Northian grammar: Difference between revisions

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====Root====
====Root====
'''u̯ōi̯da, vidé''' "to know" is the only member of the perfect conjugation that, as a condition with good history, does not have reduplication.  There are other perfect stems which do not have reduplication in Northian but do in other branch of the language; these are usually regarded as Northian innovations on the pattern of ''u̯ōi̯da''.  It has the peculiarity of forming a full-grade root in the {{smallcaps|3 pl}}, which also puts the ending in zero grade -ūš.  It is as yet not known whether this feature is inherited, as it has been argued to be introduced from the root aorist injunctive, which in this form also shows full grade in the root.
'''woida, widé''' "to know" is the only member of the perfect conjugation that, as a condition with good history, does not have reduplication.  There are other perfect stems which do not have reduplication in Northian but do in other branch of the language; these are usually regarded as Northian innovations on the pattern of ''woida''.  It has the peculiarity of forming a full-grade root in the {{smallcaps|3 pl}}, which also puts the ending in zero grade -ūš.  It is as yet not known whether this feature is inherited, as it has been argued to be introduced from the root aorist injunctive, which in this form also shows full grade in the root.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2"| !! colspan="6"| {{smallcaps|active}} !! colspan="6"| {{smallcaps|middle}} !!style="width: 6em" rowspan="2"| {{smallcaps|fut imp}}
!rowspan="2"| !! colspan="5"| {{smallcaps|active}} !! colspan="5"| {{smallcaps|middle}}  
|-
|-
!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|ind}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|plpf}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|inj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|subj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|opt}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|imp}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|ind}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|impf}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|inj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|subj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|opt}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|imp}}  
!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|ind}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|plpf / inj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|subj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|opt}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|imp}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|ind}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|plpf / inj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|subj}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|opt}} !!style="width: 6em"| {{smallcaps|imp}}  
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|1 sg}}
! {{smallcaps|1 sg}}
| u̯ṓi̯d-a || etetón-ą̄m || p-ą̄m || teten-ō || tetn-i̯ą̄m || — || p-ā́m || ep-ā́m || p-ā́m || p-ą̄m || p-īma || —|| —
| woid-a || auuoid-am || teten-ō || tetn-i̯ą̄m  
!
| p-ā́m || ep-ā́m || p-ą̄m || p-īma
!
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|2 sg}}
! {{smallcaps|2 sg}}
| u̯ṓi̯š-θa || etetṓn || -|| -esi || -i̯āu̯ || tetun-θī́ || -išθoi̯ || -išθo || -išθo || -'''á'''sθoi̯ || -īšθo || p-išvō || p-iθitoṯ
| wōiš-ta || auuōi-š || -esi || -i̯āu̯ || tetun-θī́ || -išθoi̯ || -išθo || -'''á'''sθoi̯ || -īšθo || p-išvō
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|3 sg}}
! {{smallcaps|3 sg}}
| u̯ṓi̯d-'''i''' || etetṓṯ || -it || -eti || -i̯āṯ || -tū́ || -itoi̯ || -ito || -ito || -'''á'''toi̯ || -īto || -ito || -itoṯ
| woid-'''i''' || auuōi-št || -eti || -i̯āṯ || -tū́ || -itoi̯ || -ito || -'''á'''toi̯ || -īto || -ito
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|1 du}}
! {{smallcaps|1 du}}
| vis-vo || etetun-vo || p-ivó || -ou̯iñi || -īvo || —|| -ivózθa || -ivóθa || -ivóθa || -ou̯ozθa || -īvóθa || — || —
| wīž-uuó || auuiž-uua || -ou̯iñi || -īvo  
!
| -ivózθa || -ivóθa || -ou̯ozθa || -īvóθa  
!
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|2 du}}
! {{smallcaps|2 du}}
| -tā || -θõm || -itõm || -etāḫ || -ītõm || -tāḫ || -'''ā'''tiθai̯i || -'''ā'''tiθa || -'''ā'''taθa || -'''ā'''taθai || -ii̯itaθa || -'''ā'''taθa || -itoṯ
| wīš-tā || auuiš-tõm  || -etāḫ || -ītõm || -tāḫ || -'''ā'''tiθai̯i || -'''ā'''taθa || -'''ā'''taθai || -ii̯itaθa || -'''ā'''taθa
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|3 du}}
! {{smallcaps|3 du}}
| -tṓ || -θą̄m || -itą̄m || -'''á'''tiš || -ītąm || -tés || -'''ā'''tāi̯i || -'''ā'''tā || -'''ā'''tā || -'''ā'''tāi̯i || -ii̯itā || -'''ā'''tā|| -itoṯ
| -tṓ || -tā̊ || -itą̄m || -ītąm || -tés || -'''ā'''tāi̯i || -'''ā'''tā || -'''ā'''tāi̯i || -ii̯itā || -'''ā'''tā  
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|1 pl}}
! {{smallcaps|1 pl}}
| -mé || -mo || -amo || -omiñi || -īmō || —|| -amózθa || -ameθa || -ameθa || -omozθa || -īmeθa || — || —
| wīž-mé || auuiž-|| -omiñi || -īmō
!
| -amózθa || -ameθa || -omozθa || -īmeθa  
!
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|2 pl}}
! {{smallcaps|2 pl}}
| vid-é || -θé || -ité || -'''á'''ti || -īté || -ti || -išθvé || -išθvé || -išθvé || -'''á'''sθve || -īšθve || -iθve || -itoṯ
| vid-é || auuiš-|| -'''á'''ti || -īté || -ti || -išθvé || -išθvé || -'''á'''sθve || -īšθve || -iθve  
|-
|-
! {{smallcaps|3 pl}}  
! {{smallcaps|3 pl}}  
| u̯ṓi̯d-ūš || -áṯ || p-'''á'''ṯ || -ónθi || -ii̯āṯ || tétn-unθu || -'''á'''nθroi̯ || -ónθro || -ónθro || -ónθroi̯ || -ii̯unθro || -ii̯unθo || -inθoṯ
| woid-ūš || auuiž-iiáṯ || -ónθi || -ii̯āṯ || tétn-unθu || -'''á'''nθroi̯ || -ónθro || -ónθroi̯ || -ii̯unθro || -ii̯unθo
|-
|-
|colspan="7"|{{smallcaps|'''inf'''}} hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, {{smallcaps|'''ptcpl'''}} hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās ||colspan="7"|{{smallcaps|'''inf'''}} hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, {{smallcaps|'''ptcpl'''}} hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās
|colspan="6"|{{smallcaps|'''pf act inf'''}} wižuuéni, {{smallcaps|'''pf act ptcpl'''}} wáiduš, widuštōḫ; wáidū; wáiduštī, widuśiiā̊ ||colspan="5"|{{smallcaps|'''pf mid inf'''}} hšnuθi̯ō, {{smallcaps|'''pf mid ptcpl'''}} menanōḫ (I/II)
|}
|}
The other perfect verbs that fail to show reduplication are:
The other perfect verbs that fail to show reduplication are:

Revision as of 05:10, 18 November 2022

Northian grammar is highly synthetic.

General overview

Ablaut

Ablaut is a system of vowel apophony, altering the quality or quantity of vowels but not the meaning of the morpheme in which they are located, that is inherited from Proto-Erani-Eracuran. It affects most classes of words in Northian.

Though ablaut was a regular process closely tied to accent in the reconstructed proto-language, with some authorities proposing a direct correspondence between the accent and the full-grade vowel, by Galic times any precise corresondence had been lost (probably already by the final stage of the proto-language). 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 plethora of alternate morphologies that often confuse even later Hamruvunts, whose theses about correct grammar are sometimes woefully misguided by modern standards.

In nouns, there are four main ablaut patterns that Northian inherited and evolved from its ancestors, in the scholarly discourse termed acrostatic, proterokinetic, amphikinetic, and hysterokinetic. The medieval Northian grammarians astutely observed that the position of the accent in the dative singular predicts the correct set of endings: where it was on the final syllable (oxytone or OX), full-grade endings (e.g. -ṓ, -eí) was used in the oblique cases, and where not on the final syllable (paroxytone or PX), the zero-grade set of endings (e.g. -i) were used. The former situation regularly developed from amphikinetic and hysterokinetic patterns, and the latter from the acrostatic and proterokinetic ones. The OX nouns were characterized by the nearly-universal genitive singular ending -ṓ, while the PX nouns had unpredictable endings there owing to the vagaries of sound change.

The medieval grammarians were not able to distinguish between the proterokinetic and acrostatic ablaut patterns because the latter were quite few and subject to the heaviest erosion in identifiable morphs and thus relegated as "irregularities" to be learned by rote. Surprisingly, Himinastainas observed that such "irregularities" arose mostly in body parts and the commonest objects, so learning them by rote "is imperative". Amphikinetic and hysterokinetic nouns were not distinguished, on the other hand, because they differed principally in the nominative singular, which, on the surface, is largely irregular and must be learned by rote anyway.

PEE Root Suffix Ending Pre-form Root Suffix Ending Outcome Galic
Acrostatic nom é Ø Ø *méh₂-tr̥ é Ø Ø mātar Paroxytone
acc *méh₂-tr-m̥ māδrəm
gen *méh₂-tr̥-s mātūš
Proterokinetic nom é Ø Ø *mér-tis é, Ø Ø Ø mərətiš
acc *mér-tim mərətim
gen Ø é Ø *mr̥-téy-s Ø é Ø mərətaiš
Amphikinetic-I nom é ō Ø *léy-mō é ō Ø láimō Oxytone
acc é o Ø *léy-mon-m̥ e ṓ, ó, Ø Ø limṓnəm
gen Ø Ø é *li-mn-és Ø Ø ó limnō
Amphikinetic-II nom é Ø Ø *kré-tu-s é Ø Ø xretuš
acc Ø é Ø *kr̥-téw-m̥ Ø Ø Ø xərətum
gen Ø Ø é *kr̥-tu-és Ø Ø ó xərəžuuō
Hysterokinetic nom Ø é Ø *ph₂-tḗr Ø é Ø fitō
acc *ph₂-tér-m̥ fiterəm
gen Ø Ø é *ph₂-tr-és Ø Ø ó fiδrō

In the most summary way, the acrostatic nouns had a persistent accent on the root syllable, while the proterokinetic ones shifted the accent one syllable to the right (namely to the suffix) in the oblique cases. The amphikinetic nouns were of two types, differing only in the nominative singular: one type, the more common, had a lengthened o-grade in the suffix, while the other one had the zero grade. In both, the root was accented. The sources of both the unaccented o-grade and its length are disputed. The corresponding accusative had an accented suffix, and the accented shifted further right to the ending for the oblique cases. The hysterokinetic nouns had an accented suffix in the direct cases and accented ending in the oblique.

In their evolution to Galic Northian, the following changes have occurred. For amphikinetic nouns with an o-grade suffix, the nominative stem extended to the accusative; this must have been a fairly late alteration as the accusative suffix often has the long vowel of the nominative, showing that the long vowel was no longer analyzable as a full grade plus a lengthening element specific to the nominative, i.e. is out of place in the accusative. Amphikinetic nouns with the zero-grade suffix had a differing development: the oblique stem extended to accusative; perhaps this occurred under the influence of the proterokinetic, as with them the amphikinetics shared a zero-grade suffix in the nominative, cp. amphikinetic xrétuš "will" and proterokinetic xrétuš "powerful".

Proterokinetic nouns had their root syllables levelled nearly completely in favour of the zero grade, unless this produced an impermissible sequence of consonants, but the accent position is usually not altered and often discloses a former full grade. There are sporadic survivals of the full-grade root, but none in the productive suffixes of -ti- and -tu-, and accented zero-grade suffixes are common there, perhaps also under the influence of the hysterokinetics. This produced a morphologically proterokinetic but accentually static pattern that became dominant for these suffixes in later Northian. The hysterokinetic declension survives particularly well in Northian, preserving a distinct full-grade in the accusative and a zero-grade in the oblique cases.

It is notable that, perhaps owing to a lack of ablaut in the root syllable, the hysterokinetic pattern was the most stable and productive (the acrostatic pattern is assumed to be vestigial even in the proto-language). The patterns with root ablaut, namely amphikinetic and proterokinetic, either lost productivity or were levelled to remove ablaut in the root. Many suffixes which have original amphikinetic patterns developed hysterokinetic compounds which later became productive, while the amphikinetic suffix lost productivity. Issinar asserted in 1940 that, taking the root and suffix together as a unit and allowing for the long-grade in the nominative, Northian nouns could have a maximum of two distinct stems; this rule appears to hold in many cases, though not without exception.

Ablaut rules developed differently in many suffix classes. For example, the mn-stems usually had the long suffix original to the nominative intruding the accusative, but the wn-stems often has a zero-grade suffix in the accusative; possibly this is because the combination C-wn- was vocalized as C-un- early, and the -u- there was thought of as an original, full-grade vowel. Additionally, many words show compounds of suffixes, particularly derived feminines in -ī and -ū, and the accentual rules in these words sometimes depends on the character of the root, compulsorily it is verbal, and in other times becomes static on the suffix. Some classes of words apparently had vacillating accent or even no recorded accent, suggesting that these derivations were not common enough to have a widely-recognized pattern even if their meanings can be worked out.

Nominals

Athematic

The following chart recapitulates the ordinary endings of athematic nouns in Galic Northian. Because the ablative is syncretized in the singular with the genitive, with the dative and instrumental in the dual, and the dative in the plural, it is usually not listed separately in grammatical tables for athematic nouns.

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. All endings are subject to modification according to the suffix. OX stands for the oxytone group of patterns, and PPX for the paroxytone and proparoxytone 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.

Athematic endings
Singular Dual Plural Collective
OX PPX OX PPX
Nominative -s, -Ø, -ōi̯, -ā̊, -āḥ, -ōḥ, -a, -ā̊, -ī̆ḥ, -āḥ, -V̄R-Ø, -īḥ -iš, -āḫ, -ōḫ, -a, -V̄R-Ø
Vocative
Accusative -m, -ā̆m, -əm, -ā̊ -ā̊, -ūš, -ī
Locative -i, -eC-Ø -eC-Ø -ū, -uụ-ā -hū, -štū -eC-Ø
Genitive -ōḫ, -ā̊ -š, -V̄s, -ā̆ṇġ, -ā̊, -Ø -ōš -uš, -u̯-ōḫ -õm, -ą̄m
Ablative -mō -V̄-m, -VC-ma -muš
Dative -ei̯, -ai̯, -oi̯ -Vi̯R-i, -Vi̯
Instrumental -C-a, -V̄R-Ø -βi̯āḫ

Nom. sing. A general discussion of the athematic declension cannot omit to comment that many divergent forms are conditioned phonetically, but so too there are divergences because proto-forms were likely divergent. In no other place is this statement truer than in the nominative singular. 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 taking the zero or long grade stem vowel. The source of this lengthening is disputed: some authorities regard it as a vestige of a final *-s dropping after a resonant, but others hold there was no *-s originally and attribute the long vowel to ablaut variation sensitive to the case.

In Northian, final *-s has been suffixed to animate nouns quite broadly but haphazardly in prehistory, 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.

  1. -s is always present and surfaces as -š after *i- and *u- in animate nouns, and its absence there indicates neuter gender, both instance without regard to ablaut pattern.
  2. Final *-s was absent in resonant-stems (-m, -n, -r, -l), whose nom. sing. was signified by lengthened grade in OX and PX. The long final syllable ending in a resonant was then opened, giving rise to -ā̊ and -ō.
  3. After obstruents the distribution of *-s is not predictable: "woman" and tenū "body" were asigmatic, but noxš "night" and āmərətās "immortality" certainly had *-s.

In OX resonant stems the lengthened grade is altered prehistorically by the opening of closed long syllables ending in a resonant. In PX and PP resonant stems, e.g. mātarə and dā̊, as well as select OX nouns with the "reverse endings", e.g. táɣam, the nominative was also endingless but is affected by the vocalization of the zero-grade suffix, which is sensitive to the length of the preceding syllable. If short, the vocalized suffix will be long, and vice versa.

Voc. sing. 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.

Acc. sing. In the proto-language, the accusative ended in *-m. In stems ending in consonants, the ending is vocalized as -m̥ > PNN *-um. The same form occurs for stems ending in -u. In Galic *-um in auslaut is always altered to -ā̆m, varying according to the length of the preceding syllable. If the ending followed -i, long or short, it becomes -in. If the stem ended in a long vowel, such as with gunā- and ponθō-, the final syllable with -m is opened and becomes -ą̄ as with the nom. sing. Where the stem ended in -m itself, the sequence -m-m̥ was syncopated into the stem and surfaces as a long vowel at the PNN level, but likewise it is opened in Galic as -ą̄, as in θegą̄ "earth" and kīi̯ą̄ "winter".

Loc. sing. The locative generally took the accusative stem and either added final -i or was endingless. For the effects of -i on the preceding vowel, see dat. sing. entry.

Gen. sing. In OX the gen. singular always ended in -ōḫ < PNN *-os; its consistency led grammarians to consider it the feature of the OX declension. Where the stem ended in a open long vowel, the ending can become -ā̊ḫ, but this is merely orthographic—this ending is always disyllabic.

In PX and PP, the ending *-s when attached to the stem surfaces with a motley of forms, and this (compared to OX) irregularity in turn is the feature of the PPX declension. In stems ending in a short vowel plus nasal, *-s is dropped, and the preceding vowel is lengthened, as in pau̯ēn < PNN *pawen-s. Where the stem ended in a liquid, as in abel-, -s survives at the expense of the stem consonant and also causes the vowel to lengthen, here as abēs. In PX forms, final *-s is attached to a zero-grade suffix, as in mātūš < PEE *meh₂tr̥s and nomaṇġ < *Hnomn̥s. Conversely, if the stem ended in -ā or -ē, the result is -ā̊ < *-ās, e.g. gāna̯tri̯ā̊ and pālθvā̊. In s-stems, the ending generally disappears, e.g. māṇġ < *mn̥s-s. The ending is only neatly preserved after -i and -u and their respective allophones.

Abl. sing. For all athematic nouns, the ablative singular was syncretized wtih the genitive singular.

Dat. sing. In OX the dat. sigular ending was -ei̯. This ending susceptible to colouring by a preceding *h₂-, as well as the influence of -i̯, to become -ai̯. If the preceding consonant was u̯, the result was -oi̯, as *e following *u̯ always became o. In PX and PP, the dat. ending was -i. For all resonant stems, the ending -i caused the preceding vowel to mutate; an original *a became ae̯, and *e became i. For stems ending in -n, the -n sandwiched between i became ñ. In all cases the dat. singular ending following a vowel was a separate syllable.

Ins. sing. The OX ending -ōi̯ for the ins. singular originated as *-eh₁ in the proto-language. This ending is rarely problematic by phonological processes, but it is liable to be replaced in some instances. The PX ending evolved from *-h₁. This ending was preserved only after plosives as -a. Following resonants, the preceding vowel was lengthened. If the preceding vowel was long, -ā̊ was the general outcome.

Nom. / voc. / acc. du. For animate nouns, the du. ending for all direct cases in OX was generally -ōi̯ < *-ē. After i, the ending became -ā, and after u, -ō. After stems ending in laryngeals, the outcome was -å. In PX, the ending -a is visible after only after plosives, as it had the proto-form of *-h₁. After resonant and vowel stems, the ending was dropped causing the preceding vowel to lengthen, e.g. dorāu̯. After laryngeals, -å could also appear, since the intervening laryngeal caused ending to become vocalized. For all neuter nouns, the ending was -ī.

Loc. du. In OX the dual loc. ending was -ō < *-ou̯. In PX, the ending was -ū, which developed from original *-u lengthened in final position; the ending is only altered after stems ending in -u̯-, where prehistorically the ending dissimilated to *-o and then became -a in an unaccented position.

Gen. du. The proto-form of the dual genitive is usually considered the same as the locative, with added *-s at the end. Thus in OX the ending that surfaced was -ōš for *-ou̯s. In PX, the ending was -uš, which like the locative dissimilated to *-os if there was a preceding u. In this case, the ending was -ōḫ.

Abl. / dat. / ins. du. These three forms were syncretized in Northian as -mō in OX and -ma in PX.

Nom. / voc. pl. The proto-form here was *-es. If this ending followed i, it became -āḫ, or if it followed u, -ōḫ. Otherwise, since this ending was never accented, it became -iš. For neuter nouns, the nom. and acc. ending was from *-h₂, which appears as -a following stops and causes preceding vowels to lengthen if adjacent to one or separated by a resonant.

Acc. pl. This ending was derived from PEE *-n̥s following consonants or *-ns following vowels. *-n̥s generally gave rise by way of PNN *-uns to -ā̆ṇġ and -ā̆ŋhiš, both sensitive to the length of the preceding vowel. -ā̆ŋhiš is an allomorph that probably represents the nom. pl. ending appended to the acc. pl. ending, which had become rather opaque. In the case of *-i-ns, such as with the i-stems, the resulting ending was -īš.

Gen. pl. The ending was consistently -õm, or -ą̄m after vowel stems.

Abl. / dat. pl. The ending was consistently -muš.

Ins. pl. The ending was consistently -bi̯āḫ.

Thematic

Basic ā-stem endings Basic o-stem endings
sing du pl sing du pl
nom -āḥ -ayī -aŋhā̊ -ōḫ, -ō, -oịī -ā̊, -ohiš, -āḥ
voc -i
acc -ā̊ -a·ā̊ -õm -ə̄ṇġ
loc -ayi -āvū -āŋhū -ōi̯ -ohū
gen -ā̊ -āvuš -a·ą̄̊m -ōiiō -ōš -o·ōm
abl -a·āṯ -āmiiā -āmβiiā̊ -ōṯ -omiiā -omβiiā̊
dat -a·ai̯ -ōi̯
ins -āi̯š -ōi̯š

nom sg The ā-stems showed the expected ending -ā. M. and f. o-stems have -ōḫ < *-os, which scans short at the end of sentences and other pauses. N. o-stems have -õm.

voc sg The ā-stems have the same form as the nom. M. and f. o-stems have -i < *-e, while n. o-stems have the same form as the nom. In both cases, the accent is always retracted to the first syllable of the word.

acc sg for ā-stems is affected by Stang's law, which appears as -ā̊. The ending for m. and f. o-stems is the same as the n., -õm.

loc sg ā-stems have dysyllabic -ayi; o-stems have monosyllabic -oi.

gen sg ā-stems show -ā̊ for *-eh₂-s; o-stems have the compound suffix -ōiio, for *-osyo.

abl sg in ā-stems is dysyllabic aā̊ṯ; the quantity owes to dissimilation.

dat sg ā-stems

ins sg ā-stems

Verbs

Stems

Unlike nouns, verbs may form more than one stem and be still considered the same lexical item. It is thus necessary to discuss the relationship between the various stem-formations as they are attached to the root. The relationship between verb-stems and endings they receive are as follows in the Galic language:

Present stem Aorist stem Perfect stem Bare root Future stem
Primary endings Present indicative Future indicative
Thematic endings Root subjunctive
-e ~ o- + thematic endings Present subjunctive Aorist subjunctive Perfect subjunctive
e- + secondary endings Imperfect Aorist Pluperfect
-i̯ā ~ ī- + secondary endings Optative Aorist optative Perfect optative Future optative
Secondary endings Injunctive Aorist injunctive Perfect injunctive Future injunctive
Imperative endings Imperative Aorist imperative Perfect imperative Root imperative Future imperative
Future imperative endings Future imperative Future perfect imperative
Perfect endings Perfect indicative

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 and secondary athematic

The athematic verb endings, like their noun counterparts, are directly attached to the verbal stem without an intervening theme vowel. The primary endings are used for the athematic present, and the secondary endings for the athematic present injunctive, the imperfect, and (with the suffix) the optative, as well as the aorist indicative, injunctive, and optative.

There are two sets of (phonologically conditioned) parallel endings called the long and short endings. The long endings (noted below in grey) arise from a laryngeal between the stem and ending, whose effects are determined by neighbouring sounds. Where it precedes a guttural consonant, it becomes a, and a coronal consonant, i. If it preceded e, as in the case of the act. 3 pl., the e is coloured according to the laryngeal's identity. Otherwise, all laryngeals in this position behave alike and are indistinguishable. If the laryngeal was separated from a following consonant by another laryngeal, as in the case in the mid. 1 and 3 sing. and 2 and 3 du., the two adjacent vowels resulting are liable to be contracted in orthography, but this is merely a writing convention.

Primary active endings Primary middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
trans intrans trans intrans trans intrans
1p --mi -ū-viñi --miñi 1p -a-ai̯ -ū-vozδa -a-mozδa
2p -i-si -i-tāḫ -i-te/ti/ta 2p -i-tai̯ -a-ātaδai -i-zδuuo
3p -i-ti -i-tes/tiš -enδi/ā̆t 3p -i-toi̯ -o -a-ātāi̯ī -a -i-nδro -i-r/ro/ūš
Secondary active endings Secondary middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
trans intrans trans intrans trans intrans
1p -(ā̆)m/n -ūvōḫ -amōḫ 1p -aa -ūvoδa -ameδa
2p -i(s) -itam -i 2p -ita -ii̯(a)tāδi -iδō
3p -it -itim -ā̆t 3p -ito -o -ii̯ātā -aā -(a)r

1 sing. The primary and secondary active endings differ with the hic et nunc particle *-i in the proro-language, for the singular active. The element m is accepted in mainstream reconstructions of Proto-Erani-Eracuran to signify the first person. As m is a sonant, the ending -i in the primary conjugation can trigger mutation in the preceding syllable in the usual manner, e.g. diθēi̯mi < *didʰeh₁mi. In the secondary conjugation, final -m can vocalize to -ā̆m if following a stop.

In the middle voice, the ending evolves from *-h₂ey > -ai̯.

2 sing. In the primary conjugation, the signifying element of the active second singular *s can become h or z depending on the phonetic context. In the secondary is usually dropped after stems ending in a plosive or sonant, but it does regularly appear in the optative where it obligatorily follows a vowel.

The middle ending here is *-th₂ey > -tai̯.

3 sing. This -ti ending is usually retained in the primary conjugation. If the stem ended in a dental, the ending was liable to mutate in several ways. In the secondary, -t can displace preceding stops or be dropped in some contexts.

The middle ending of the third singular depends on the meaning of the word and the stem used, which is not quite predictable and must be learned in some cases. In many stem-classes, an middle verb with intransitive menaing will take the ending -o, and those with transitive meaning, -toi̯. In other cases, the ending -toi̯ is always used, regardless of meaning.

1 du. The active ending is from *-weni; mutation inevitably occurs in the first syllable, giving -u̯iñi.

In the middle, the form -u̯ozθa < *-wesdʰh₂ is found.

2 du. Here the active ending -tāḫ is for *-th₂es. An epenthentic -s- is sometimes found if the stem ended in a dental to avoid a sequence of two dentals together, and the resulting combination is sometimes resolved to prehistoric *-ss-. But this was not a universal phenomenon, and sometimes the geminate dental either drops or evne surfaces. Such examples are often interpreted by analogical restoration.

- is found in the middle for *-tom.

3 du. The active allomorphs -tes ~ -tiš reflect *-tes, in accented and unaccented positions, respectively. For most athematic verbs the accent is mobile, consistently on the ending, so the former will be more common; the latter is seen on verbs with recessive accent like déθitiš and éstiš "you (pl.) give" and "sit". As with all endings which begin with t, it is liable to following another dental.

As in the case of the third singular, the middle ending here is sensitive to the stem-class of the verb and its general meaning. The transitive ending is -tą̄ < *teh₂m, and the intransitive ending is usually -ā. This latter ending is unique in the Erani-Eracuran family and has no known comparanda, and so it is possibly an innovation, though it is also argued to be an unique archaicism. But it is phonologically rather opaque, which hampers restoration of its proto-form.

1 pl. In the active one finds -miñi < *-meni, which is usually retained without complication.

In the middle, the ending -mozθa is encountered, for *-mesdʰh₂.

2 pl. Here, much akin to the 3 du., the allomorphs are either -te or -ti. -ti is clearly from *-te and is seen on verbs of recessive accent. However, a deviant form -ta also exists for some verbs, but the origin of -ta is unexplained.

The middle ending -θvo < *-dʰwe is found for the second plural. An -s- may be attached to the beginning of this ending for some verbs, and this augmentation is not restricted to those stems ending in a dental.

3 pl. In the third active plural, the ending -enθi is used. This ending is susceptible to laryngeal colouring if the verb stem ended in a laryngeal. Furthermore, this ending is the only one that regularly shows ablaut: where the accent was in the stem, the ending is *-n̥t > -at.

For the third plural middle, there are also endings which change according to the stem-class and meaning of the verb. Verbs with transitive meanings will generally have -nθro, while those with intransitive meanings may have either -ro or -ūš < *-r̥s.

Primary and secondary thematic

The primary and secondary thematic endings include a theme vowel between the stem and the ending-proper, varying between *e ~ o. The thematic endings formally differ in the active singular and third plural from the athematic ones but are transparently the same, with the addition of the theme vowel, in others. It is still a matter of active debate what the contrast between athematic and thematic endings was in the proto-language. The primary and secondary thematic endings are used in present and aorist stems in the same manner as the athematic ones.

Thematic active endings Thematic middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
1p -ou̯ōḫ -omōḫ 1p -ā̊i̯ -ou̯ōzθa -omozθa
2p -ei̯ -etāḫ -eti 2p -etai̯i -etõ -eθō
3p -ei̯i -etiš -onθi 3p -etoi̯i -etą̄

1 sg. The first singular active ending is -ō. The middle ending is -ā̊i̯ for *o-h₂e-i—the ending is disyllabic in Northian.

2 sg. The ending for the second active singular is -ei̯ The middle ending is the same as the athematic one, with the theme vowel e inserted.

3 sg. In the third singular one finds the ending -ei̯i; note that this ending is disyllabic, unlike that of the second singular. Ditto for the middle.

1 - 3 du. and 1 and 2 pl. For all these items the thematic forms are the same as the athematic ones, with thematic o or e added.

3 pl. The endings here are active -o and middle -ō.

Thematic secondary endings, active or middle, are all the same as athematic ones, with thematic vowel inserted in like manner as the primary.

Imperative athematic and thematic

The imperative in Northian does not have opposition between primary and secondary. It is observed that the imperative usually implies immediacy, while the stem has aspectual value regarding the action required. The first person imperative is always defective: a speaker expressing a requirement for oneself would use the future tense. For all dual forms, the imperative is the same as the indicative, there being no sign that these ever had distinct imperative endings in Northian.

Imperative active endings Imperative middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
1p 1p
2p -θi -tāḫ -ti 2p -svo -ātaθa -θvo
3p -tū -tiš -nθū 3p -to -ātā -nθō

The imperative forms for thematic verbs are as follows:

Imperative active endings Imperative middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
1p 1p
2p -etāḫ -eti 2p -esvo -ātaθa -esθvo
3p -etū -etiš -enθū 3p -eto -ā̊tā -onθō

Perfect

The perfect was an athematic formation, irrespective of the thematicity of the present or aorist stems.

Perfect active endings Perfect middle endings
sing du pl sing du pl
1p -a -u̯o -me 1p If the perfect active is transitive, the middle is formed from the perfect subjunctive
2p -ta -āta -é 2p
3p -i -ātā -ṓ 3p

3 sg the ending -i is the unaccented outcome of *-e, which is coloured by any preceding laryngeal and therefore may surface as -a if the stem ended in *-h₂ or *-h₃.

2 pl -e is the accented outcome of *-e, which is also liable to be coloured by laryngeals and may appear as -a or -o with stems ending in *-h₂ or *-h₃, respectively.

Evolution

Northian is one of the relatively few Erani-Eracuran languages to retain multiple productive ablaut patterns in all classes of words, though OX 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. -ōḫ < *-os and dat. -ei̯ < *-ei̯.  The proterokinetic and acrostatic endings were easily eroded and disfigured by comparison. Despite morphological alterations, the grammar of nouns did not have considerable tendency to evolve.

The most dramatic change from the Galic to the Epic language must be found in verbs rather than nouns. The Galic verb formed multiple stems with aspectual value, to which suffixes and personal endings were added to specify mood and tense. This system is cognate to those found in sister languages acorss the Erani-Eracuran family, particularly in Tennai and Syara. Even in the Didaskalic material, this system was very much intact, yet early in Epic literature, around 650 BCE, a less diverse and less inflected verbal system was already dominant. Particularly, the opposition between present and aorist forms had been lost, and the perfect became a generalized past tense stem.

Nouns classes

Overview

The principal classes of nouns are discussed first. The following chart lists the stems and accent patterns in Galic Northian. A green cell indicates that the stem and accent combination is productive, either in se or through a compound suffix; a yellow cell indicates an attested stem-accent combination; a red cell indicates no or only dubious attestations. The far-left column gives the traditional classification of nouns into oxytone (OX) and paroxytone (PX) by their dative singular forms, which have subsequently been refined into two classes each reflecting the more specific ablaut patterns that have survived into Galic times.

-C -t -m -n -r -s -i -u -r/n -nt
OX-B About 100 root nouns and suffixed nouns in -k, -l -ns, etc. A few in -ōs, nepōs "child" About 20 feminine, in -ō or -am; gīy-ō "winter" Many, in -ō and -ə̄, often binds m-, n-, s-, t-, etc., θxām-ō "human" haz-ərə "hand" and personal, feminizing suffix -ez-ərə A handful in -ā̊, aōš-ā̊ "dawn"; the perf. act. ptcpl. wōižiiuš "knowing" Some in -ō and -iš, hak-ō "friend, ally", ouuiš "ewe"; neuter var. in -ai, oxθ-ai "finger" A few dozen in -ōš or -uš, gen-ōš "jaw", xrétuš "will" Some in -ī, štoīr-ī "heifer" A handful in -ū, θan-ū "body" Derived collectives of heteroclitics, in -r ~ n-, long o-grade in nom. > -ā̊   A few in -āṯ, oδāṯ "tooth"  
OX-A No Productive suffix -tāt-, āmmərə-tās "immortality" and -tūt- No Productive, in -en, uxš-ā̊ = ox, and -ṓ, yəuu-ṓ "youth" Productive through agentive -ter, duhit-ō "daughter" Productive, comparatives in -iiā̊- maj-iiā̊ "bigger", perf. act. ptcpl. in -uuā̊-, βiβiž-uuā̊ "trusting" No No No No No Productive pres. aor. act. ptcpl. of thematic verbs, in -ās hadáii-ās "sitting"
PX No No No Productive, neuter var. of OX n-stems, exhibiting same bound suffixes No Productive, neuter var. of OX s-stems, in -ō; neβ-ō "cloud", xrat-ō "power" Productive, animate in -iš, action nouns -tiš, gomδ-iš "a step"; neuter in -i, mor-i "sea" Productive, animate in -uš, wiš-t-úš "witness"; neuter in -ū, oii-ū "life" Proliferate suffix deriving feminines in -ī; geniδr-ī "genitrix" Same as -ī but more common in adjectives, in -ū; hoxr-ū "mother-in-law" Neuter, in -r ~ n- suffix, ya-ərə "year"; more in -tar, -mərə, -zərə No
PP About 30 root and suffixed nouns in obstruent stems nox-ṯ "night" and haš-ṯ "bed" No No māt-ar "mother", βrāt-ar "brother" men-ō "mind" (with o-grade of the suffix), kraō-š "gore" aŋhi "serpent" Neuter nouns in -ū, gon-ū "knee", wəšt-ū "settlement" Feminine pres. aor. act. ptcpl. with static accent, déδāṯīš "of the giving one" No A few, in -r ~ n-, f-ō "shrine" A few nouns; pres. aor. act. ptcpl. with static accent, déδāṯ "giving"

As appears from this schematic, most suffixes are associated with more than one accentual pattern. But even in Galic, the majority of suffixes have only one productive accentual pattern or separate productive patterns associated with masculine-feminine gender and neuter gender (the case of the n-stems and s-stems). Additionally, some suffixes are only productive through petrified compounds, which tended to be hysterokinetic and have invariant stems, such as the comparative in -iiā̊- and perfect active participle in -uuā̊-; otherwise, the s-stems in amphikinetic is non-productive.

Where there are multiple productive accentuation patterns, neuter nouns are almost always identified with the proterokinetic pattern, and masculine-feminine with the hysterokinetic or amphikinetic. The exception is for i-stems and u-stems, wherein proterokinetic accentuation is standard, and particularly productive through the compound with -t.

Obstruent stems

The category of consonant-stems consist only of those that end in -p and -k, while resonant- and vowel-stem root nouns are discussed in their own categories, whether suffixed or not, as the phonological processes that apply to them generate similar results. The obstruents p- and k- are rarely subject to alteration, except before the nom. sing. ending -s where they become fricativized to f- and x-, respectively.

The noun āfš < PEE *h₂ēp-s "river" is often the poster-boy of the Northian nouns due to its straightforward stem and clear ablaut alteration between ā ~ a. ap "force" is used for neuter nouns, displaying PEE e ~ Ø ablaut > Galic o ~ Ø. Both these nouns are of the OX type, displaying an accented genitive ending in -ō < PNN *-os.

hā āfš, "river" θaṯ ap, "force"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom āfš āpōi̯ āpiš ap apī apa
voc ap
acc āpam āpaṇġ
gen apōḫ apōš apõ bōḫ bōš
loc api apō apšo api fšu
dat apei̯ apmō apmuš bei̯ bmō bmuš
ins apōi̯ bōi̯

t-stems

The stems ending in -t comprise both of root nouns and suffixed nouns. They are underlyingly the same as other obstruent stems but are distinguished in that final -s is preserved in the nominative case, at the expense of *-t-. t-stems not part of a compound suffix such as -tāt- and -tūt- are rare and are descended mainly from the amphikinetic ablaut type.

nēpōs "grandchild" has the stem nep-ot-, where the suffix undergoes ablaut to zero grade in the oblique cases as *nep-t- > nef-θ-.

ha nēpōs, "grandchild"
sing du pl
nom nēpōs nepotōi̯ nepotiš
voc
acc nepotam nefθā̊
gen nefθōḫ nefθōš nefθõm
loc nepoti nefθō nefšu
dat nefθei̯ nefθmō nefšmuš
ins nefθa

The PEE suffix *-teh₂ts created nouns of states of being. Inherited examples are mainly of hysterokinetic origin, which had the zero grade of the root, but later creations may bind the full grade. The suffix is non-ablauting and takex oxytone endings. The following example has many cognates in EE languages and is from a common root *n̥-mr̥teh₂ts > PNN *ummurtāts > Galic āmmərətās.

hā āmmərətās, "immortality"
sing du pl
nom āmmərətās āmmərətātōi̯ āmmərətātiš
voc āmmərətāṯ
acc āmmərətātam āmmərətātā̊
gen āmmərətātōḫ āmmərətātōš āmmərətātõ
loc āmmərətāti āmmərətātō āmmərətāššu
dat āmmərətātei̯ āmmərətāsmō āmmərətāθmuš
ins āmmərətāta

nt-stems

The nt-stems are very closely associated with the formation of the present active participle in -nt-. But while participles have distinct masculine, feminine, and neuter forms, nt-stem nouns have the form of the masculine participle and a lexical gender (that is, the noun can have feminine gender but will always have the same inflectional endings as the masculine participle).

ha dōs, "tooth"
sing du pl
nom dōs dónδōi̯ dónδiš
voc doṇṯ
acc donδəm dónδā̊
gen dātōḫ dātōš dātõm
loc dónδi dātō dāśū
dat dātei̯ dāśmō dāśmuš
ins dāta

m-stems

This class is known from only a few but important nouns, e.g. θáɣā "earth" and zīi̯ō "winter", as well as from the root, dā̊ "house". All m-stem nouns in Northian are feminine in gender, though with only a few examples, this may not be an actual rule in the proto-language. Outside of nouns, it is also known in numerals for 1, 7, and 10—hā̊ haftā dekā—and the solitary adjective merə "particulate, ground up". Some authorities believe many m-stems may have, during the time of the proto-language, been either remade to thematic neuters or had an additional *-n added after the *m-, giving rise to the multitude of n-stems of the -mn- type, wherein the -m- is of otherwise unexplained origin.

hā zīi̯ō, "winter" = hiemps
sing du pl
nom zīi̯ō zīi̯amōi̯ zīi̯aēmiš
voc zīi̯õm
acc zīi̯ā̊ zīi̯amā̊
gen zimōḫ zimōš zimõm
loc zīi̯aēmi zimō zimhū
dat zimāi̯ zimmō zimmuš
ins zīm

Most suffixed nouns with OX inflection have a full-grade suffix in the nominative singular, e.g. gīịō, and in this regard they are the same as the n-stems. In fact, given the rules of phonetic change, *-ōm and *-ōn cannot be told apart, so it is possible this ending has been transported from the n-stems. But θáɣam θxmōḫ "earth" has zero-grade in the nom. sing. that is probably inherited. In the accusative, the sequence *-em-m̥ in the proto-language resolves prehistorically to *-ēm via Stang's law and appears in Northian as -ā̊, while the equivalent sequence for n-stems *-en-m̥ yielded Northian -en-əm.  

Note that the full grade in the accusative plural θágmā̊ reverts to the root syllable; the suffix is in zero grade. I-mutation affects the locative singular and nominative plural in the usual manner.

hā θáġam, "ground, earth" = χθών
sing du pl
nom θaġam xšmōi̯ θaġaēmiš
voc
acc θā̊ θāmā̊
gen xšmōḫ xštą̄ōš xštõm
loc xštémi xštą̄ō xštāŋhū
dat xšmei̯ xštą̄mō xštą̄muš
ins xšma

To this table above must be subjoined that θā̊ < *dʰǵʰḗm < *dʰ(e)ǵʰém-m̥ is only found in a handful of instances in Galic Period I, and even there it is not exclusive. The proto-form of the accusative is uncertain, since many authorities predict this word should have a full-grade root syllable, which should result in dysyllabic *θaā̊, i.e. similar to the nominative, with regular deletion of voiced gutturals between like vowel. But the form actually found is monosyllabic, which could only come from a zero-grade root. If the suggestion that the oblique stem *dʰǵʰm- was later introduced to replace the nominative stem, which would indicate a bizarre vowel-less pre-form of *dʰǵʰm-m̥, is to be excluded, Galic would thus suggest there were different root ablaut grades in nominatives and accusatives for amphikinetic nouns.

The more intuitive form θáɣamām can more usually be found in later texts.

n-stems

This group of nouns had multiple subtypes, whose common feature was the stem-final consonant -n; their phonetic outcomes can be quite different due to vocalization rules.

A common subtype of the n-stems is through the suffix *-mn-, which is common in Northian. The OX pattern was normal for animate nouns, and the PX in neuter nouns.

In fraōmō "breath", the nom. singular ending -ō (which occludes the shape of the stem) arises due to the effects of a PEE sound law that deleted any resonants in the environment of *-ōR in auslaut. Ablauting nouns in this class will have an accented root in the direct cases and accented ending in oblique cases, except in the locative singular where the accented suffix is attested.

Depending on the exact phonetic environment, the -m- of the suffix may be vocalized in different ways. See the notes above for the formation of the zero-grade in Northian, which are unusually sensitive to phonetic environment.

ha fraōmō, "lung"
sing du pl
nom fraōmō fraōmanōi̯ fraōmaēniš
voc fraōman
acc fraōmanəm fraōmanā̊
gen fərəuụą̄nōḫ fərəuụānōš fərəuụą̄nõm
loc frumen fərəuụānō fərəuụāŋhū
dat fərəuụą̄nei̯ fərəuụą̄nmō fərəuụānmuš
ins fərəuụą̄n

fnaōmin "breath" is an ablauting mn-stem noun with PX inflection. Owing to its semantic connection with fraōmō "lung" as well as the shape of the oblique stem under the influence of u, the alternate spelling fraōmin is also seen, for example G.Nr. 1477 mōi̯ βā θxámin apū fraōmíñīḥ fərəuụānōš dito "By the Earth, let therefore not [his] breaths be given away from his two lungs". But these two words are from etymologically unrelated roots.

θaṯ fnaōmin, "breath"
sing du coll
nom fnaōmin fnaōmíñīḥ fnaōmō
voc
acc
gen frumaṇġ frumenuš frumenõm
loc frumíñi frumenū frumáŋhū
dat frumenma frumenmuš
ins frumā̊

There are also n-stems not part of a suffix of *-mn-. They are rarer than the type with -mn- and are sometimes emphasized as "bare" n-stems. They are of two types, distinguished in the nom. sing., those with -ō and those with -ā̊. Though less common, they are typical of family names.

In uə̄rštā̊ "male of an animal", of the type ending in -ō, PNN stems are ablauting *uors-on- and *uərəs-n-. In the nom. sing. the root vowel is lengthened, occasioning the loss of the root-final resonant prehistorically. As it will appear, the stem-final -n- is vocalized if the ending begins with a consonant; the gen. and loc. du. begin with the prehistoric laryngeal, which still trigger vocalization and are reflected as Galic hiatus and quantitative and qualitative alteration. After *r and its vocalized allophone, *s obligatorily becomes š, which cannot precede a vowel directly and to which a t is added. However, this addition is chronologically late and therefore applicable to the loc. and gen. du. forms, even though earlier they were considered to begin with consonants and trigger vocalization.

hā uə̄rštā̊, "male of an animal"
sing du pl
nom uə̄rštā̊ uə̄rštinōi̯ uə̄rštiniš
voc uə̄rštin
acc uə̄rštinəm uə̄rštinā̊
gen uərəšnōḫ uərəšta·ā̊š uərəšnõm
loc uərəšténi uərəšta·ā̊ uərəštāhū
dat uərəšnei̯ uərəštāmō uərəštāmuš
ins uərəštā

yəu̯ụə̄ "youth" < *h₂yéwHō has the same suffix as above underlying, but preceded by a laryngeal that colours the *-en- to *-on-. As a result, the rule that deletes final resonants following lengthened *-ō comes into play and produces the same ending as the animate mō-stems (but in this example it is altered to ə̄ following w-). But here in the gen. and loc. du. it is the suffix *-n- that becomes vocalized when followed by a consonant. The resulting vowel is shortened on account of the preceding laryngeal, with regular alterations of quality and quantity to surrounding vowels.

ha yəu̯ụə̄, "youth"
sing du pl
nom yəu̯ụə̄ yəu̯ụənōi̯ yəu̯ụiñiš
voc yəu̯ụən
acc yəu̯ụənəm yəu̯ụənā̊
gen yūnōḫ yuụa·ā̊š yūnõm
loc yəu̯ụəni yuụa·ā̊ yuụahū
dat yūnei̯ yuụamō yuụamuš
ins yūna

r-stems

r-stem nouns contain members from all three accentual patterns.

mātar "mother" represents the group with inherited acrostatic pattner, whose accent persists on the root syllable and always takes suffix and ending in zero-grade. frātar "brother" is declined in like manner. This is a small group of nouns recognized by their unaccented endings in -ā̆.

hā mātar, "mother"
sing du pl
nom mātar māδra māδriš
voc
acc māδrəm māδrā̊
gen mātūš māturuš māδrõm
loc māδri māturū mātərəšū
dat mātərəma mātərəmuš
ins mātara

Gen. mātūš < PNN *māturs < PEE *meh₂tr̥s. 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 *meh₂trn̥s (for expected *meh₂tern̥s), while other Nordic languages point to *meh₂tern̥s. In Galic, māδra "two mothers" is often an ellipsis for "mother and father".

duhitṓ "daughter" represents the oxytone group of the r-stems, which includes many agentive nouns that terminate in *-tēr. They are recognizable by their zero-grade nom. endings and full-grade -ō endings in gen. The behaviour of the word ɣahār < PEE *ǵʰésr̥ "arm" is underlyingly identical. In the nom. sing. the strong stem reflects PNN *dʰwegə- < PEE *dʰwegh₁-; the weak stem from PNN *dʰugə- The initial *dʰwe > Galic sō-. The weak stem should expect to surface as *δuɣaδr-, but the initial aspirate is simply de-aspirated probably in avoidance of three consecutive fricatives to give attested *duɣaδr-, to which regular OX endings are appended.

hā duhitṓ, "daughter"
sing du pl
nom duhitṓ duhiterōi̯ duhitei̯riš
voc
acc duhiterəm dúhiterā̊
gen duxθrōḫ duhiturōš duxθrõm
loc duxθrei̯ duhiturō duhituššu
dat duxtərəmō duxtərəmō
ins duxθrōi̯

s-stems

The s-stem nouns can be divided into two general types: nouns like xratōḫ and aōšā̊ terminates in an ablauting suffix containing -s, and those like mūš have a root that terminates in -s. The former suffix exhibits ablaut from *-os- ~ -es-, while the second class may or may not display ablaut.

The os/es-stems are a class of very common neuter nouns in Northian and are directly cognate to those found in Nordic languages. Together they have both PX and PPX patterns. Though in Galic times and later only the PX pattern is productive, there are four or five very common PPX os/es-stem nouns constituting a complete paradigm. Let the common phrase xratišōḫ māṇ-šva "by mind and by power" therefore provide examples of this declension.

In PX the nom. sing. ended in -ō, regularly < PNN and PEE *-os; this *-os is not to be confused for the thematic nom. sing. ending or the athematic OX gen. sing. ending and instead is a bare stem. The gen. ended in -iš-ōḫ < PNN and PEE *-es-os. Before endings beginning with consonant, s is preserved or altered in regular ways.

θaṯ xratōḫ, "intellect, power"
sing du pl
nom xratōḫ xratišta xratā̊
voc
acc
gen xratištōḫ xratištuš xratištõ
loc xratišti xratištū xratiššū
dat xratišma xratišmuš
ins xratišta

The noun aōšā̊ "dawn" also has the *-os- ~ -es- suffix but has feminine gender; as such, it has a distinct accusative. The noun has three basic stems: the strong stem which appears in the sing. nom. and voc. comes from PEE *h₂eu̯s-os-, with regular lengthening of the final syllable anticipating a zero nominative ending; the middle stem appears in the other direct cases and is from *h₂us-es-; the weak stem appears in all other cases and is from *h₂us-s-, with full-grade endings as expected in oxytone words. Note the singular voc. ended in *-os which became *-oh and then -ōḫ in Galic; the final *-h is lost except before enclitics and compounds, where it can condition phonetic changes. The effects of the former *-h is denoted orthographically as <ḫ> but is otherwise silent.

Also presented is βiịā̊ "fear", from PEE *bʰeyh₂-os, of masculine gender. The nom. sing. stem has been replaced by zero-grade PNN *bihₐ-. The stem ending in laryngeal will have as its residual effect the colouring of the oblique alloform of the suffix *-es- to PNN *-as- > Galic *-ah-.

hā aōštā̊, "dawn" ha βiịā̊, "fear"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom aōštā̊ uštištōi̯ uštahāḫ βiịā̊ βii̯ahōi̯ βii̯ahāḫ
βoc aōštōḫ βii̯ōḫ
acc uštahām uštahā̊ βi̯ahām βi̯ahahā̊
gen ušštōḫ ušštōs ušštõm βišštōḫ βišštōs βišštõm
loc uštišti ušštō ūšštū βištišti βišštō βišštū
dat ušštei̯ uššmō uššmuš βišštei̯ βiššmō βiššmuš
ins ušštōi̯ βišštōi̯

The word mūš "mouse" is a non-ablauting s-stem noun.

sā mūš, "mouse, small rodent"
sing du pl
nom mūš mūštōi̯ mūštiš
voc mūš
acc mūštam mūštā̊
gen mūštōḫ mūštōs mūštõm
loc mūšti mūštō mūšštū
dat mūštei̯ mūšmō mūšmuš
ins mūštōi̯

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.

The PX pattern of the i-stems gained primacy early in Northian history, and these nouns proliferated being built to a variety of roots. Despite being PX, oblique dual and plural forms often fail to have the anticipated -éi- suffix and rather the zero-grade -í- instead, while still bearing the accent.

hā menδiš, "thought" θaṯ mori, "sea"
sing du pl sing du coll
nom meṇδiš meṇδīḥ meṇδai̯āḫ mori morēi̯ morōi̯
voc meṇδi
acc meṇδin meṇδī
gen mātei̯š mātii̯uš mātei̯õm
loc menδei̯ mātii̯ū mātišū
dat mātei̯ei̯ māei̯ma mātimuš
ins mātēi̯

The OX pattern of the i-stems was only moderately productive in Galic times and not productive by later ages. In the nominative du. and pl., the suffix is in long o-grade; the suffix consonantal *-i is lost. The provenance of this form has not been entirely made clear, since if the suffix did contain -i in final position, it should have survived in Northian. Nevertheless, the same deletion corresponds exactly with forms found in archaic grammars in Syaran and Tennite languages, so the dropping of final -i is likely to have been old. Some phonetic change akin to Stang's law may be responsible for its deletion either after a long vowel or before putative ending *-s.

Perhaps owing to the phonetic similarity between the dual and plural nom. forms, *-ē > -ōi̯, which is not expected after i-, often displaces the expected -āḥ. However, there is also a hapax of short -e found in Galic, which suggests the -ōi̯ may be a late alteration, inserted after -āḥ had ceased to be distinguishable in regular speech from pl. -āḫ.

This pattern has a neuter equivalent that ended in -ai < *-ei̯ in the nominative; otherwise, oblique cases inflect identically. This neuter pattern is very rare and only present in a few examples like óxθai "palm", whose archaic dual form óxθō means "eight". This suggests that the ordinary neuter nominative dual ending -īḥ < *-ih₁ may have originated in the i-stems and displaced an earlier ending of *-h₁; logically the earlier ending would have been preserved after an i-stems, where the composite form would be redundant.

ha hokō, "friend, ally" = socius θaṯ óxθai, "palm"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom hokō hokoiiāḥ
hokoiiōi
hokoiiāḫ óxθai óxθayīḥ óxθaiiāḫ
voc hoki
acc hokin hokoiiā̊
gen śxiịōḫ śxiịōš śxiịõm
loc śxoi̯i śxiō śxišu
dat śxịi̯ei̯ śximō śximuš
ins śxī

u-stems

The plain u-stems of Northian reflect three ablaut patterns, and excepting the acrostatic they are both attested abundantly in the Galic language. The acrostatic pattern provides only inherited nouns, with no sign that new terms with this pattern were made.

ha huiius, "child" = υἱύς θaṯ oiiū, "life, generation"
sing du pl sing du coll
nom huiiuš huiiáuua huiiáuuāḫ oiiū oiiāu̯ oiiō
voc huiiaō
acc huiium huiiūš
gen huiiōš huiiuvō huiiuõm
loc huiiau̯i huiiau̯ū huiiušū
dat huiiuma huiiumuš
ins huiiāu̯

The PX pattern in u-stem nouns is very prolific in both the Galic and Epic languages. Many are abstract nouns with the ending -tuš. The nom. ended in -uš, but it is not uncommon in the Late Canon material to see -ō. While many nouns would show root ablaut, the example provided above does not and therefore has all components in zero grade in the nom; the hypothetical forms *həu̯i̯uš or *hou̯i̯uš would be expected based on the general ablaut tendencies, but it is in fact the proto-form of huii̯uš that is attested in all EE languages. The gen. ended in *-ou̯-s, whence -ō-š. All the other oblique cases show -eu̯- in the suffix, which does very early spread to the gen. as well, such that -eu̯-s actually outnumbers the older -ou̯-s by a factor of more than 40 to 1.

The ins. sing. and nom. du. have identical endings becuase their PEE forms were both *eu̯-h₁ > Galic -ēu̯. The gen. du. has -eu̯ō, which reflects *eu̯-us; here, the final *-us dissimilated from the preceding vowel and became *-os, which regularly > -ō. The loc. has -eu̯-a which is the reflex of *-eu̯-o dissimiliated from *-eu̯-u. The nom. pl. and acc. have the expected forms, with PNN *-uns > Galic -ə̄ṇġ. All other forms in the plural are straightforward.

The neuter version of the PX u-stems displays regular ablaut, which alternates strong and weak stems. The strong has o-grade from PEE *h₂ói̯-u > unchanged Galic oiiū, save the regular lengthening of final *-u. The oblique stem is from PEE *h₂i̯-eu̯-s > also unaltered Galic yaōš.

hā génōš, "jaw" = jaw
sing du pl
nom génōš genauuə̄ genauuāḫ
voc génaō
acc genā̊ genuuā̊
gen jñuuōḫ gnuōš jñuuõm
loc jñaō gnuō gnuštū
dat jñuuōi̯ gnumō gnumuš
ins jñuua

The OX pattern had a nom. sg. ending in PEE *-ou̯-s, which regularly gave Galic -ō-š. The gen. and dat. reflects PEE *-u-os and *-u-ei̯ as expected in a hysterokinetic pattern. The dual behaves as expected. The acc. is on account of the deletion of resonants before a syllabic nasal, genā̊ < *gen-ēm < *gen-eu̯-m̥. Note in this word some oblique forms have the stem jñuu-, which is an altered form of *gnw-. Northian generally permits up to three consonants (or four, if beginning with s-) in anlaut, but only if they contain no stops; if they do, stops are altered to fricative counterparts. This rule is not in effect for sequences of only two members in anlaut, hence the conserved gn- when the following *w is vocalized. Note also, the genitive and dative dual endings begin with a (lost) laryngeal, triggering the vocalization of *w.

ī-stems

The ī-stems in paroxytone has remained productive down to the Epic period as a feminizing suffix for athematic nouns. This suffix showed ablaut from full grade *-ieh₂ ~ -ih₂ > Northian -i̯ā ~ ī. As these nouns typically had a root that participated in ablaut, the suffix was in zero-grade in the strong cases and in full-grade in the weak ones. In the example geniδrīḥ "genitrix", the nom. is asigmatic. Notice that, in the gen. jñiδriiā̊, the laryngeal is syllabified with the preceding vowel and causes it to lengthen, but in the dat. jñiδriiayi it syllabifies with the following vowel and does not cause the one preceding to lengthen; in both cases, though, the preceding vowel is coloured. The regular syllabification is only attested in Galic; by Didaskalic and Epic times, the dative was remade according to the genitive and has a long -iiā-.

The -o- in the gen. and dat. du. forms is a Runic orthographic insertion done to prevent the incorrect scansion of dysyllabic /a.us/ as monosyllabic /aws/; the -o- is spurious and silent. It is not present in all texts: monumental inscriptions usually omit it.

hā geniδrīḥ, "genitrix" = genitrix
sing du pl
nom geniδrīḥ geniδrīya geniδriyāḫ
voc
acc geniδrī geniδrīyā̊
gen jñiδriiā̊ jñiδriiāouš jñiδri̯aõm
loc jñiδriiayi jñiδriiaoū jñiδriiāhū
dat jñiδriiāma jñiδriiāmuš
ins jñiδriiaā̊

The main points of contrast to those in PX are that the nom. singular is sigmatic and that the nom. dual ends in -ii̯āḥ, rather than PX -īi̯a; for the same reason why in PX the gen. and dat. sing suffix vary in quantity, in this ending in OX the laryngeal scans as part of the following syllable, with the pre-forms *stérih₂eh₁ > *stériā, and thus leaves the preceding *-i- short. In the dat. singular the ending becomes an offglide because it was not separated from the suffix by a laryngeal, with the preform *stérih₂e-i.

hā šterīḥ, "heifer"
sing du pl
nom šterīḥ šterii̯āḥ šteriịāḫ
voc šterī
acc šterī šteriịā̊
loc šterī štrii̯ō štrīštū
gen štrii̯ōḫ štrii̯ōš štrīi̯õm
dat štrii̯ai̯ štrīmō štrīmuš
ins štrī

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 quite different. The nom. sing. of hysterokinetic stems had accented root syllable and an ending in PEE *-uh₂-s > *PNN *-ūs > Galic *-ūš. The acc. requires a proto-form *-ueh₂-m, but already has simplified to *-u̯ām > PNN *-u̯ą̄m. 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.

hā tenūḥ, "body"
sing du pl
nom tenūḥ tenāu̯ tenuu̯āḫ
voc tenāu̯
acc tenā̊ θnəu̯ā̊
gen tānuu̯ōḫ tānuu̯ōs tānuõ
loc tānuu̯āi̯ tānuu̯ō tānūhu
dat tānumō tānūmuš
ins tānāu̯

r/n-stems

The r/n-stems, or heteroclitics, continue a class of EE nouns that had different suffixes for direct and oblique stems. Excepting productive derivative suffixes *-tr̥ and *-mr̥, they are all neuter nouns with fundamental meanings and show PPX inflection in the singular and dual. Many did not take plural but collective endings, which are OX and combine singular endings the nom. and plural endings in oblique forms. In the Epic language, many heteroclitics also formed ordinary plurals from the zero-grade stem, which agree with singular verbs and have meanings different from those of their collective forms.

In the Galic language, many heteroclitic nouns have opaque forms owing to their short stem and susceptibility to ablaut, vocalization, and internal sandhi.

yō·ərə = /yō.r̥/ "year", is from *yoh₁-r̥. Proto-form of gen. *yoh₁-n̥-s or *yeh₁-n̥-s should anticipate a PNR form like *yā-āh, but nowhere is this found or metrically allowed; instead, one finds monosyllabic yā̊, which according to Krueger may be an ad hoc replacement for *i-āh, logically assumed to be from < *ih₁-n̥-s. However, the contraction of syllables is very rare in Northian, so this explanation has not achieved agreement by authorities.

θaṯ yō·ərə, "year" = ὥρα
sing du coll
nom yō·ərə yōrī ya·ō
voc
acc
gen yā̊ yānuš īyõm
loc yiñi yānū īštū
dat yāŋma īmuš
ins yān

fə̄u̯ərə "fire" has PX inflection, with accented suffix in the oblique cases. In the nom. sing. the proto-form was from *péh₂wr̥; the final -ərə is paedagogically taught as /ara/, but as it is a single long syllable and not two short as the orthography implies, authorities concur it probably represents a preserved, tautosyllabic -R-r̥ sequence. This ending also occurs with the *-mr̥ compound suffix, but not *-tr̥. Oblique stem is from *ph₂wén- > *fiwen > Galic fūvon-. The collective form is fūvə̄, which is presumably from *ph₂wṓ, showing the replacement of full-grade root by zero-grade that is common in derived OX nouns, cp. direct cognate in Elder Nordic fōr.

θaṯ fə̄u̯ərə, "fire" = πῦρ
sing du coll
nom fə̄u̯ərə fūvórīḥ fūvə̄
voc
acc
gen fūvə̄ṇġ fūvonuš fūnõm
loc fūvon fūvonū fūvoni
dat fūvonma fūnmuš
ins fūvona

Other common heteroclitic nouns include:

  • PX azar azā̊ "day"
  • PX fetar fθā̊ "feather"
  • PP woδar woθā̊ "water" < PEE *wodr̥ *wodn̥s
  • PP ferərə ferūš "mountain"
  • PP fō ferā̊ "house"

ā-stems

hā mizrā, "mist"
sing du pl
nom mizrā mizraịīḥ mizra·āḫ
voc
acc mizrā̊ mizrāṇġ
gen mizra·ā̊ḫ mizra·ā̊š mizra·ą̄̊m
loc mizraịi mizra·ā̊ mizrāhū
dat mizra·ai̯ mizrāmō mizrāmuš
ins mizrā

o-stems

ha θūmōḫ, "smoke" θaṯ yuɣõm, "yoke"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom θūmōḫ θūmoyī θūmohiš yuɣõ yuɣōyī yuɣāḥ
voc θūmi
acc θūmõm θūmə̄ṇġ
gen θūmōi̯o θūmōvuš θūmõm yuɣōi̯o yuɣōvuš yuɣõm
loc θūmōi̯ θūmōvu θūmōi̯o yuɣōi̯ yuɣōvu yuɣōi̯o
dat θūmōi̯ θūmōma θūmōmuš yuɣōi̯ yuɣoma yuɣōmuš
ins θūmō yuɣō

Acrean declensions

Many words in later Northian are Early Elder 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 numerous that many were not nativized but declined according to an approximation of the thematic declension in ELder Old Nordic. Naturally, Old Nordic vocabulary would not occur within the Galic and Epic corpora, but as the Epic language survived in literary and liturgical usages, later material did incorporate a considerable number of Acrean words.

Hybridized paradigms

The displacement of native vocabulary in favour of Acrean words was widespread and penetrating to a basic level, unlike previous assumptions that it was only introduced for topics of exotic political and commercial interest. Baker notes that the Old Nordic word sōwulą sōwulas "Sun" has hybridized with native Northian hāuuərə hūvə̄ṇġ and displaced the latter's oblique forms. Displacement concentrated in Epic forms made opaque by regular sound change. While all these forms are now analyzed as regular, at least in this noun they were no longer so understood after the Epic age.

The Northian inscriptions from the Epic age are revelatory of the extent of Nordic substitutions from an early time. Nordicisms were regarded as "vulgar substitutions" by antiquiarians, but a mid-6th-century BCE stone discovered in 2002 has the word <sōwulas> in genitive usage for the solar goddess, found within her very own temple precinct. Such finds have cast doubt whether Nordicisms were really regarded as "vulgar" forms by Northians of the Epic age, and some scholars have come to think the "correct" forms like hūvə̄ṇġ were actually poetic forms that had not been used regularly for some generations by that time.

hā hāuuərə, "Sun"
sing du & pl
nom hāuuərə sōwulōs
voc
acc
gen sōwulas sōwulōm
dat sōwulai̯ sōwulamas
ins sōwulō sōwulamiš

a-stems

For the most part, these endings are cognates with the o-stems (2nd declension) 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 Elder Nordic had no locative case, this form is always identical to the dative where Northian syntax demands the locative.

ha wulfas, "lupine" = lupus θaṯ ētą̄, "food"
sing du & pl sing du & pl
nom wulfas wulfōs ētą̄ ētō
voc
acc wulfą̄ wulfāŋš
gen wulfas wulfõm ētas ētõm
dat wulfai̯ wulfamas ētai̯ ētamas
ins wulfō wulfamis ētō ētamis

ō-stems

These are cognates of the ā-stems in Northian.

sā erδō, "Earth"
sing du & pl
nom erδō erδōs
voc
acc erδōm erδōs
gen erδōs erδōm
dat erδōi̯ erδōmas
ins erδō erδōmiš

Venetian declensions

Old Venetian was another Erani-Eracuran language whose terms have been borrowed into Northian during the Late Canon Period. The first and second declensions of Old Venetian, in -ā and -os respectively, were directly cognate to the Northian ā- and o-stems.

Irregular nouns

ā̊ "mouth"

ā̊ (Runic <AO>) is an acrostatic neuter root noun in s-stem. Like other acrostatic nouns, its inflectional pattern can show irregularities under the influence of other, more productive ablaut patterns. After the Late Canon period, all the oblique forms of this noun were replaced by thematized forms based on the stem ā̊-, e.g. gen. ā̊oiiō, but it is the athematic originals that are discussed below. Nom. sing. ā̊ is for *ō-h < *HoH-s-Ø. Gen. sing. is written in Runic script as <AAA{S}>, whose phonoloigcal form has been heavily controverted. The form ə·ās, advanced by Rutger, would account for a pre-form of PNN *əə-h-s < *HH-s-s, with regular augmentation of the vowel in sequence with hiatus. In liturgical pronunciation, the gen. is read as , which cannot be anything but a late creation, with the OX genitive ending -ō attached ad hoc to the invariant thematic stem.

At some point in the prehistory of Northian, the position of the accent was fully dissociated with the ablaut, and it was felt that all nouns should show regular ablaut variation in direct and oblique stems, even if the accent persisted on the root syllable as in the case of acrostatic nouns. Thus, new zero-grade stems often replaced regular full-grade stems in the oblique forms of acrostatic nouns, but this remained exceptional for those with root shape √CeC-, as clashing obstruents would result. This process is particularly hard to describe for the case of ā̊ as its stem consists of two laryngeals, whose exact reflexes during the period when new oblique stems were created were uncertain, especially two of them in a row. The stem is then further disguised by the presence of /h/ and the imprecision of Runic orthography.

Rugter argues that dual laryngeals in initial position may have evolved to *əə and was still understood as consonants rather than vowels, and in the process of creating a new weak stem a union vowel was inserted between the laryngeals or their reflexes, which would (eventually) give three vowels in a row, of which two could be coloured by the following *h and then merge. However, Sally doubts that *HH- > *əə- could "really be as consonants √CC- and then require the insertion of a new vowel between them"; she says that if it was, then the expected form should be *əiə- or *əuə-, not *əəə- > *ə·ā-.

Dat. and loc. sing. <IIHI> is yet another mystery, and ə·iši has been advanced as an interpretation to reflect *ə-is-i < *HH-s-i. However, intervocalic *s is not usually spelled as <H> in Runic orthography, and at any rate if the preceding vowel was indeed i, the following *s should regularly surface as š and yield Runic <Ḥ>.

θaṯ ā̊, "mouth"
sing du pl
nom ā̊ ōhīḥ ōhā
voc
acc
gen <AAA{S}> <AIAUUS> <AOON>
loc <IIHI> <AIAUU> <AIASU>
dat <AIAMA> <AIAMUS>
ins a·ā̊ha

ménōḫ "mind"

The PP version of the neuter s-stems had a few differences to the PX version that enabled it to withstand the general tendency to substitute PP with PX or OX forms; its preservation cannot be unrelated, according to authorities, with the prevalence and prominence of the noun ménōḫ "mind", a central idea in the religious canon. The nom. sing. was ménōḫ < PEE *mén-os, with ending -ōḫ undergoing the same changes as the PX counterpart. The gen. had māṇġs < PEE *mén-s-s.

θaṯ ménōḫ, "mind"
sing du coll
nom ménōḫ māŋhī māŋhā̊
voc
acc
gen māṇġs māŋhuš māŋhōḫ
loc māŋhi māŋhū māŋhū
dat māŋhma māŋhei̯
ins māŋha

hāuuərə "Sun"

hāuụərə (Runic <XAUUARA>) "Sun" may continue the PEE heteroclitic stem in *-l/n-, but this cannot be certain because word-final -l merges with -r and there is no separate accusative or collective disclosing the full stem. The strong stem descends from PEE *seh₂w- > hāuụ-; the weak stem from *sh₂w- > *hiw- > *hūv-. Genitive has hūvaṇġ < *hiwānh < *sh₂wens.

The word hāuuərə signifies a deified celestial body in early Northian religion and is usually found in the singular in the Galic language. There, in in the dual, "the two Suns" is an ellipsis for "the Sun and the Moon".

hā hāuuərə, "Sun"
sing du
nom hāuuərə hāwa
voc
acc
gen hūvaṇġ hānuš
loc hvíni hānui̯
dat hāŋma
ins hūva

onkā "cream"

The bare stems in -n- also contain nouns with PX inflection. These are rarer than those with OX inflection, and the only abundantly-attested noun here is onkā "cream".

θaṯ onkā, "cream"
sing du coll
nom onkā oŋginīḥ oŋgō
voc
acc
gen agāṇġ agénuš agénõm
loc agéni agénū agáŋhū
dat agénā agénmuš
ins agā̊

nomā "name"

nomā < *Hnómn̥ takes special PP endings in the singular. There is never a vowel interposed between the two resonants of the suffix. Gen. sing. nómā̊ is probably from an original *Hnómāh < *Hnómn̥s. Excepting before endings commencing in vowel, such as the nom. du., suffix *-n is vocalized as ā or ə̄. Note that the gen. and loc. du. endings actually began with a laryngeal *HuH- and therefore are considered to begin with a consonant; thus, suffix *-n becomes *-n̥ in those contexts, and the regular reflext *ā is altered by the following syllable to ə̄.

θaṯ nómā, "name"
sing du coll
nom nómā nómnīḥ nómō
voc
acc
gen nomā̊ nomə̄ụuš nomnõm
loc nomni nomə̄ụū nomāŋhū
dat nomāma nomāmuš
ins nomna

mā·ā̊ḫ "moon" and xaṇġ "goose"

This is a rare formation with only two well-attested items: mā·ā̊ḫ "moon" and xaṇġ "goose". Nevertheless they must be introduced separately, because mā·ā̊ḫ has the lengthened declension. Effectively these were n-stems extended by -s- after the resonant, which in turn triggers different vocalizations and alterations to vowel quality. For mā·ā̊ḫ the root vowel was originally long, while the following laryngeal caused the *-ns to vocalize as -ah > -āḫ, which is altered to ā̊ḫ on account of the preceding vowel; the short-vowel grade is visible in the vocative.

ha mā·ā̊ḫ, "moon, month"
sing du pl
nom mā·ā̊ḫ māŋhə̄i̯ māŋhāḫ
voc ma·ā̊ḫ
acc māŋhəm māŋhaṇġ
gen māŋhə̄ māṇśmōš māŋhą̄m
loc māṇġ māŋhə̄u̯ māŋhu
dat māŋhai̯ māṇśmō māṇśmuš
ins māŋha

The principle difference, other than the regular ablaut, is that the root here ended in a vowel, which caused the final *-ens to resolve as -aṇġ. The Northian vowel is on account of the guttural sound of the initial consonant. Final -s is an early restoration attested in some Galic texts, though not universally seen and never as the last syllable of a line.

hā xāṇġ(s), "goose"
sing du pl
nom xāṇġ(s) xaŋhōi̯ xaŋhāḫ
voc xāṇġ
acc xaŋham xaŋhaṇġ
gen xahōḫ xaṇśmōš xaŋhą̄m
loc xaṇġ xaŋhə̄u̯ xaŋhu
dat xahai̯ xaṇśmō xaṇśmuš
ins xaha

mā̊ "meat"

mā̊ < *mēm-s must be distinguished from the word for "moon", as outside of paedagogical texts they are both printed and written as . This is either a root noun or a reduplication of a root *me-ms-. The word has no dual or collective forms.

θaṯ mā̊, "meat"
sing
nom mā̊
voc
acc
gen
loc
dat meṃśi
ins meṃśa

l-stems

There are a few nouns with an ablauting stem ending in -l, the most important being nomβar "navel", oṇkar "coal-fire", and abar "apple". Aside from nomβar, which is an feminine noun with *-l- throught its stem, the other nouns are similar to those ending in -r/n- but show a collective ending in *-ōl > -ō rather than *-ōr > -ā̊, and the zero-grade nominative is indistinguishable from the r-stems, since -l̥ and -r̥ both > PNR *-r̥.

hā nomβar, "navel" = umbilicus
sing du pl
nom nomβar nomβilōi̯ nomβiliš
voc
acc nomβram nomβilā̊
gen āmβāḫ āmβeluš āmβelõm
loc āmβeli āmβelū āmβertū
dat āmβerma āmβermuš
ins āmβela

oṇkar is a noun of basic relevance that is also the source of an adjective meaning "black". The adjective takes PX inflection, while the noun has PP inflection.

θaṯ oṇkar, "coal-fire" = ignis
sing du coll
nom oṇkar oṇkra oṇkō
voc
acc
gen oṇkuš oṇkərəuš oṇkrõm
loc oṇkri oṇkərəū oṇkərəšū
dat oṇkərəma oṇkərəmuš
ins oṇkra

"shrine"

"shrine" is a heteroclitic PP noun in r-stem, which causes syncopation in the direct forms, < *per-r; otherwise the noun is regular. Genitive ferā̊ is for *pern̥s, etc.

θaṯ fō, "shrine"
sing du coll
nom ferrī ferō
voc
acc
gen ferā̊ fernuš fərənõm
loc firni fernū frāhū
dat ferāma frāmuš
ins ferna frāβiiā̊

d-stems

The d-stems consist of a small group of root nouns, most prominently OX foṯ = "foot" and PX "heart". Irregularities arise principally in the treatment of word-final -d in various contexts. For the -d follows r- and so can be assimilated; this is evidently still in progress while the Gales were written, as forms with and without -d were often poetic alternatives.

As a natural pair, a person's own feet are always referred to in the dual and not the plural (unless the speaker is of a quadrupedal species). If feet are referred to in the plural, they usually denote dismembered feet, especially of another entity. An altar's two feet are referred to in the dual, even the an altar is not a person.

hā foṯ, "foot" = pes
sing du pl
nom foṯ fodōi̯ fodiš
voc
acc fodam fodā̊
gen βδōḫ βδōš βδõm
loc fodi βδō βδšū
dat βδei̯ βδmō βδmuš
ins βδōi̯

fonδā̊ "path"

The word fonδā̊ "path" had a stem ending in PEE *póntoh₁- ~ pn̥th₁-. Fundamentally, it is a regular laryngeal-stem noun of amphikinetic origin, but the difficulty arises with its two ablauting syllables affected by the laryngeal stem. In the accusative singular, the ending was *oh₁-m̥, with regular operation of Stang's law. This would result in a form identical to the nominative, and the weak stem was introduced prehistorically. The nom. pl. stands for *póntoh₁-es.

This word is a direct cognate to the Shalumite word "path", which is a borrowing from the oblique stem of the reflex in another Erani-Eracuran language.

ha fonδā̊, "path, way = "path"
sing du pl
nom fonδā̊ fonδōi̯ fónδayiš
voc
acc fātā̊ fātəṇġ
gen fātōḫ fātōš fātõm
loc fonδō fātō fāššū
dat fātai̯ fāśmō fāśmuš
ins fātā

t-stems with persistent accent

These are t-stem nouns with acrostatic inflection. The nominative was evidently asigmatic < *ses-t, from *ses- "to rest".The genitive haš represents *has-t-s, the final consonant cluster being resolved in favour of *s.

hā hašṯ, "bed"
sing du pl
nom hašt hašta haštiš
voc
acc haštəm haštā̊
gen haš haštuš haštõm
loc hašti haštū fāššū
dat haštma haštmuš
ins hašta

The very well-attested word nōxš "evening, night" is usually thought to be a root noun with persistent accent on the initial syllable at the Proto-Erani-Eracuran level, but some authorities consider the root to be *(d)negʷ-, extended by the suffix -t-. Whatever the case in the parent language, the -t- never takes full grade even in the nom. du. and pl. Thus its behaviour is identical to that of hašṯ.

The word for "ten" in compounds of multiple of ten, e.g. twenty, thirty, etc. also displays the word dekam in zero grade extended by -t, -δɣāt < *-dḱm̥-t.

  • θríδɣāt < *tri-dḱm̥-t.
  • kozuuərəδɣāt < *kʷetwr̥-dḱm̥-t.

hōxrūḥ "mother-in-law"

The ū-stems also includes one member with paroxytone accent, namely hōxrūḥ "mother-in-law".

hā hōxrūḥ, "mother-in-law" = socrus
sing du pl
nom hōxrū hōxrāu̯a hōxruuāḫ
voc
acc hōxrūm hōxruuā̊
gen hōxruuā̊ hōxru̯āu̯uš hōxru̯aõ
loc hōxru̯ā hōxru̯āu̯u hōxru̯āhu
dat hōxru̯āi̯i hōxru̯āma hōxru̯āmuš
ins hōxrūu̯a

gā̊ "woman"

gā̊ "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 > gā̊, and the zero-grade *gʷnéh₂- > gnā-. Both nominative and accusative forms are affected by Stang's law.

hā gona, "woman" = γυνή
sing du pl
nom gā̊ gonā̊ gona·ā̊ḫ
voc
acc gonā̊ gña·ā̊
gen gnā̊ gnauuš gna·ā̊m
loc gnaēii gnāuū gnāhū
dat gna·ā̊ gnāmuš
ins gnā

Neuter nouns in -ū

Some neuter nouns in -ū, such as dorū "tree, wood", genū "knee", uuəštū "settlement" descend from an acrostatic ablaut pattern in the proto-language. These words have invariant stems and are exempted from the creation of new zero-grade stems that have often supplanted their original, regular full-grade stems. Their oblique stems end in short -u, which was lengthened in auslaut in the nominative forms. These special nouns need to be learned by memory from PX nouns that also end in -ū like aiiū "life", which have a distinct oblique stem.

θaṯ dorū, "wood" = δόρυ
sing du coll
nom dorū doruụīḥ dorō
voc
acc
gen doruš doruu̯ōḫ druu̯ōḫ
loc derū doruu̯a doruu̯i
dat doruu̯i doruma druu̯ēi̯
ins dorūḥ

θxāmō "human"

θxāmō "human being" is an n-stem noun that has an important place in the Ponθōiš Wiḥštō religion in Northian culture. It is used for humans of all sexes and nations, noting them as a group as opposed to gods or animals; it conveys a difference in spiritual species and not of sex or nationality. Its oblique stem takes the special form θxmān- rather than the expected *θxāmn-. Possibly it is assimilated to the first three consonants of the oblique forms of θakam θxmōḫ "earth, Earth" to emphasize the nature of humans as "earthlings". There is a term θxāmātā́s θxāmātṓḫ "humanity" that serves to identify the condition of being human (as opposed to that of a god or animal), with pre-form *dʰǵʰm̥mn̥teh₂t-s. also > Elder Nordic gumuntāt.

ha θxāmō, "human" = homo
sing du pl
nom θxāmō θxāminōi̯ θxāminiš
voc θxāmon
acc θxāminəm θxāminā̊
gen θxmānōḫ θxmānōš θxmānõm
loc θxmaēnin θxmānō θxmāŋhū
dat θxmānei̯ θxmānmō θxmānmuš
ins θxmāna

dā̊ "house"

dā̊ is a root noun ending in -m. The nom., acc., and gen. sing. forms are alike in Northian, but they have different sources in the proto-language. The accusative singular was likely *dom-m̥ and was simplified by Stang's law to *dōm early; this was identical to the nominative form. The genitive singular may reflect either *dom-s or *dem-s. The latter would reflect a very archaic *e ~ o ablaut pattern, but it cannot be confirmed as the two did not have different Northian reflexes. Nevertheless, its presence in the compound déṃpśpatōi̯š and loc. and dat. sing. démi assures that e-vocalism was present somewhere, at some point, in the paradigm.

hā dā̊, "house"
sing du pl
nom dā̊ doma domiš
voc dõm
acc dā̊ domā̊
gen dā̊ domuš domõm
loc demi domū doṃśū
dat domma dommuš
ins doma

patiš "master" in compounds

The word *potiš "lord, master" has OX-B inflection. As a word it is not seen alone but does serve as the second element in the terms déṃpśpatiš "master of the house" and uuei̯xšfatiš "lord of the settlement". The word can sometimes appear with the o-grade suffix, e.g. déṃpśpatōiš.

While the root *potiš is not seen independently, the feminine -īḥ derivative potnīḥ is used as part of certain goddesses' titles; there, the full grade root is invariant.

ha déṃpśpatiš, "master of the house" = δεσπότης
sing du pl
nom déṃpśpatiš déṃpśpatōi déṃpśpatiịāḫ
voc déṃpśpatoi
acc déṃpśpatim déṃpśpatī
gen déṃpśpatiōḫ déṃpśpatiōš déṃpśpatiõm
loc déṃpśpati déṃpśpatiō déṃpśpatišū
dat déṃpśpatiai déṃpśpatimō déṃpśpatimuš
ins déṃpśpatiō

ziiaōš "god, sky"

This word ziiaōš is a direct cognate with several theonyms across the Erani-Eracuran family. The original *ew was transformed to *aw (written ) after yod. Under the influence of that phone, the initial obstruent was palatalized to z, where it is otherwise preserved before vocalic i. There is an alternate nom. form ziiōš, which may either be a contraction or a reflex of *dyou̯-s, the o-grade of the same root. The acc. sing. ziiā̊ is a product of Stang's law, which requires the sequence of *dyeu̯-m to be simplified to *dyēm; this sequence is attested in virtually all branches and is assumed to be old. ziiā̊ is cognate to Syaran Ζῆν.

ziiaōš often co-occurs with the epithet ufšištōḫ "highest" as ufšištoz-diiaōš "Heaven Most High", in much the same way as fərətištā-taɣam "Earth Most Broad". These compounds, other than being appellations of their titular deities, were also used of their agents. Aithar, the god of numina, is almost always accompanied by the epithet ufšištohiio-diuuō "of Heaven Most High". After Aithar, the pantheon of Valstígr was also called āhaṓuuos põm ufšištóhiio diuuō, "Lords of Powers and Heaven-Most-High", defining them as celestial, rather than chthonic, deities.

It is to note that the epithet ufšištōḫ "highest" does not carry the implication that the god is highest in rank or power, at least in the Galic and Didaskalic corpora. The idea of a deity that is supreme over other deities was not endorsed by the earlier Northians, and instead a god's supremacy was envisioned more as "excellence" or "extremity", or simply the quality or domain assigned to that god in a superlative, peerless state. Thus in Northian theology, Ziiaōš was the highest, and θaɣam the broadest, and the two are both peerless in the qualities recognized in them. But, being differently or oppositely characterized, they partake in nothing in common and thus could not compare with each other. There thus could not exist a hierarchy between them.

ha ziiaōš, "sky"
sing du pl
nom ziiaōš ziiāuuōi̯ ziiauuōḫ
voc ziiaō
acc ziiā̊ ziiauuā̊
gen diuuōḫ diuuiịōš diuuõm
loc diuuəi̯ diuuiịō diuušū
dat diuuiịmō diuumuš
ins

ošta "bone"

ošta has a stem ending in laryngeal, much like foṇδā̊ and gā̊, but the shape of its root prevented quantitative alterations. The collective form oštō means "skeleton", of a living or deceased animal. In the Didaskalic language, the plural form oštā is also known, and it means a plural number of bones.

ha ošta, "bone" = os
sing du coll
nom ošta oštī oštō
voc
acc
gen oštiš oštiyuš oštõm
loc ošti oštiyu oštišū
dat oštama oštamuš
ins oštā

hazərə "hand"

hazərə is an OX noun in r-stem with the inverted declension, with a zero-grade in the nominative singular. -ərə here is treated as a single, long syllable, representing Erani-Eracuran *-r̥. That -ərə is a consonantal is elucidated by the reflex of *s as -z- and not -h-, which would be regular had -ərə been a vowel sound. As with all nouns with inverted declension, the accusative is regarded as a weak case as to its appropriate stem, thus xšrə̄m over the expected *xšerəm; however, the syllable weight of the original is preserved in the long vowel of the ending.

hā hazərə, "hand"
sing du pl
nom hazərə xšerōi̯ xširiš
voc
acc xšrə̄m xšrā̊
gen xšrōḫ xšarōš xšrõm
loc xšrei̯ xšarō xšərəšū
dat xšərəmō xšərəmuš
ins xšroi̯

"man"

An r-stem noun not within the formation -tr is "man", gen. drūš < PNN *nr̥s. As it is seen this noun originally has hysterokinetic accent, but acc. sing. drum and pl. drāṇġ reflect PEE zero-grade stem *nr-. Nom. pl. niriš is the only place where the full-grade stem appears in the paradigm.

ha nō, "man, male person"
sing du pl
nom drōi̯ nei̯riš
voc
acc drām ndrā̊
gen ndrōḫ ndārōš ndrõm
loc níri ndārō ndāršu
dat ndrei̯ dārmō dārmuš
ins ndrōi̯

monuš "man, human"

monuš is the basic word for "human" in Northian, and it frequently appears as the principal to the adposition θxāmō "earthling". It defines the human being as "the thinking one" or "one who remembers" and is formally very similar to the perfect active participle ménuš "remembering, recalling", from móna "to remember". monuš defines mankind in opposition to beasts, and θxāmō in opposition to gods.

The word monuš has two competing etymologies: some stress its connection to the o-grade of the PEE root *men- "to think", thus characterizing the human being as a characteristically intelligent being, and others provide a more mundane connection to the very basic Nordic word mannuz "male, man". These etymologies are not necessarily incompatible. mannuz is obligatorily male in Elder Nordic and all its descendants, but monuš can be female in Northian, though the feminine form mnuuozərə < putative *mn-u-ésr̥ is more commonly seen with women.

monuš takes the oxytone declension in u-stem, gen. mŋʷuuōḫ, e.g. GNr. yōrō mŋʷuuōḫ "a person's lifetime".

Country names

All country-names in Northian are feminine in gender, though they are usually consonant-stem nouns (and with particular frequency n-stem nouns) and so may not reflect their grammatical genders readily. Nevertheless they agree with feminine adjectives and participles in all cases. The feminine gender is employed as a feminine of the special collective, since a country is envisioned as a special aggregate of people, and not in reference to any perceived quality about the country's people and their habits.

"Acrea" is named Áṃśrā̊, which is a compound from aṃśr- "lord" and rā̊ "dominion", literally "the lord's realm"; gen. Áṃśriš.

"Æþurheim", the name of the country to the southwest of Shalum, has an invariant stem with full grade throughout and persistent initial accent in Áδurō-, which takes oxytone endings. The vocative form is identical to the nominative, showing full grade.

"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.

hā Aδurā̊, "Æþurheim" hā Halā̊, "Shalum" sā Aṇhrōs, "Acrea" sā Silū, "Silua" sā Hu̯inī, "Svinia" sā Ossorī, "Ossoria"
sing sing sing sing sing sing
nom Aδurā̊ Halā̊
voc
acc Aδurōnəm Halomnam
gen Aδurōnōḫ Halomnōḫ
loc Aδureni Halomini
dat Aδurōnei̯ Halomnei̯
ins Aδurōna Halomna

Adjective classes

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.

Classes

-k -n -s -i -u -h₂ -r/n -t -nt -o
OX meraxš "soft" Masculine forms of adjectives with heteroclitic neuters, in -ṓ, fīuuō "fat, fertile" Productive adjective in -ō, humenō "well-intended"; productive comparative in -iiā̊ -ištṓ, θáñiiā̊ "thinner"; productive perfect active participle in -uuā̊ -uštṓ, titauuā̊ "having made" A handful A handful, in -uš -uuṓ, meδuš "sweet" máhiš "big" Adjective forms of neuter heteroclitics, masculine form in -ō and feminine in invariant -r-ī, faōuuərə "fat, fertile" dušṯ "bad" Productive derivative meaning "rich in, bearing of" in -uuā̊, βuuā̊ "rich in power", from p- "power"; productive present active participles of athematic verbs with mobile accent in -ṓs -ā̆tṓ, and of thematic verbs, in -ṓs -óṇδō Masculine and feminine in -ō, some obligatory feminine in -ā, neuter in -õm
PX No No No Productive, adjectives in -uš, feminine in -ū or -uuī, neuter -ū, fərətuš fərətūvī fərətū "flat" Productive, adjectives in -iš, feminine in -yī, neuter -i, hámiliš hámilayī hámili "similar" Productive, feminine derivative of u-stem and i-stem adjectives, in -ī -iiā̊ No No No
PP No No   No No No No No No Present active participles of athematic verbs with root accent, in -ā̆t, -ā̆s

Adjectives need to agree with the nouns they modify not only in number and case but also in gender, but forms for each gender may not necessarily be distinct from each other. Synchronically, many adjectives have a single form for animate (both masculine and feminine) referents, and a handful have the same forms for all three grammatical genders. Whether an adjective has distinct forms for each gender is lexical, and there is no obvious semantic difference which appears to condition their presence or absence. The usual historical explanation is that the feminine gender was a late grammatical development and did not always correspond to semantics of biological gender, though the mechanisms of the grammaticalization of the feminine gender is uncertain.

For o-stem adjectives with a masculine nom. sing. terminating in -ōḫ, there is always a separate neuter form ending in -õ. Those which have a distinct, obligatory feminine form will have one ending in -ā. Thus these adjectives are called "three-ending" o-stem adjectives. Those without a distinct, obligatory feminine ending terminate in -ōḫ for both masculine and feminine referents. These are "two-ending" o-stem adjectives. It should be noted that feminine forms of o-stems add the -ā directly to the stem, not after the -o theme vowel; this is in contrast to the *-h₂ stems (see below) which is usually added following an existing suffix.

Adjectives terminating in -k, -n, -s, and -t generally do not have distinct forms for masculine and feminine referents, but a handful will have a -ī suffix following the existing suffix to create a distinct feminine form. The netuer form is distinguished from the animate form in one of two manners. It may be by ablaut, taking a short vowel grade when the animate has long grade or a zero grade when the animate has short. Or it may be by the absence of final -s in the nominative, where the animate nom. has -s.

Adjectives in -i and -u often have distinct feminine forms ending in -ī, but there are also adjectives which have just one form for animate refernets or even one form for referents of all genders. Furthermore, there are feminine forms which have a long vowel where the masculine has a short vowel, e.g. fem. nom. sing. -ī and -ū, contra masc. nom. sing. -iš and -uš. The long vowel is conditioned by final *-h₂, which is the same as in *-ih₂ > the usual feminizing suffix -ī.

Adjectives in -nt and -wos, mostly participles, create their feminine forms by adding -ī.

There is also a class of heteroclitic adjectives based on heteroclitic nouns, which are all neuter except hāuuərə "Sun", a feminine term. Those heteroclitic items which have PP inflection take the PX inflection for their primary adjectival forms, which are also neuter and have zero grade in the suffix. The masculine form is produced by adding OX n-stem endings, and the feminine by the -ī suffix to the neuter form. In the feminine, the heteroclitic suffix has full grade and the suffix zero grade in the strong cases, and vice versa in the oblique cases.

It has been noted that adjectives often show a different ablaut pattern compared to nouns derived from the same stems. That is to say, a noun with proparoxytone or paroxytone accent can often respectively form an adjective of similar meaning with a paroxytone or oxytone accent or oxytone accent. The source of this derivation is academically debated but remained visible and productive in Northian.

All Nordic languages have an extant distinction or some vestige of it between strong and weak declensions for the same adjective, where the "strong" represents the adjective's inherited declension and the "weak" its declension as an n-stem. This is not true of Northian, which lacks a weak declension. This would suggest in historical terms that the weak declension developed after the Nordic-Northian split in the Middle Bronze Age, and all the Northian adjectives are thus "strong" in Nordic terms.

u-stem

As mentioned above, there are three types of u-stem adjectives: some are sensitive only to animacy, having a two-way contrast between masculine and feminine referents together with neuter ones, and others have a three-way contrast. Further, the ones with a three-way contrast are divided by their feminine forms, which could take the feminizing suffix *-h₂ directly after their stems ending in -u, or added *-i- to create the compound suffix *-w-ih₂ ~ -w-i̯eh₂ instead. Note it is only the root and *-h₂- ~ -eh₂- suffix that participates in ablaut in feminine forms, and never *-u- ~ -eu̯- there.

Only the last type was productive in the Northian family, but there are many examples of inherited items in the former patterns.

Oxytone

Seen in the case of meδuš "sweet" and a handful of others. These are usually held to be archaicisms as meδuš is obviously related to the neuter noun meδū "honey" (which is still attested as its neuter form), created by shifting its accent rightwards in internal derivation.

m. and f. meδuš, "sweet" = μέθυ n. meδū, "sweet"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom meδuš meδauuōi meδauuōḫ meδū mežuuīḥ meδūḥ
voc meδū
acc meδum meδūš
gen ą̄mžuuōš ą̄mdūvōš ą̄mžuuõm
loc ą̄mžuuōi ą̄mdūvō ą̄mdūhū
dat ą̄mžuuoi ą̄mdūma ą̄mdūmus
ins ą̄mžuuōi

Three-ending

The type of u-stem adjective differs from the following type only in that the feminizing suffix was a bare *-h₂ ~ -eh₂, rather than the more common *-ih₂. The strong feminine stem was thus from *tenuh₂, and the weak *tn̥weh₂-.

m. ϑanuš, "thin" = thin n. ϑanū, "thin" f. ϑanūḥ, "thin"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom ϑanuš ϑanō ϑánauuōḫ ϑanū ϑánauuīḥ ϑánō ϑanūḥ ϑánuuayīḥ ϑanuu̯ōḫ
voc ϑanū
acc ϑanā̊ ϑanūš ϑanuvam ϑanuvā̊
gen ϑnaōš ϑnavuš ϑnauuõm ϑnuuā̊ ϑnuuāvuš ϑnuuaą̄̊m
loc ϑnaō ϑnavū ϑnaōšū ϑnuuā ϑnuuāvū ϑnuuāzū
dat ϑnauui ϑnaōma ϑnaōmuš ϑnuuayi ϑnuuāma ϑnuuāmuš
ins ϑnō ϑnuuā

The feminine forms of hūžauuīḥ "sweet, gentle" < PEE *suh₂dewih₂ are provided by way of illustration of the u-stem adjectives with feminine forms in -īḥ. As an exception to the accentuation rule, some u-stem feminine adjectives have a "promoted" root syllable that shows full grade, i.e. huuāžuuīḥ as though < *swéh₂dwih₂, especially when speaking of persons.

f. hvāsvīḥ, "sweet, gentle"
sing du pl
nom huuāžuuīḥ
hūžauuīḥ
huuāžuua hu̯āsu̯ii̯āḫ
voc
acc huuāžuuī hu̯āsu̯īi̯aṇġ
gen hūžuuiiā̊ hūšu̯i̯āu̯us hūšu̯i̯ą̄̊
loc hūžuuiiayi hūšu̯i̯āu̯u hūšu̯i̯āšu
dat hūu̯i̯āma hūšu̯i̯āmuš
ins hūžuuiiā

i-stem

The i-stem adjectives are not very common and all take the PX inflection. For example is θraištiš "sad".

m. θraištiš, "sad" n. θraišti, "sad" f. θrištayīḥ, "sad"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom θraištiš θraištī θráištaiiāḫ θraišti θrištayīḥ θraištī θrištayīḥ θrištayīḥ θrištáyyaā̊
voc θraišti
acc θraištin θraištis θrištayī θrištáyiyāḫ
gen θrištaiš θrištaiiuš θrištiõm θrištiyā̊ θrištiyāvuš θrištiyaą̄̊m
loc θrištaiiai θrištaiiū θrištēšu θrištiyāyi θrištiyāvū θrištiyāźiiū
dat θrištaima θrištēmuš θrištiyāma θrištiyāmuš
ins θrištaiiōi θrištiyā

nt-stem (adjectives)

From PEE *rh₁-wénts, "rich in possessions", from *reh₁s, "possession". This word takes the OX inflection.

m. and n. rvūṯ, "wealthy" f. rawonθī, "wealthy"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom rvūt rawonθōi̯ rawonθiš rawonθī rawonθii̯ōi̯ rawonθii̯āḫ
voc rawōt
acc rawonθam rawonθāṇġ rawonθii̯ām rawonθii̯āṇġ
loc rawonθi ranθō rawontšu ranθi̯ā ranθi̯aō ranθi̯āhu
gen ranθōḫ ranθtōš ranθõ ranθi̯ā̊ḫ ranθi̯aōš ranθi̯aõ
abl ranθmō ranθmi̯āu̯ ranθi̯amo ranθi̯āmi̯āu̯
dat ranθei̯ ranθmus ranθi̯åi̯ ranθi̯āmuš
ins ranθa ranθmi̯ā ranθmi̯āu̯ ranθi̯ā̊i ranθi̯āmi̯ā ranθi̯āmi̯āu̯

Present and aorist active participles in -nt-

Present and aorist verb-stems form an active participle with the suffix -nt. For thematic verbs, the suffix is -ont. The weak stem of the verb is used where it is present, so from the copula es the active participle is hą̄s from PNN *hants < PEE *h₁(e)sn̥ts. The vowel is nasalized in the masculine nominative singular but not in the neuter or feminine, suggesting that the cluster *-nt-s had probably been resolved first as *-ns-s prehistorically.

Many state the full-grade stem would have been used originally in all direct forms, since their endings are uniformly in zero grade. But the zero-grade stem is found in the oldest received texts, and metrical restoration does not reveal any additional syllables that diagnose the strong (syllabic) stem. Thus if the strong stem was once used, it was replaced in a remote time. On the other hand, the full-grade stem *-ent- is visible in the nominative dual and plural, and it has been argued its selective replacement in the nominative singular and accusative would be rather bizarre. Thus, the forms with zero-grade suffix may also be old.

The feminine participle takes the like stem and adds the feminizing suffix -ī(ị)- ~ -i̯ā-. The neuter direct dual and plural forms fail to trigger the full-grade suffix and are in zero grade, contrary to the forms of the masculine and feminine duals and plurals. The nominative dual feminine form hātīịāḥ shows an unexpected long vowel in the suffix where a short vowel is expected. Possibly the long vowel was borrowed from the singular to differentiate the dual from the plural, which had become identical (in at least some dialects that did not distinguish front and back a in final position).

Verbs which have mobile accent in the weak forms also have mobile accent in the participle. The ending is in full grade in the oblique cases (in all genders).

m. hą̄s, "being" n. hāt, "being" f. hātī, "being"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom hą̄s hanδōi̯ haą̄nδiš hāt hātī hātā hātī hātīịāḥ hātiịāḫ
voc hāt
acc hātam hātaṇġ hātiịām hātiịāṇġ
loc haą̄nδi hātō hą̄tšu = masc. hą̄či̯ā hą̄či̯aō hą̄či̯āhu
gen hātōḫ hātōš hātõm hą̄či̯ā̊ḫ hą̄či̯aōš hą̄či̯aõm
abl hāsmō hāšmi̯āu̯ hą̄či̯amo hą̄či̯āmi̯āu̯
dat hātei̯ hāšmus hą̄či̯åi̯ hą̄či̯āmuš
ins hāta hāšmi̯ā hāšmi̯āu̯ hą̄či̯ā̊i hą̄či̯āmi̯ā hą̄či̯āmi̯āu̯

Verbs which take a persistent accent, such as the s-stem aorist and present and some reduplicated present verbs, also form a participle with persistent accent. Despite appearances, the feminine forms of the PP participle is formed with the same feminizing suffix as the OX participles, except it remains in zero-grade throughout the entire paradigm, e.g. gen. sing. deδātīš < *de-dh₃-n̥t-ih₁-s. As is the usual case with this suffix, if the ending began with a vowel the final laryngeal scanned with the following syllable and does not lengthen the preceding vowel in the suffix; otherwise, the suffix appears as long -ī. In late Galic texts, this participle could also appear with a -ū̆ suffix in the dative singular, such as G. 4435, deδāδuu̯i, "to the giveress".

m. deδāt, "giving" n. deδāt, "giving" f. dedātī, "giving"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom deδāt deδāta deδātiš deδāt deδātī deδāta deδātī deδātīịa deδātiịāḫ
voc
acc deδātam deδātaṇġ deδātiịām deδātiịāṇġ
loc deδaą̄δi deδātū deδāššū = masc. deδātī deδātiịū deδātīšu
gen deδą̄s deδātuš deδātõm deδātīš deδātiịuš deδātiịõm
abl deδāšma deδāšmi̯āu̯ deδātīma deδātīmi̯āu̯
dat deδāti deδāšmus deδātiịi deδātīmuš
ins deδāta deδāšmi̯ā deδāšmi̯āu̯ deδātīịa deδātīmi̯ā deδātīmi̯āu̯

es-stems

m. and f. huménōḫ, "well-intended" n. hāminiš, "well-intended"
sing du pl sing du pl
nom humenāḫ humenahōi̯ humenišiš humeniš humenahī humenaza
voc huméniš
acc humenizam huménizaṇġ
gen humenahōḫ humenizōš humenahõm = m. and f.
loc huminiš humenizō humeništū
dat humenahai̯ humenizmō humenizmus
ins humenahōi̯

Perfect active participle in -u̯os-

The perfect active participle, which was very productive in Galic down to Epic times, was formed by an ablauting suffix -u̯ōs- ~ -u̯os- ~ -uš- to the zero grade of the perfect stem. The nom. sing. of the masculine has the lengthened-grade ending -u̯ōs-, and full-grade -u̯os- appears in other direct forms. The zero-grade ending -uš- manifests elsewhere in the masculine and neuter. The feminine participle added the -īḥ- ~ -i̯ā- suffix to the zero grade -uš- of the perfect active participle suffix. Thus, all the suffixes would be in zero-grade in the nominative singular of the feminine and neuter, and so the accent retracts to stand on the reduplication syllable; that retraction usually prevents initial *e- from weakening to i- (as seen below).

m. βiβižuuā̊, "sympathetic" = πεποιθώς n. βiβižuuōḫ, "sympathetic" f. βiβiδuštīḥ, "sympathetic"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom βiβižuuā̊ βiβižuuóhōi̯ βiβižuuóhiš βiβižuuōḫ βiβižuuóhī βiβižuuóha βiβiδuštīḥ βiβiδuźiiā βiβiδuźiiáā̊
voc βéβižuuōḫ
acc βiβižuuozəm βiβižuuózā̊ βiβiδuźiiā̊ βiβiδuźiiaā
gen βiβiδuštōḫ βiβiδuźiiōš βiβiδuštõm βiβiδuźiiā̊ βiβiδuźiiāouš βiβiδuźiiāõm
loc βiβiδušti βiβiδuźiiō βiβiδuštū βiβiδuźiiayi βiβiδuźiiāoū βiβiδuźiiazū
dat βiβiδuštei̯ βiβiδužma βiβiδužmuš βiβiδuźiiāma βiβiδuźiiāmuš
ins βiβiδuštōi̯ βiβiδuźiiā

While this paradigm may appear somewhat confusing, there are only two stems. The strong stem is βiβižuuós-, with final -s altered to -št before other vowels and to -ž before resonants. The weak stem is βiβiδuš-, with final -š altered to -ž before resonants, including the laryngeal that begins the dual gen. and dat. endings. If the resonant has a vowel inserted, the -ž is appended with -ii- and further becomes to -ź. The nom. sing. of the masculine has the long grade -uuā̊ < *-ōs.

As exceptions to this rule, the perfect active participles of wōiδa "know" and mimóna "remember" have nominative singular forms wāiδuš, wāiδū, wāiδuštīḥ and menuš (similar) respectively. These are probably continuations of the original amphikinetic inflection of perfect active participles, with full-grade root for nominative forms. Other members of their class have evolved to take the hysterokinetic pattern, which have an non-ablauting root. Curiously, the participle of mimóna loses its reduplication—some scholars have taken this as an indication that perfect active participles may have originally been unreduplicated, as an independent formation from the e-grade root and not from the perfect verb stem.

Comparatives in -yos-

Many (but not all) adjectives formed comparative forms with the suffix -i̯os- ~ -iš-. Unlike the perfect active participle, the comparative form does not have a distinct feminine form; otherwise, the distribution of strong and weak forms of the stem are exactly the same.

m. and f. xréčiiā̊, "more powerful" = κρείττων n. xrétiš, id
sing du pl sing du pl
nom xréčiiā̊ xréčiioha xréčiiohiš xratiš xréčiiohī xréčiiažiia
voc xréčiiōḫ
acc xréčiiaham xrétiźiiā̊
gen xrétištōḫ xrétiźiiōš xrétištõm = m.
loc xréčiiā xrétiźiiō xrétištū
dat xrétištei̯ xrétižmō xrétižmuš
ins xrétištōi̯

It should be noted that the -yos- adjectives can lean more towards the sense of "quite so", rather than "more so" than a particular object compared to. Thus, for certain adjectives, two separate comparatives with contrastive meanings are in use, e.g. yəuuā̊ "quite young, younger" vs. yuterōḫ "the younger of two siblings". Where an adjective implies a definite comparative standard, the forms in -ter- are more often encountered.

And like the perfect active participle, there is a variation of the comparative suffix that has amphikinetic form, i.e. zero-grade suffix in the nominative, used in adjectives such as máɣis "larger" and foris "more"; note the non-retroflexed -s of the ending < *máɣis-s, with prehistorically restored nominative *-s, as otherwise the masculine and feminine would be identical to the neuter.

r/n-stem

This class of adjectives were principally derived from the heteroclitics neuter nouns. The neuter singular was identical to the heteroclitic noun. The masculine was formed as an n-stem, while the feminine was formed as with the suffix -ih₂ from the zero grade of the neuter stem. The example provided included the petrified suffix *-wr ~ wn-, but other adjectives of this class could include other suffixes such as *-mr ~ mn- and *-tr ~ tn-, with their associated phonetic peculiarities.

m. fīuuō, "fat" = fat n. faiuuərə f. fūvurīḥ
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom fīuuō fīuuonōi̯ fīuuoniš faiuuərə faiiurīḥ faiuuā̊ fūvurīḥ fūvuriiāḥ fūvuriiaāḫ
voc fīuuon
acc fīuuonām fīuuonāṇġ fūvuriiā̊ fūvuriyāḫ
gen fūvunōḫ fūvunōš fūvunõm fūvuriiā̊ fūvuriiāous fūvuriiaõm
loc fūvoīni fūvunō fivəŋhū fūvuriiāyi fūvuriiāoū fūvuriiāzū
dat fūvunei̯ fūvunmō fūvunmuš fūvuriiāma fūvuriiāmuš
ins fūvunōi̯ fūvuriiā

mahiš

m. mahiš, "large" n. maha, "large" f. mahii̯āḫ, "large"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom mahiš maɣā maɣāḫ maha mahīḥ mahīḥ mahīḥ mahīi̯a mahii̯āḫ
voc maɣā
acc maɣåm maɣåṇġ mahīi̯am mahii̯āṇġ
gen āmhōḫ āmhōš āmhõ = m. āmjii̯āu̯ āmjii̯āu̯uš āmjii̯ā
loc āmha āmhō āmhšu āmjii̯ā āmjii̯āu̯u āmjii̯āhu
dat āmhei̯ āmhmō āmhmuš āmjii̯ai̯i āmjii̯āma āmjii̯āmuš
ins āmhōi̯ āmjii̯å


m. mahii̯āu̯, "larger" n. mahii̯ōḫ, "larger" f. mahii̯ahīḥ, "larger"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom mahii̯āu̯ mahii̯oha mahii̯ohiš mahii̯ōḫ mahii̯ohī mahii̯oha mahii̯ahīḥ mahii̯ahīi̯a mahii̯ahii̯āḫ
voc mahii̯ōḫ
acc mahii̯āham mahii̯ohāṇġ āmjii̯ahīi̯am āmjii̯ahīi̯aṇġ
gen āmjihōḫ āmjihōš āmjihõ = m. āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯ āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯uš āmjii̯ahi̯ą̄̊
loc mahii̯ahi āmjihō āmjihššu āmjii̯ahi̯āḥ āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯u āmjii̯ahi̯āhu
dat āmjihei̯ āmjihmō āmjihmuš āmjii̯ahi̯ai̯i āmjii̯ahi̯āma āmjii̯ahi̯āmuš
ins āmjihōi̯ āmjii̯ahi̯å

poluš

m. poluš, "many" n. polu, "many" f. polūḥ, "many"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom poluš maɣā maɣāḫ polu mahīḥ mahīḥ polūḥ mahīi̯a mahii̯āḫ
voc maɣā
acc maɣåm maɣåṇġ mahīi̯am mahii̯āṇġ
gen āmhōḫ āmhōš āmhõ = m. āmjii̯āu̯ āmjii̯āu̯uš āmjii̯ā
loc āmha āmhō āmhšu āmjii̯ā āmjii̯āu̯u āmjii̯āhu
dat āmhei̯ āmhmō āmhmuš āmjii̯ai̯i āmjii̯āma āmjii̯āmuš
ins āmhōi̯ āmjii̯å


m. mahii̯āu̯, "more" n. mahii̯ōḫ, "more" f. mahii̯ahīḥ, "more"
sing du pl sing du pl sing du pl
nom mahii̯āu̯ mahii̯oha mahii̯ohiš mahii̯ōḫ mahii̯ohī mahii̯oha mahii̯ahīḥ mahii̯ahīi̯a mahii̯ahii̯āḫ
voc mahii̯ōḫ
acc mahii̯āham mahii̯ohāṇġ āmjii̯ahīi̯am āmjii̯ahīi̯aṇġ
gen āmjihōḫ āmjihōš āmjihõ = m. āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯ āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯uš āmjii̯ahi̯ą̄̊
loc mahii̯ahi āmjihō āmjihššu āmjii̯ahi̯āḥ āmjii̯ahi̯āu̯u āmjii̯ahi̯āhu
dat āmjihei̯ āmjihmō āmjihmuš āmjii̯ahi̯ai̯i āmjii̯ahi̯āma āmjii̯ahi̯āmuš
ins āmjihōi̯ āmjii̯ahi̯å

Numerals

1 – 4

Cardinal numbers one through four are declinable as athematic adjectives of various declensional patterns, agreeing with the nouns (explicit or implicit) they modify in gender, case, and number. Of course, "one" is only inflected in the singular, "two" in the dual, and "three" and "four" in the plural. Numbers five and above are indeclinable.

"one" "two" "three" "four"
m. n. f. m. n. f. m. n. f. m. n. f.
nom hā̊ hõm hámīḥ žuuō duyīḥ žuuayīḥ θráiiāḫ θrī́ḥ θrižrāḫ koδuuóriš kótur koδuuərəšriš
voc hõm
acc hā̊ hámīi̯am θrī́ θrižrā̊ koδuuórā̊ koδuuərəzrā̊
loc himi hmi̯āi duō θvāu̯u θrišū θrižərəžū koδuuərəžū koδuuərəzərəzū
dat hmei̯ dumā́ θvāma θrimuš θrižərəmuš koδuuərəmuš koδuuərəzərəmuš
loc hmōḫ hmi̯āu̯ θriβi̯ō θrižərəβi̯ō koδuuərəβi̯ō koδuuərəzərəβi̯ō
gen duōš θvāu̯uš θri̯õm θrišrõm koturõm koδuuərəžrõm
ins hmōi̯ hmi̯å dumā́ θvāma θrišūr θrišra kotura koδuuərəzar

"One" is a root noun with a stem ending in -m. As with other stems ending in -m, the accusative preform *sem-m̥ would by regular phonetic change become *sēm, i.e. the same as nominative *sēm, because the PEE ending *-m̥ regularly absorbs the previous resonant, hence also nom. zi̯ōš < *dyou-s but acc. zi̯ā̊ < *dyēm < *dyew-m̥; in the number, -əm is often but not always restored. In the oblique cases, the stem is in zero grade and appears as hm- < *sm-. The feminine forms are a regular development from the familiar -īḥ suffixation.

"Two" is only declined in the dual number. There are two stems in use: the monosyllabic dvō- and the dysyllabic duo-. It is not certain why the stem scans as two syllables in the neuter forms.

"Three" is a regular PX i-stem noun and is only declined in the plural. Nom. θráiiāḫ shows regular development of *e > a after yod and attraction of the previous front vowel. <ị> is inserted by Runic writers. As with other PX nouns of animate gender, the accusative plural has a zero-grade suffix followed by a zero-grade ending; *tri-ns > θrī́. The feminine forms employ the feminizing infix -sr-, which is always found in the zero grade, and take regular athematic endings. There is also a specific personal form if three women are specifically spoken of, which is θrai̯štar θrižrōḫ < *trey-sr̥, *tri-sr-os.

"Four" behaves like most athematic nouns and also employs the feminizing infix -sr- for its feminine forms. Note however that the ablauting element was the second syllable of the stem -twor-, which in zero grade appears would be PNN *-tur-. Which of the two resonants vocalize depends on the phonetic environment. Where the suffix stands alone the *-w- is vocalized, as in neuter nominative kotur < *kʷetw̥r. But where an obstruent follows the suffix it is the *-r- that becomes syllabic, as in koδuuərəmuš < *kʷetwr̥mus. There was also a singular form koδuuā̊ < *kʷetwōr = Venetian quattuor.

The feminine forms for "four" have the particularly long stem of hoδvərəzərə-, which is for *kʷétwr̥-sr̥- where the ending begins with a consonant. The masculine form for "four" frequently supplants the feminine owing to the sheer length of the etymological stem.

5 and higher

  • fenkə "five"

From PEE *pénkʷe.

  • xšuuāxš "six"

From *kswéks.

  • haftam 7

From *septm̥.

  • oxθō 8

The proto-form of this word is disputed. Northian oxθō can be traced back to both *(H)oktow and *(H)oktoH, with or without an initial laryngeal. Morphologically, it is the dual of óxθō "fingers", in ei-stem.

  • nauuam 9
  • dekam 10

Pronouns

First person

sing du pl
stressed enclitic stressed enclitic stressed enclitic
nom áhō vṓ vōi̯
acc ammṓi̯ mi āŋhō aŋhmṓi̯ nā̊́ḫ
gen mémi moi̯ āŋhér-
dat máji̯o nanā́ āŋhméi̯

Second person

sing du pl
stressed enclitic stressed enclitic stressed enclitic
nom tū́ yṓ yā̊́ḫ
acc svō ti ūšō ušmé vā̊́ḫ
gen téve toi̯ yuštr-(I/II)
dat tévi̯ō toi̯ wanā́ ušmḗ

Demonstrative

Singular Dual Plural
Masc. Neut. Fem. Masc. Neut. Fem. Masc. Neut. Fem.
Nominative ha taṯ toī tāī toy tāy
Accusative tõm tāmam tṓn tā́s
Locative tohme tesi̯āi̯ tṓu̯ toisu tēsu
Genitive tohi̯ō tezās tṓmōuš toiom tēom
Dative tohmoi̯ tesi̯åi̯ tṓzmā toiomus tēmus
Instrumental toi̯ toi̯

Indefinite article

The Northian indefinite article, which introduces an indefininte noun phrase, is derived from the PEE root *oiwos, meaning "one". Note that the endings are those of demonstratives.

"a, an"
M. and F. Neut.
Nominative aẹ̄ụu̯ōḫ aẹ̄ụu̯ó
Vocative
Accusative aẹ̄ụu̯õm
Locative aẹ̄ụu̯ōi̯
Dative aẹ̄ụu̯oōi̯
Ablative aẹ̄ụu̯ōṯ
Genitive aẹ̄ụu̯ōi̯š
Instrumental aẹ̄ụu̯ā̊

Demonstratives

Verb classes

Athematic present

The shapes of the stem in the Erani-Eracuran parent language decides the resulting forms in Northian:

  • VC—these take the short (regular) endings.
  • VH—these take the short (regular) endings in the strong forms and long (augmented) endings in the weak forms, with any laryngeal-colouring effects visible on both stem and endings which interface with the stem-final laryngeal.
  • VCH—these take the long (augmented) endings, with any laryngeal-colouring effects visible on endings which interface with the stem-final laryngeal.

Aside from the shape of the stem, there are two accentual patterns found in present stems:

  • Mobile accent—this pattern is found within all stem-classes and is the most common by far; the accent is on the stem in the singular active and on the ending in all other forms.
  • Persistent accent—some root stems take this accent pattern, and the accent is on the stem in all cases; the singular indicative and imperfect active usually has a lengthened vowel, in contrast to the short vowel of all other forms. The injunctive can sometimes have short vowel throughout, but this is completely unpredictable. The 3 pl form, which is sensitive to ablaut, takes the zero grade form.

Root with mobile accent

gonmi, hāté, "to strike"

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg gón-mi egónam gónąm gón-ō gñ-iiā̊ gān-ūm igun-ūm gān-ūm gén-ą̄m jñ-īma
2 sg góŋ-hi egṓṇġ gṓṇġ -ai -iiā̊(s) gān-θī́ -šθoi̯ -šθo -šθo -ésθoi̯ -īšθo gān-švō gān-θitoṯ
3 sg gón-δi egóṇṯ góṇṯ -iyi -iiāṯ -itū́ -θoi̯ -θo -θo -étoi̯ -īto -θo -θoṯ
1 du hŋʷ-uuəíñi egñ-uuó gñ-uuó -ouuiñi -īuuó gāŋ-vózθa iguŋ-vóθa gāŋ-vóθa -ou̯ozθa -īvóθa
2 du hā-tāḫ egā-δõm gā-δõm -étāḫ -ītõm -θāḫ jñ-ātiθai̯i igñ-ātiθa jñ-ātaθa -ētaθai -ītaθa jñ-ātaθa -θoṯ
3 du -tḗ -δā̊ -δā̊ -étiš -ītā̊ -θés -ātāi̯i igñ-ā -ā -ētāi̯i -ītā jñ-ā -θoṯ
1 pl hŋʷ-míñi egñ-mó gñ-mó -omiñi -īmó gān-mózθa igun-meθa gān-meθa -omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl hā-δé egā-δé gā-δé -éti -īté gén-θi -šθve -šθve -šθve -ésθve -īšθve -θve -θoṯ
3 pl gñ-énδi egñ-éṇṯ gñ-éṇṯ -iiāṯ jñ-énθu jñ-énθroi̯ igñ-ónθro -ónθro -ónθroi̯ -īi̯unθro -unθo -nθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

ahmi, šté, "to be". This verb of singular importance has a rather opaque stem owing to the vagaries of *s in various phonetic positions. In principle, when *s precedes *m, *u̯, or a back vowel and when it stands in initial position and precedes any vowel, it becomes h; then any front vowel which borders h becomes a. Before a voiced consonant, *s becomes z. Thus the a-vocalism of hánθi "they are" is due to the colouring effects of h and not an Erani-Eracuran laryngeal, and so the subjunctive endings beginning in e are not coloured to a. ahmi has no attested middle voice.

active fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg áh-mi é-ez-ąm áh-ō h-iiā̊
2 sg á-hi á-ā̊-ḫ -ayi -iiā̊ z-δí z-δitóṯ
3 sg éš-ti é-eš-ṯ -ai -iiāṯ š-tū́ š-toṯ
1 du h-uuəíñi ēz-uuó h-uuó -ouuəíñi h-īuuó
2 du š-tāḫ ēš-tõm š-tõm -átāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -toṯ
3 du -tḗ -tā̊ -tā̊ -átiš -ītā̊ -tā̊ -toṯ
1 pl h-míñi ēz-mo h-mo -omiñi -īmó
2 pl s-té ēš-té š-te -áti -īté éš-ti -toṯ
3 pl h-ánδi ā-h-áṇṯ -onδi -ii̯āṯ h-āδu h-āδoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās

Root with persistent accent

āhmi, asti, "to dwell". A small but important class of root present verbs have persistent accent. Thus, rather than having an accent that shifts to the endings in the non-singular active and the entire middle, the accent persists on the root syllable; many, but not all, such verbs will have a lengthened vowel in the singular active. The 3 pl form takes the zero grade in all cases because the accent persists on the root.

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg ā́h-mi ā̊s-am áh-am ā́h-ō áh-i̯ą̄m áh-ūm ā́h-ūm áh-ūm ā́h-ą̄m és-īma
2 sg ḗ-si ā̊s es ḗs-ei̯i -i̯āu̯ ez-θī́ és-šθoi̯ ḗs-šθo és-šθo ḗs-ésθoi̯ -īšθo és-švō és-θitoṯ
3 sg ḗs-ti ā̊s-ṯ es-ṯ -ei̯ -i̯āṯ es-tū́ -θoi̯ -θo -θo -étoi̯ -īto -θo -θoṯ
1 du áh-víñi āh-vo áh-vó ā́h-ou̯iñi és-īvo áh-vozθa ā́h-voθa áh-voθa áh-ou̯ozθa -īvoθa
2 du és-tāḫ ēs-tõm és-tõm ḗs-etāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātiθa -ātaθa ḗs-ētaθai -ītaθa -ātaθa -θoṯ
3 du -tés -tą̄m -tą̄m -etiš -ītąm -tiš -ātāi̯i -ātā -ātā -ētāi̯i -ītā -ātā -θoṯ
1 pl áh-míñi āh-mo áh-mo ā́h-omiñi -īmō -mózθa -meθa -meθa ā́h-omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl és-ti ēs-ti és-te ḗs-eti -īte ḗs-ti és-šθve ḗs-šθve és-šθve ḗs-ésθve -īšθve -θve -θoṯ
3 pl áh-āṯ ēs-eṯ háṯ ā́h-onθi -ii̯āṯ és-enθu áh-unθroi̯ ā́h-unθro áh-unθro -ónθroi̯ -īi̯unθro -unθo -unθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Root with long endings

ánaēmi, ānité, "to breath". Owing to the effects of an interconsonantal laryngeal, some roots were synchronically analyzed as taking a set of endings augmented with a vowel between the stem and ending proper, though historically the augmentation is part of the stem and not of the ending. These endings are analogous with the ṣet roots in the Tennite language, while those taking the short (normal) endings are analoogus to aṇit roots. Since there is an Erani-Eracuran laryngeal on the stem-ending border, any ending which begins with *e (bolded) is liable to be coloured by this laryngeal; in the example below the laryngeal is *h₁ and so does not colour the ending. This colouring effect may be seen as the analogue to the ending augmentation where the laryngeal is not preserved between consonants.

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg án-aēmi aán-ą̄m án-ą̄m án-ō ān-i̯ą̄m ān-ūm au̯un-ūm ān-ūm án-ą̄m ān-īma
2 sg án-iši -iš -iš -ei̯i -i̯āu̯ āniθī́ -išθoi̯ -išθo -išθo -ésθoi̯ -īšθo ān-išvō ān-iθitoṯ
3 sg -iti -it -it -e -i̯āṯ -itū́ -itoi̯ -ito -ito -étoi̯ -īto -ito -itoṯ
1 du ān-ivíñi au̯un-ivo ān-ivó -ou̯iñi -īu̯o -ivózθa -ivóθa -ivóθa -ou̯ozθa -īvóθa
2 du -itāḫ -itõm -itõm -étāḫ -ītõm -itāḫ -ētiθai̯i -ētiθa -ētaθa -ētaθai -ii̯itaθa -ētaθa -itoṯ
3 du -ités -itą̄m -itą̄m -étiš -ītąm -ités -ētāi̯i -ē -ē -ētāi̯i -ii̯itā -ē -itoṯ
1 pl -amíñi -amo -amo -omiñi -īmō -amózθa -ameθa -ameθa -omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl -ité -ite -ite -éti -īte án-iti -išθve -išθve -nušθve -ésθve -īšθve -iθve -itoṯ
3 pl ān-énθi -éṯ ān-é -ónθi -ii̯āṯ ān-énθu -énθroi̯ -ónθro -ónθro -ónθroi̯ -ii̯unθro -ii̯unθo -inθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Of a similar construction are those verbs whose historic stems terminated in *-h₂ and *-h₃, giving rise to a and o respectively, in all the bolded positions.

Root with long ending and persistent accent

While there is no obvious reason why such a combination cannot exist, there are no known roots which take both long endings and a persistent accent.

Vowel-final stems

faēmi, fité, "to protect, apologize, propitiate (middle)". In partial distinction to the situation above, stems which had a laryngeal in final position result in a lengthened vowel in the singular active. For paēmi this vowel is ā, but as in other cases the vowel becomes ē or ō. In the active optative, the initial consonant is a phonetic combination of *py-. This word is cognate to Nordic fehu "flock", via the sense a flock is animals protected by the shepherd.

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg f-aḗmi émβā̊ f-ā̊ fa-ō β-iiā̊ f-ā́m ep-ā́m p-ā́m p-ą̄m p-īma
2 sg -ā́hi émβā̊ -ā̊ -ayi -iiā̊ β-θī́ -išθoi̯ -išθo -išθo -ásθoi̯ -īšθo p-išvō p-iθitoṯ
3 sg -ā́ti émβā-t -āt -ai -iiāṯ -itū́ -itoi̯ -ito -ito -átoi̯ -īto -ito -itoṯ
1 du -ūvíñi ep-ūvó -ūvó -ouuiñi f-ūvo -ivózθa -ivóθa -ivóθa -ou̯ozθa -īvóθa
2 du -itāḫ -itõm -itõm -átāḫ -ītõm -itāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātiθa -ātaθa -ātaθai -ii̯itaθa -ātaθa -itoṯ
3 du -itḗ -itā̊ -itā̊ -átiš -ītā̊ -itḗ -ātāi̯i -ā -ā -ātāi̯i -ii̯itā -ā -itoṯ
1 pl -amíñi -amo -amo -omiñi -īmō -amózθa -ameθa -ameθa -omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl -ité -ité -ité -áti -īté fā́-ti -išθvé -išθvé -išθvé -ásθve -īšθve -iθve -itoṯ
3 pl -ánδi -áṯ -ánṯ -ónδi -iyaṯ f-inθū́ -ánθroi̯ -ónθro -ónθro -ónθroi̯ -ii̯unθro -ii̯unθo -inθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

naṓ ~ nu

xšnaōmi, xšnuθvé, "to sharpen". Present stems which vary with a nu suffix (néu̯ in strong forms) are treated as a special class as the endings are liable to become muddled with the stem-final consonant. Fundamentally, these verbs are still of the VC type and all have mobile accent. Syllabification rules in Northian requires the u in the weak form of the suffix to become a consonant in the presence of a following vowel, which in turn causes the n before it to mutate to ŋ. This ŋ may itself be syllabified in response to the want of a preceding vowel, as Northian prohibits four consecutive consonants in anlaut.

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg xš-naṓ-mi a-xš-nā̊ xš-náuu-ō xš-nu-iiā̊ hš-nūm ekš-nūm hš-nūm hš-neu̯ą̄m hš-āŋvīma
2 sg xš-náu-šti -naṓ-š -náuu-oyi -nu-iiā̊ xš-naṓ -nušθoi̯ -nušθo -nušθo -neu̯esθoi̯ -āŋvīšθo hš-nušvō hš-nuθitoṯ
3 sg xš-naṓ-ti -naṓ-ṯ -náuu-oi -nu-iiāṯ -nu-tū -nutoi̯ -nuto -nuto -neu̯etoi̯ -āŋvīto -nuto -nutoṯ
1 du xš-nu-voíñi a-xš-nu-vo -náuu-ouuiñi -nuu-īuuo -nuu̯ózθa -nuu̯óθa -nuu̯eθa -neu̯ou̯ozθa -āŋvīu̯óθa
2 du xš-nu-tāḫ -nu-tõm -náuu-itāḫ -nuu-ītõm -nu-tāḫ -āŋvātiθai̯i -āŋvātaθa -āŋvātaθa -neu̯ātaθai -āŋvītaθa -āŋvātaθa -nutoṯ
3 du xš-nu-tḗ -nu-tā̊ -náuu-itiš -nuu-ītąm -nu-tḗ -āŋvātāi̯i -āŋvātā -āŋvātā -neu̯ātāi̯i -āŋvītā -āŋvātā -nutoṯ
1 pl xš-nu-míñi -nu-mo -náuu-omiñi -nuu-īmō -numózθa -numeθa -numeθa -neu̯omozθa -āŋvīmeθa
2 pl xš-nu-té -nu-té -náuu-iti -nuu-īte -nu-te -nušθve -nušθve -nušθve -neu̯esθve -āŋvīšθve -nuθve -nutoṯ
3 pl xš-uu-onδi a-xš-nuu-óṇṯ -náuu-oṇδi -nuu-īṯ -nuu-ātū -āŋvónθroi̯ -āŋvónθro -āŋvónθro -neu̯onθroi̯ -āŋvīnθro -āŋvunθo -nunθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Aorist

Root aorists

esedām, esdté

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg ā́h-mi esed-am áh-am ā́h-ō áh-i̯ą̄m áh-ūm ā́h-ūm áh-ūm ā́h-ą̄m és-īma
2 sg ḗ-si ā̊s es ḗs-ei̯i -i̯āu̯ ez-θī́ és-šθoi̯ ḗs-šθo és-šθo ḗs-ésθoi̯ -īšθo és-švō és-θitoṯ
3 sg ḗs-ti ā̊s-ṯ es-ṯ -ei̯ -i̯āṯ es-tū́ -θoi̯ -θo -θo -étoi̯ -īto -θo -θoṯ
1 du áh-víñi est-vo áh-vó ā́h-ou̯iñi és-īvo áh-vozθa ā́h-voθa áh-voθa áh-ou̯ozθa -īvoθa
2 du és-tāḫ ēs-tõm és-tõm ḗs-etāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātiθa -ātaθa ḗs-ētaθai -ītaθa -ātaθa -θoṯ
3 du -tés -tą̄m -tą̄m -etiš -ītąm -tiš -ātāi̯i -ātā -ātā -ētāi̯i -ītā -ātā -θoṯ
1 pl áh-míñi est-mo áh-mo ā́h-omiñi -īmō -mózθa -meθa -meθa ā́h-omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl és-ti ēs-ti és-te ḗs-eti -īte ḗs-ti és-šθve ḗs-šθve és-šθve ḗs-ésθve -īšθve -θve -θoṯ
3 pl áh-āṯ ēs-eṯ háṯ ā́h-onθi -ii̯āṯ és-enθu áh-unθroi̯ ā́h-unθro áh-unθro -ónθroi̯ -īi̯unθro -unθo -unθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Split aorists

dēkšam, esdté

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg ā́h-mi esed-am áh-am ā́h-ō áh-i̯ą̄m áh-ūm ā́h-ūm áh-ūm ā́h-ą̄m és-īma
2 sg ḗ-si ā̊s es ḗs-ei̯i -i̯āu̯ ez-θī́ és-šθoi̯ ḗs-šθo és-šθo ḗs-ésθoi̯ -īšθo és-švō és-θitoṯ
3 sg ḗs-ti ā̊s-ṯ es-ṯ -ei̯ -i̯āṯ es-tū́ -θoi̯ -θo -θo -étoi̯ -īto -θo -θoṯ
1 du áh-víñi est-vo áh-vó ā́h-ou̯iñi és-īvo áh-vozθa ā́h-voθa áh-voθa áh-ou̯ozθa -īvoθa
2 du és-tāḫ ēs-tõm és-tõm ḗs-etāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātiθa -ātaθa ḗs-ētaθai -ītaθa -ātaθa -θoṯ
3 du -tés -tą̄m -tą̄m -etiš -ītąm -tiš -ātāi̯i -ātā -ātā -ētāi̯i -ītā -ātā -θoṯ
1 pl áh-míñi est-mo áh-mo ā́h-omiñi -īmō -mózθa -meθa -meθa ā́h-omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl és-ti ēs-ti és-te ḗs-eti -īte ḗs-ti és-šθve ḗs-šθve és-šθve ḗs-ésθve -īšθve -θve -θoṯ
3 pl áh-āṯ ēs-eṯ háṯ ā́h-onθi -ii̯āṯ és-enθu áh-unθroi̯ ā́h-unθro áh-unθro -ónθroi̯ -īi̯unθro -unθo -unθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Thematic endings

dēkšam, esdté

active middle fut imp
ind impf inj subj opt imp ind impf inj subj opt imp
1 sg ā́h-mi esed-am áh-am ā́h-ō áh-i̯ą̄m áh-ūm ā́h-ūm áh-ūm ā́h-ą̄m és-īma
2 sg ḗ-si ā̊s es ḗs-ei̯i -i̯āu̯ ez-θī́ és-šθoi̯ ḗs-šθo és-šθo ḗs-ésθoi̯ -īšθo és-švō és-θitoṯ
3 sg ḗs-ti ā̊s-ṯ es-ṯ -ei̯ -i̯āṯ es-tū́ -θoi̯ -θo -θo -étoi̯ -īto -θo -θoṯ
1 du áh-víñi est-vo áh-vó ā́h-ou̯iñi és-īvo áh-vozθa ā́h-voθa áh-voθa áh-ou̯ozθa -īvoθa
2 du és-tāḫ ēs-tõm és-tõm ḗs-etāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātiθa -ātaθa ḗs-ētaθai -ītaθa -ātaθa -θoṯ
3 du -tés -tą̄m -tą̄m -etiš -ītąm -tiš -ātāi̯i -ātā -ātā -ētāi̯i -ītā -ātā -θoṯ
1 pl áh-míñi est-mo áh-mo ā́h-omiñi -īmō -mózθa -meθa -meθa ā́h-omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl és-ti ēs-ti és-te ḗs-eti -īte ḗs-ti és-šθve ḗs-šθve és-šθve ḗs-ésθve -īšθve -θve -θoṯ
3 pl áh-āṯ ēs-eṯ háṯ ā́h-onθi -ii̯āṯ és-enθu áh-unθroi̯ ā́h-unθro áh-unθro -ónθroi̯ -īi̯unθro -unθo -unθoṯ
inf hšnutiš, hšnéu̯tuš, ptcpl hšnéu̯å, hšnnonθō; hšnéu̯āṯ; hšnunθī, hšnnonθi̯ās inf hšnuθi̯ō, hšnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl hšnūmnō, hšnūmnōi̯o; hšnūmnõ; hšnūmnā, hšnūmnās

Perfect

Reduplicated

titóna, titné "to be growing, to increase". Perfect stems in Northian are regularly formed by reduplication of the first consonant with the vowel *e, attached to the root in o-grade in the active singular and in zero grade in the active dual and plural and the entire middle. The endings are a special set of perfect endings.

Aside from the perfect indicative or "perfect tense" in paedagogical works, various other forms are made from the perfect stem. With the exception of the perfect imperative, which is attested about as much as the indicative, other formations are considerably rarer for the reason that they may be Northian innovations rather than inherited features of the prehistoric parent language. The pluperfect (or descriptively the perfect preterite) and perfect injunctive are formed from the indicative stem, with the same ablaut behaviour, with secondary endings. The subjunctive is formed from the reduplicated stem with root in invariant e-grade, and the optative from the same stem with root in invariant zero grade.

Not all perfect stems are capable of displaying all these formations. Especially, perfect verbs with stative meaning usually do not form pluperfects or any middle forms, but they do form subjunctives and optatives. When a pluperfect meaning is required, they have a periphrastic formation of the perfect active participle with the imperfect forms of the verb es "to be". Yet it is difficult to formulate absolute rules about this matter, since the Galic corpus is of limited size, and there may have existed unattested formations in the language of its composition.

active middle
ind plpf / inj subj opt imp ind plpf / inj subj opt imp
1 sg titón-a e-titón-ąm titén-ō titn-iiā̊ p-ā́m ep-ā́m p-ā́m p-ą̄m
2 sg -θa e-titṓṇ-ġ titéin-i -iiā̊ titā-δī́ -išθoi̯ -išθo -ásθoi̯ -īšθo
3 sg -i e-titóṇ-ṯ titén-ai -iiāṯ -tū́ -itoi̯ -ito -átoi̯ -īto -ito
1 du titn-uuo e-titn-uuo -auuiñi -ūvo -ivózθa -ivóθa -ou̯ozθa -īvóθa
2 du titā-tā e-titā-tõm -itāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātaθa -ātaθai -ii̯itaθa -ātaθa
3 du -tṓ -tā̊ -itiš -ītā̊ -tḗ -ātāi̯i -ā -ātāi̯i -ii̯itā -ā
1 pl tita-mé e-tita-mo -omiñi -īmo -amózθa -ameθa -omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl titn-é e-titā-θé -iti -īté tétā-ti -išθvé -išθvé -ásθve -īšθve -iθve
3 pl -ṓ e-titn-áṇṯ -iiāṯ titn-atū -ánθroi̯ -ónθro -ónθroi̯ -ii̯unθro -ii̯unθo
inf titnuuéni, pf act ptcpl titnuuā̊, titnuštṓ; titnuuṓḫ; titnuuohī, titnuźiiā̊ inf hšnuθi̯ō, pf mid ptcpl titaminō (I/II)

Root

woida, widé "to know" is the only member of the perfect conjugation that, as a condition with good history, does not have reduplication. There are other perfect stems which do not have reduplication in Northian but do in other branch of the language; these are usually regarded as Northian innovations on the pattern of woida. It has the peculiarity of forming a full-grade root in the 3 pl, which also puts the ending in zero grade -ūš. It is as yet not known whether this feature is inherited, as it has been argued to be introduced from the root aorist injunctive, which in this form also shows full grade in the root.

active middle
ind plpf / inj subj opt imp ind plpf / inj subj opt imp
1 sg woid-a auuoid-am teten-ō tetn-i̯ą̄m p-ā́m ep-ā́m p-ą̄m p-īma
2 sg wōiš-ta auuōi-š -esi -i̯āu̯ tetun-θī́ -išθoi̯ -išθo -ásθoi̯ -īšθo p-išvō
3 sg woid-i auuōi-št -eti -i̯āṯ -tū́ -itoi̯ -ito -átoi̯ -īto -ito
1 du wīž-uuó auuiž-uua -ou̯iñi -īvo -ivózθa -ivóθa -ou̯ozθa -īvóθa
2 du wīš-tā auuiš-tõm -etāḫ -ītõm -tāḫ -ātiθai̯i -ātaθa -ātaθai -ii̯itaθa -ātaθa
3 du -tṓ -tā̊ -itą̄m -ītąm -tés -ātāi̯i -ā -ātāi̯i -ii̯itā -ā
1 pl wīž-mé auuiž-mó -omiñi -īmō -amózθa -ameθa -omozθa -īmeθa
2 pl vid-é auuiš-té -áti -īté -ti -išθvé -išθvé -ásθve -īšθve -iθve
3 pl woid-ūš auuiž-iiáṯ -ónθi -ii̯āṯ tétn-unθu -ánθroi̯ -ónθro -ónθroi̯ -ii̯unθro -ii̯unθo
pf act inf wižuuéni, pf act ptcpl wáiduš, widuštōḫ; wáidū; wáiduštī, widuśiiā̊ pf mid inf hšnuθi̯ō, pf mid ptcpl menanōḫ (I/II)

The other perfect verbs that fail to show reduplication are:

  • u̯ṓi̯a, vii̯á "to fear"
  • mṓna, mné "to recall"

It has been noted that most verbs which fail to reduplicate are verbs of internal states or emotions.

Thematic conjugation

Present

βaiδō "I trust". Cognate to Shalumite "to bide". Points of interest are:

  1. In the Galic material, the effects of the stem-final laryngeal are reflected quite regularly, such that the 2 and 3 sg., 2 and 3 du., and 2 pl. endings, which commence with the colouring-susceptible vowel *e, may be coloured to *a and *o, and the latter in unaccented positions becomes a. This is seen in the comparatively common verb apúpitō "fly away", whose 2 du. form is apúpitatāḫ and not *apúpititāḫ. In later materials, the laryngeal-less endings (which would be identical to those for stems ending in *h₁-) became standard.
  2. In the active subjunctive, the subjunctive modal suffix prehistorically merges with the thematic endings and result in long vowels; in unaccented positions these evolved differently than short vowels, to wit *ē > ā, while *ō remains unchanged.
  3. In the active optative, the diphthong scans short in the 1 du. and 3 pl., the cause of which is still uncertain.
  4. Due to phonetic change, the middle forms of the 2 and 3 sg. are not distinct, as both 2 sg. *eth₂ei and 3 sg. *etoi > -itai.
  5. In the middle subjunctive, the 2 and 3 du. endings lack the final -i of the primary endings and are thus identical to secondary endings; this phenomenon is widespread enough to be ruled out as a scribal error and is usually thought to reflect original variation in the conjugation system as the subjunctive is already specified by a modal morpheme and cannot be mistaken by a different set of endings. The optative, however, is always found with secondary endings.
act mid
ind impf / inj subj opt imp ind impf / inj subj opt imp
1 sg βaiδ-ō e-baiδ-õm βaiδ-ō βaiδ-ā̊ βaiδ-aā̊i e-baiδ-aā̊ βaiδ-ōai βaiδ-aiia
2 sg -iyi -iš   -āyi -aīš βaiδi -itai -ita -ātai -aita
3 sg -ai -i -āi -aīṯ βaiδitū -itai -ita -ātai -aita
1 du -auuiñi -auua -ə̄uuiñi -aiuua -auuazδa -auuida -ə̄uuazδa -aiuuida
2 du -itāḫ -itõm -ātāḫ -aītõm βaiδitāḫ -itāδāi -itāδā -ātāδā -aitāδā
3 du -itiš -itā̊   -ātiš -aītā̊ βaiδitiš -itāyi -i -ā -aitā
1 pl -amiñi -ama -ōmiñi -aīma -amazδa -amida -ōmazδa -aimida
2 pl -iti -iti -āti -aīti βaiδiti -idūvi -idūvi -ādūvi -aidūvi
3 pl -anṯ -ōnδi -aiiāṯ βaiδanδū -aṇtrai -aṇtra -ōṇtrai -aiiāθra
fut imp βaiδitaṯ, βaiδanδaṯ inf βaiδitiš, βaiδituš, ptcpl βaiδā̊s, βaiδanδōḫ; βaiδaṯ; βaiδanδī, βaiδanδiiā̊

Aorist

Indicative Injunctive Subjunctive Optative Imperative Future imp.
1 sg. ekorum korum korō kāri̯ām
2 sg. ekōr kōr korei kāri̯ās kor kortoṯ
3 sg. ekord kord korei̯ kāri̯āt kārto kārtoṯ
1 du. ekurōs kārōs korou̯ō korīu̯ō
2 du. ekurtõ kārtõ koretas korītõ kārtas kārtoṯ
3 du. ekurtąm kārtą̄m koretíš krītąm kārtíš kārtoṯ
1 pl. ekurmō kārmō koromõ korīmō
2 pl. ekurte kārte korete korīte kārte kārtoṯ
3 pl. ekurenṯ kārenṯ koronθi koriānṯ kārenθo kārunθoṯ
inf kāršiš, kāršuš, ptcpl korå, kronθō; korāṯ, kronθō; korunθī, krāŋθi̯ās
Indicative Imperfect Injunctive Subjunctive Optative Imperative Future imp.
1 sg. ekurma kārma korōm krīma
2 sg. ekursθo kārsθo koresθoi̯ krīšθo kārhvō kārtoṯ
3 sg. ekurto kārto koretoi̯ krīto kārto kārtoṯ
1 du. ekurreθa kārreθa korou̯osθa krīu̯eθa
2 du. ekurātaθa kārātaθa korātaθai krītaθa kārātaθa kārtoṯ
3 du. ekurātā kārātā korātāi̯i krītā kārātā kārtoṯ
1 pl. ekurmeθa kārmeθa koromosθa krīmeθa
2 pl. ekuršθve kāršθve koresθve krīšθve kārθve kārtoṯ
3 pl. ekurenθro kārenθro koronθroi̯ krīnθro kārunθo kārunθoṯ
inf kārθi̯ō, kārθi̯ōi̯o, mid ptcpl kārūmnō, kārūmnōi̯o; kārūmnõ, kārūmnōi̯o; kārūmnā, kārūmnās

Perfect

Indicative Pluperfect Injunctive Subjunctive Optative Imperative Future imp.
1 sg. kokora ekokorum kokorum kokorō kokuri̯ām
2 sg. kokošta ekokōr kokōr kokorehi kokuri̯ās kokurθi kokuštoṯ
3 sg. kokoré ekokošṯ kokošṯ kokoreti kokuri̯āt kokušto kokuštoṯ
1 du. kokurrō ekokurre kokurre kokorou̯ō kokrīu̯ō
2 du. kokuré ekokuštõ kokuštõ kokoretas kokrītõ kokuštas kokuštoṯ
3 du. kokrē ekokuštą̄m kokuštą̄m kokoretiš kokrītąm kokuštes kokuštoṯ
1 pl. kokurmé ekokušme kokušme kokoromō kokrīmō
2 pl. kokré ekokušte kokušte kokorete kokrīte kokušte kokuštoṯ
3 pl. kokrār ekokurent kokurent kokoronθi kokrīenṯ kokorunθo kokorunθoṯ
inf kokuršiš, kokoršuš, ptcpl kokrå, kokrušiš; kokrōṯ, kokrušiš; kokrušī, kokruši̯ās
Indicative Pluperfect Injunctive Subjunctive Optative Imperative Future imp.
1 sg. kokurma ekokurma kokurma kokorō kokrīma
2 sg. kokursθo ekokursθo kokursθo kokoresθoi̯ kokrīšθo kokurhvō kokuštoṯ
3 sg. kokušto ekokušto kokušto kokoretoi̯ kokrīto kokušto kokuštoṯ
1 du. kokurreθa ekokurreθa kokurreθa kokorou̯osθa kokrīu̯eθa
2 du. kokurātaθa ekokurātaθa kokurātaθa kokorātaθai kokrītaθa kokrātaθa kokuštoṯ
3 du. kokurātā ekokurātā kokurātā kokorātāi̯i kokrītā kokrātā kokuštoṯ
1 pl. kokurmeθa ekokurmeθa kokurmeθa kokoromosθa kokrīmeθa
2 pl. kokuršθve ekokuršθve kokuršθve kokoresθve kokrīšθve kokurθve kokuštoṯ
3 pl. kokrenθro ekokrenθro kokrenθro kokoronθroi̯ kokrīnθro kokrunθo kokrunθoṯ
inf kokurθi̯ō, kokurθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl kokrūmnō, kokrūmnōi̯o; kokrūmnõ, kokrūmnōi̯o; kokrūmnā, kokrūmnās

Notes


See also