Northian nouns
Northian nominals are the nouns, adjectives, and some adverbs of the Northian language.
Nouns
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 | bõ |
loc | api | apō | apšo | api | bō | 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).
Morphologically, the accusative forms have -nδ- in the suffix due to contamination with the final resonant, while the other forms have -nt-.
ha dōs, "tooth" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | dōs | dóntōi | dóntiš |
voc | doṇṯ | ||
acc | donδəm | dónδā̊ | |
gen | dātōḫ | dātōš | dātõm |
loc | dónti | dātō | dāśū |
dat | dātai | dāśmō | dāśmuš |
ins | dāta |
m-stems
This class is known from only a few but important nouns, e.g. θáɣam "earth" and gaiiō "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 a rule in the proto-language.
Outside of nouns, it is also known in numerals for 1, 7, and 10—hā̊ hafθam dekam—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 by the insertion of the theme vowel *e ~ o or had an additional *-n appended after *m-, giving rise to the multitude of n-stems of the -mn- type, wherein the -m- is of otherwise unexplained origin. But both hypotheses suffer from the mismatch of grammatical gender—virtually all m-stems in Erani-Eracuran languages are feminine in gender, not neuter.
hā gaiiō, "winter" = hiemps | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | gaiiō | giyamōi | giyaēmiš |
voc | gaiiõm | ||
acc | gaiiā̊ | gimā̊ | |
gen | gimōḫ | gimōš | gimõm |
loc | giyaēmi | gimō | giṃśū |
dat | gimāi̯ | gimmō | gimmuš |
ins | gimō | gimβiiōḫ |
Most suffixed nouns with OX inflection have a long o-grade suffix in the nominative singular, cf. gaiiō, and there they are akin to the n-stems. Indeed, given phonetic change, *-ōm and *-ō(n) cannot be told apart, so it is possible this ending has been transported from the n-stems or generalized in the proto-language or later. Yet θáḥàm xmōḫ "earth" has a short ultima reflecting a zero grade. Had the second vowel been a typical long o-grade, it would have become *ō and would not elide the guttural consonant, giving *θáɣō.
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 -əm-əm, with assimilated stem.
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 θáḥàm, "ground, earth" = χθών | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | θáḥàm | θáḥàmōi̯ | |
voc | |||
acc | xā̊ | θāxmā̊ | |
gen | xmōḫ | xštą̄ōš | |
loc | xštémi | xštą̄ō | xštə̄ṃśū |
dat | xmai | xštą̄mō | |
ins | xmōi |
To this table above must be subjoined that xā̊ < *ǵʰḗm < *dʰǵʰém-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 *θaɣā̊. But the form actually found is monosyllabic, which could only come from a zero-grade root. If the oblique stem *dʰǵʰm- was later introduced to replace the nominative stem, the resulting form would have been expected xam, with the *m of the stem probably vocalized as short by position.
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
dugitṓ "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. An alternate form zuuóhitār is seen in the epithet δaēuuōiiaz-uuóhitār "Celestial Daughter" applied to Dawn, reflecting *dʰwégh₂-tr̥.
hā dugitṓ, "daughter" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | dugitṓ | dugiterōi̯ | dugitériš |
voc | |||
acc | dugiterəm | dúgiδrā̊ | |
gen | duxθrōḫ | dugitarṓš | duxθrõm |
loc | duxθrai | dugitarṓ | duhitušštū |
dat | duxtərəmṓ | duxtərəmō | |
ins | duxθrōi̯ | duxθəramβiiōḫ |
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. βrātar "brother" is declined in like manner.
hā mātar, "mother" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | mātar | māδəra | māδriš |
voc | |||
acc | māδrəm | māδərą̄s | |
gen | māδərəš | māδərouš | māδrõm |
loc | māδri | mātəroū | māδərəštū |
dat | māδərəma | māδərəmuš | |
ins | māδəra | māδərəβiiōḫ |
Gen. māδərəš < *meh₂tr̥s. The acc. pl. māδərą̄s seems to reflect PEE *meh₂tr̥ns (for expected *meh₂tern̥s), while other Nordic languages reflect *meh₂tern̥s. The form is a deviation from the general rule of resonant vocalization, but the vocalization of *r̥ could have been carried over from the gen. sing., where it is the only resonant that could be vocalized; moreover, it is a perfect match with Xevdenite mātərąs, hinting that the vocalization of -n̥s was not (yet) a firm rule in the proto-language. In Galic, māδra "two mothers" is often an ellipsis for "mother and father".
There is also
hā yatar, "husband's brother's wife" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | yatar | yatiri | yatiriš |
voc | |||
acc | yaδrəm | yaterā̊ | |
gen | yatās | mātərouš | māδrõm |
loc | yatiri | mātəroū | mātərəšū |
dat | māδərəma | mātərəmuš | |
ins | yatiri |
s-stems
The s-stem nouns can be divided into two classes, more numerous, neuter nouns like xrétōḫ and animate nouns like aōštā̊. The former suffix exhibits qualitative ablaut from *-os ~ es-, while the second class has a more conventional, quantitative -os ~ s- pattern.
The os/es-stems are a class of very common neuter nouns in Northian and are directly cognate to those found in Nordic languages, where the ablaut surfaces as -az ~ iz-. Though in Galic times and later only the PX pattern is productive, there a few common s-stem nouns exhibiting an original acrostatic accent. In this class, the root was consistently accented.
In PX the nom. sing. ended in -ōḫ; this *-os is a bare stem. The suffix ablauted to -es- for all oblique cases, but here the ending once again acts prominently on the suffix. If the ending began with a vowel, the final -s of the suffix would be intervocalic and become -h, which colours any neighbouring /e/ to /a/. As a result, the gen. ended in -ah-āḫ < *-es-os. If the ending began with a consonant, the -s remained and the unaccented /e/ usually became /i/. The gen. and loc. du. endings began with a laryngeal consonant, not vowels. When the /s/ comes into contact with a vowel with the loss of the laryngeal, an epenthetic /t/ was added at the same time for the conservation of euphony. The lack of accent causes the ins. pl. also to end in -βiiāḫ < *-bʰyos.
The gen. sing. has an allomorph xrétahas that often appears before compounds and enclitics, e.g. xrétahás-ka "and of power". It is uncertain if this form may reflect the alternate genitive ending *-es in the proto-language, which would be coloured to -as following /h/, or if it is merely a regular development from the familiar ending -os when unaccented. However, the enclitic should regularly accent this syllable. Additionally, the early literature has the combining form xrétahós-ka, showing the regular retention of *-os in accented position, though these can be editorial alterations, as changes would affect neither metre nor rhyme.
θaṯ xrétōḫ, "intellect, power" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | xrétōḫ | xrétahāḥ | xrétā̊ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | xrétahōḫ xrétaŋhas- |
xrétištuš | xrétahõm |
loc | xrétāḫ | xrétištū | xrétišštū |
dat | xrétahai | xrétišma | xrétišmuš |
ins | xrétahōi | xrétižβiiāḫ |
The noun aōštā̊ "dawn" has feminine gender and therefore a distinct accusative. The noun had 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 -as-.
hā aōštā̊, "dawn" | ha βiịā̊, "fear" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | aōštā̊ | uštištōi̯ | uštahāḫ | βiịā̊ | βii̯ahōi̯ | βii̯ahāḫ |
βoc | aōštōḫ | βii̯ōḫ | ||||
acc | uštóziiam | uštahā̊ | βiyáziiam | 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 the proto-language, the i-stems were completely parallel to the u-stems in virtually all ways, 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. These nouns usually show no root ablaut, but the example provided here does. Where the root did not show ablaut, the accent was presistent on the suffix, even in zero-grade. The other forms require little comment, other than the gen. and loc. du. and gen. pl. where the suffix *-i is consonantal before endings beginning with a vowel, which here triggers the palatalization of preceding *-t.
Of the neuter nouns in -i, only one example can be considered original to the parent language, that being mori "sea". Most other neuter nouns can be shown to be petrified neuter forms of adjectives in i-stem.
hā menδiš, "thought" | θaṯ mori, "sea" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | coll | |
nom | meṇδiš | meṇδaiia | meṇδaiiāḫ | mori | morai | morō |
voc | meṇδi | |||||
acc | meṇδim | mātī | ||||
loc | menδō | māčiiū | mātištū | |||
gen | mātaiš | māčiiuš | māčiiõm | |||
dat | mātaiiai | mātima | mātimuš | |||
ins | mātīḥ | mātiβiiōḫ |
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 | hokā̊ | hokoiiā̊ | ||||
loc | hokai | škiyō | škištū | |||
gen | śxiiōḫ | škiyōš | śxiiõm | |||
dat | śxiiai | škimō | škimuš | |||
ins | śxiiō | škiβiiōḫ |
u-stems
The u-stems of Northian reflect three ablaut patterns, and excepting the acrostatic they are both attested abundantly in the Galic language. The PX pattern from the proterokinetic nouns of the parent-lanugage is the most common.
ha huiiuš, "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 | huiiūš | huiiuõm | |||
loc | huiiau̯i | huiiū | huiiuštū | |||
dat | huiiuma | huiiumuš | ||||
ins | huiiū | huiiumβiiōḫ |
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. While some 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 *haōiiuš or *hōiiuš might be expected based on the general ablaut tendencies, but it is in fact the proto-form of huiiuš that is attested in all EE languages, showing that the spread of the zero-grade root probably occurred in the proto-language. The gen. ended in *-ou̯-s, whence -ōš. All the other oblique cases show *-eu̯- or *-u- in the suffix.
The gen. du. has -ūš, which must reflect *-u-us. The loc. du. has -ū, from *-u-u. The nom. pl. and acc. have the expected forms, with PNN *-uns > Galic -ūš. All other forms in the plural are straightforward and have the zero-grade suffix -u-.
The neuter version of the PX u-stems, in contradistinction to the animate ones, often displays root 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 θánūḥ, "body" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | θánūḥ | θánuuoōi | θánuuaāḫ |
voc | θánū | ||
acc | θánuuā̊ | θnuvā̊ | |
gen | θnuvōḫ | θnūvōš | θnuvõm |
loc | θnuuā | θnūvō | θnuŋhū |
dat | θnuvai | θnūmō | θnūmuš |
ins | θnuvōi | θnūmβiiōḫ |
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 |
fāuuərə "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 fāuuərə, "fire" = πῦρ | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | fāuuərə | fūvórīḥ | fūvə̄ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | fūvə̄ṇġ | fūvonuš | fūnõm |
loc | fūvon | fūvonū | fūvoni |
dat | fūvoni | 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
The main point of interest in this paradigm is in the genitive and locative dual forms, where the form mizraaōš suggests the e-grade *-ew- instead of the anticipated zero grade -u-. Nowhere else in Northian or other Erani-Eracuran languages does this ending take the e-grade.
hā mizrā, "mist" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | mizrāḥ | mizrayīḥ | mizraā̊ḫ |
voc | mizra | ||
acc | mizrā̊ | mizrā̊ | |
gen | mizraā̊ḫ | mizraaōš | mizraą̄̊m |
loc | mizrayi | mizraaō | mizrāŋhū |
dat | mizraai | mizrāmō | mizrāmuš |
ins | mizraāi |
o-stems
The thematic declension in o-stem could be divided into two subclasses that arose on account of the position of the accent, without which the short *o became /a/.
ha θūmōḫ, "smoke" | θaṯ yuɣõm, "yoke" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | θūmōḫ | θūmṓḥ | θūmā̊ | yuɣõm | yuɣṓ(yīḥ) | yuɣāḥ |
voc | θūmi | |||||
acc | θūmõm | θūmə̄ṇġ | ||||
gen | θūmōiiō | θūmōš | θūmõm | |||
loc | θūmōi | θūmō | θūmohū | |||
dat | θūmoma | θūmomuš | ||||
ins | θūmō | θūmomβiiōḫ |
Where the accent was not on the thematic vowel the rules of unaccented vowel alteration come into play. Long vowels and those in final position nasalized by -m are never altered, which means neuter nouns with non-oxytone accent will still end in -õm and not *-am.
ha tónāḫ, "string" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | tónāḫ | tónōḥ | tónā̊ |
voc | tóni | ||
acc | tónõm | tónāṇġ | |
gen | tónōiiō | tónōš | tónõm |
loc | tónōi | tónō | tónahū |
dat | tónamōḥ | tónamuš | |
ins | tónō | tónomβiiōḫ |
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.
First declension
hā azā, "altar" | ||
---|---|---|
sing | du & pl | |
nom | azā | azās |
voc | ||
acc | azām | azas |
gen | azās | azām |
dat | azāi | azāis |
abl | azād |
Second declension
ha cabos, "measure of corn" | θaṯ alom, "comfrey" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du & pl | sing | du & pl | |
nom | cabos | caboi | alom | alā |
voc | cabe | |||
acc | cabom | cabōs | ||
gen | cabōiio | cabozom | ||
dat | caboi | cabois | ||
abl | cabod |
Third declension
The third declension in Venetian was cognate with the athematic nouns in Northian, though in Venetian the number of sub-patterns was smaller. As learned borrowings, they generally retained their original endings, though substitutions were only too common.
hā loux, "light" | ||
---|---|---|
sing | du & pl | |
nom | loux | loukeiies |
voc | ||
acc | loukem | loukēs |
gen | loukes | loukom |
abl | loukibos | |
dat | loukei |
Fourth declension
hā manus, "hand" | θaṯ cornu, "horn" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du & pl | sing | du & pl | |
nom | manus | manūs | cornu | cornuā |
voc | manu | |||
acc | manum | |||
gen | manuos | manuom | ||
abl | manubos | |||
dat | manui |
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 aō , 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 mā. 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 |
fō "shrine"
fō "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 | fō | 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 xō "heart". Irregularities arise principally in the treatment of word-final -d in various contexts. For xō 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 δorū "tree, wood", ɣanū "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 oiiū "life", which have a distinct oblique stem.
θaṯ δorū, "wood" = δόρυ | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | dorū | doruụīḥ | dorō |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | draōš | doruu̯ōḫ | druu̯ōḫ |
loc | derū | doruu̯a | doruu̯i |
dat | drauui | doruma | druu̯ēi̯ |
ins | drūḥ |
xāmō "human"
xāmō "human being" is an n-stem noun that has an important place in the Fonδaiš Wīštā̊ 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 xmān- rather than the expected *xāmn-. Possibly it is assimilated to the first three consonants of the oblique forms of θaɣam xmōḫ "earth, Earth" to emphasize the nature of humans as "earthlings". There is a term xāmātā́s xāmātṓḫ "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 xāmō, "human" = homo | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | xāmō | xāminōi̯ | xāminiš |
voc | xāmón | ||
acc | xāminəm | xāminā̊ | |
gen | xmānōḫ | xmānōš | xmānõm |
loc | xmaēnin | xmānō | xmāŋhū |
dat | xmānei̯ | xmānmō | xmānmuš |
ins | xmāna |
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 |
potiš "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 uuei̯xšpatiš "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 | déṃpśpačiiāḥ | déṃpśpačiiāḫ |
voc | déṃpśpatai | ||
acc | déṃpśpatim | déṃpśpatī | |
gen | déṃpśpatiiāḫ | déṃpśpatiyōš | déṃpśpačiiõm |
loc | déṃpśpati | déṃpśpatiyō | déṃpśpatištū |
dat | déṃpśpačiiai | déṃpśpatimō | déṃpśpatimuš |
ins | déṃpśpačiiāḥ |
žiiaōš "god, sky"
This word žiiaōš is a direct cognate with several theonyms across the Erani-Eracuran family. The original *ew was transformed to *aw (written aō) 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 žiiōš, which may either be a contraction or a reflex of *dyou̯-s, the o-grade of the same root. The acc. sing. žiiā̊ 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. žiiā̊ is cognate to Syaran Ζῆν.
žiiaōš 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 ufšištṓiia-diuuō "of Heaven Most High". After Aithar, the pantheon of Valstígr was also called āhaṓuuāḫ põm ufšištṓiia 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 žiiaōš, "sky, Sky God" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | žiiaōš | ziiauuōi | ziiauuōḫ |
voc | ziiaō | ||
acc | ziiā̊ | ziiauuā̊ | |
gen | dūvōḫ | dūvōš | dūvõm |
loc | dūvəi̯ | dūvō | dūvštū |
dat | dūvmō | dūvmuš | |
ins | dī |
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 |
nō "man"
An r-stem noun not within the formation -tr is nō "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 | nō | 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 |
Adjectives
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-. It is a rule that all the u-stem adjectives with feminine ending in -ūḥ show root ablaut.
m. ϑanuš, "thin" = thin | n. ϑanū, "thin" | f. ϑanūḥ, "thin" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | ϑanuš | ϑánauua | ϑánauuōḫ | ϑanū | ϑánauuīḥ | ϑanūḥ | ϑanūḥ | ϑánuuayīḥ | ϑanuuōḫ |
voc | ϑanū | ||||||||
acc | ϑanā̊ | ϑanūš | ϑanum | ϑanuuáā̊ḫ | |||||
gen | źnaōš | źnavuš | źnauuõm | źnuuā̊ | źnuuāvuš | źnuuaą̄̊m | |||
loc | źnaō | źnavū | źnaōšū | źnuuā | źnuuāvū | źnuuāzū | |||
dat | źnauui | źnaōma | źnaōmuš | źnuuayi | źnuuāma | źnuuāmuš | |||
ins | źnō | źnuuā |
The feminine forms of fərətūvīḥ "broad" < *pl̥tH-w-ih₂ are provided by way of illustration of the u-stem adjectives with feminine forms in -īḥ. As a rule, the nominative singular shows the zero-grade root. As an exception to ablaut behaviour expected under normal accentuation, some u-stem feminine adjectives have a "promoted" root syllable that shows full grade, i.e. fretūvīḥ as though < *pletH-w-ih₂, especially when speaking of personal entities. Note that the oblique cases show the stem fərətūmβiia-, which represents *fr̥tiwya-, where the short i was altered to ū before w, generating a nasal in the process, and the w further became β when sandwiched between a nasal and a following approximant. This series of alterations does not occur when the feminizing suffix is in the zero grade, which resolves into a vocalic i.
f. fərətūvīḥ, "broad" = "flat" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | fərətūvīḥ | fərətūmβiiayīḥ | fərətūmβiiáā̊ḫ |
voc | |||
acc | fərətūvī | fərətūviyā̊ | |
gen | fərətūmβiiā̊ | fərətūmβiiāvuš | fərətūmβiiaą̄̊m |
loc | fərətūmβiiayi | fərətūmβiiāvū | fərətūmβiiāštū |
dat | fərətūmβiiāma | fərətūmβiiāmuš | |
ins | fərətūmβiiā |
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)
This stem shows two variants: the amphikinetic one has a zero-grade suffix, and the hysterokinetic one, an o-grade suffix. The former type is recovered only from the frequent term hanūs, from *ǵʰen-unt-s, "bearing value, honour", from *ǵʰen-, "esteem, honour". This word is used primarily of gods in their roles as sources of value (in objects) and honour (in persons).
The co-ordinating term honōḫ, cognate to Venetian honos, in objects, means their worth, valuation, or function, and in persons, their position in public society. A person's "worth" or "function" was evidently assessed by the role they play in society; thus, a person's honōḫ can mean either, literally, their profession or office, or, by extension, the esteem in which they are held, coming close to the modern meaning of "honour". Hence, the fonδā̊ honáhāḫ, literally "path of honour", names the priesthood, as the sacerdotal profession was evidently one of the earliest to receive general accreditation in Northian culture, cp. the cursus honorum "course of honours" in Venetian culture.
m. and n. hanūs, "bearing value, honour" | f. jñuuáṇδīḥ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | hanūs | hanuṇδōi̯ | hanuṇδiš | jñuuáṇδīḥ | jñuuáṇźiiayīḥ | jñuuáṇźiiaā̊ḫ |
voc | hanuṇ | |||||
acc | hanuṇδəm | hanuṇδā̊ | jñuuáṇźiiā̊ḫ | jñuuáṇδī | ||
gen | jñuuātōḫ | jñuuātōš | jñuuātõm | jñuuāčiiā̊ | jñuuāčiiāvuš | jñuuāčiiāą̄̊m |
loc | jñuuoṇδi | jñuuātō | jñuuāštū | jñuuāčiiayi | jñuuāčiiāvū | jñuuāčiiāhū |
dat | jñuuātai | jñuuātmus | jñuuātmuš | jñuuāčiiāma | jñuuāčiiāmuš | |
ins | jñuuāta | jñuuātmōḥ | jñuuāϑβiiōḫ | jñuuāčiiā | jñuuāčiiāβiiōḫ |
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 |