pīuri̯ēs | pīuri̯ōus | pīuri̯ōõ |
Locative | pei̯ōn | ōzizō | pīəṅḫu | pīə̄i̯ne | pīə̄no | pīə̄ṅhu | pīuri̯ō | pīuri̯ōu | pīuri̯ōhu |
Dative | pīənē | pīəṅmō | pīəṅmus | ōzihmō | pīə̄ṅmus | pīuri̯ēi̯ | pīuri̯ōma | pīuri̯ōmus | |
Instrumental | pīənē | pīə̄n | pīuri̯å |
mehas
mehas, meha, aṇhī
m. pei̯wō, "fat" | n. pei̯ōr, "fat" | f. pīə̄rī, "fat" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | pei̯wō | pei̯ōnē | pei̯ōniš | pei̯ōr | pei̯ōrī | pei̯ōr | pīə̄rī | pīə̄rīạ | pīə̄rias |
Vocative | pei̯ōn | ||||||||
Accusative | pei̯ōnum | pei̯ōnə̄ṇ | pīə̄rīum | pīə̄rīə̄ṇġ | |||||
Genitive | pīənō | pīənōs | pīənõ | pīə̄n | pīə̄nuš | pīə̄nõ | pīuri̯ēs | pīuri̯ōus | pīuri̯ōõ |
Locative | pei̯ōn | ōzizō | pīəṅḫu | pīə̄i̯ne | pīə̄no | pīə̄ṅhu | pīuri̯ō | pīuri̯ōu | pīuri̯ōhu |
Dative | pīənē | pīəṅmō | pīəṅmus | ōzihmō | pīə̄ṅmus | pīuri̯ēi̯ | pīuri̯ōma | pīuri̯ōmus | |
Instrumental | pīənē | pīə̄n | pīuri̯å |
Numerals
Verbs
Athematic verbs
The athematic conjugation is demonstrated with the verb ed-d-eod-ēd "eat". Its present stems are from PEE *h₁ed- ~ h₁d-, and perfect stems *h₁eh₁od- ~ h₁eh₁d-. This verb does not create an aorist stem, but all applicable endings are found below had it formed an aorist stem.
Indicative active endings | Indicative middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | edme | sōne | smei̯ne | 1P | sai | sōzθa | smozθa |
2P | esse | stas | ste | 2P | stai | stom | zθō |
3P | este | stes | dunθe | 3P | stoi | stēm | dūs |
Injunctive active endings | Injunctive middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | edum | sō | sme | 1P | da | sōθa | meθa |
2P | es | stas | ste | 2P | sta | date | zθō |
3P | est | stes | sunθ | 3P | sto | datē | də̄ |
Subjunctive active endings | Subjunctive middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | edō | edou̯ōs | edomōs | 1P | esōi | edou̯ōzθa | edomozθa |
2P | edei̯ze | edetas | edete | 2P | edetai | edetom | edeθō |
3P | edei̯te | edetes | edo | 3P | edetoi | edetēm | edēr |
Opatative active endings | Opatative middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | si̯ēm | dīō | dīme | 1P | dị | dīōθa | dīmeθa |
2P | di̯ēs | dītas | dīte | 2P | īta | dịte | dīθō |
3P | di̯ēt | dītes | dīnθ | 3P | dīto | dịtē | dīə̄ |
Imperative active endings | Imperative middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | — | — | — | 1P | — | — | — |
2P | sθe | sta | este | 2P | sto | ste | sunθo |
3P | stō | ste | zθō | 3P | stō | stē | sunθō |
Perfect active endings | Perfect middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | eoda | ēsō | ēsme | 1P | Where the perfect has transitive meaning, the middle is formed with the injunctive of es "to be" + perfect active participle | ||
2P | eosta | ēdeta | ēde | 2P | |||
3P | eode | ēdēte | ēdr | 3P |
Perfect imperative active endings | Perfect imperative middle endings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | Du. | Pl. | Sing. | Du. | Pl. | ||
1P | 1P | Where the perfect has active meaning, the middle is formed with the imperative of es "to be" + perfect active participle | |||||
2P | eosso | ēdata | ēda | 2P | |||
3P | ēde | ēdāte | ēdūr | 3P |