Northian grammar

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Northian grammar is highly synthetic.

Overview

Ablaut is a system of vowel apophony, altering the quality or quantity of vowels but not their lexical meaning, that affects most classes of words in Northian. The system is most prominent in substantives, i.e. nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. Though ablaut was transparent in reconstructed Proto-Erani-Eracuran, it has been obscured by sound change and analogical replacement in the process of its evolution into Proto-Nordic-Northian and subsequently Galic Northian, the oldest attested stage of the Northian language.  In particular, the erosion of consonant clusters and sound change in unaccented and coda vowels in the immediate prehistory of Galic has made many inflectional endings unrecognizable, yet protected by poetic metre and strict tradition, Galic texts retain many archaicisms. These processes have not occurred to the same extent in the Epic language, but there the word forms were subject to more rigorous regularization.

It is generally accepted that there was a fairly rigorous system of derivation in Proto-Erani-Eracuran, extending lexical roots by various affixes, before attaching inflectional endings. In this way, roots representing abstract meanings gave rise to nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

Nouns

Basic endings
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative -Ø, -s -ē, [-a] -is
Vocative
Accusative -m -ns
Genitive -ō, [-s] -ōs, [-us]
Locative -e -ō, [-u] -su
Dative -ē, [-i] -mō, [-ma] -mus
Instrumental -a

m-stems

This class is known from only three but important nouns, θéɣõ "earth", žõ "winter", and "house". All m-stem nouns in Northian are feminine in gender, though with only three examples, this may not be an actual rule.

se θéɣõ, "earth"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative θéɣõ zθémē zθémes
Vocative θéɣom
Accusative zθémum zumūŋ
Genitive zu̯u̯ō zu̯ōs zu̯õ
Locative zθéi̯me zu̯ō zumsu
Dative zu̯ē zuŋu̯ō zuŋu̯ō
Instrumental zoa

θéɣõ is one of the rarer Northian words that reflects all three ablaut grades.

θéɣõ "eath" is from the full-grade stem of Proto-Erani-Eracuran *dʰeǵʰōm "earth", where final -m drops and causes the preceding long vowel to become nasalized. Gen. zu̯u̯ō and dat. zu̯ē are the results of the zero-grade stem *dʰǵʰm̥ > *zm̥- > zw-. Final *-os regularly contracts to -ō, lengthening the vowel, and *-ey monophthongized into -ē. The e-grade stem is visible in the strong cases in singular and dual, sing. loc., as well as plural nom., as zθém < *dʰǵʰem-. In the sing. loc., the lowering of final *-i triggered the regular mutation in the preceding short vowel. The plural acc. unexpectedly displays zero-grade stem; final *-n̥s regularly > *-uns > Galic -ūŋ. The stem ending in -m mutates with the initial m- of the du. and pl. dat.-ins. endings.

The behaviour of žõ "winter" is underlyingly similar to that of θéɣõ, but other phonetic changes have caused the surface forms to be altered in other ways.

se dõ, "house"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative doma domes
Vocative dom
Accusative dōm, domum domūŋ
Genitive dēŋ demus demõ
Locative déi̯me demu deŋsu
Dative dei̯ma deŋu̯ō
Instrumental dema

"house", an extremely common noun, also displays three ablaut grades; however, its stems differ by the quantity and quality of the vowel in the same root syllable, as it has no suffix. In the sing. nom., final vowel is lengthened already in PEE. The regular strong stem is visible in the sing. acc., which has two forms. dōm stands as a poetic or dialectal term in place of expected domum sometimes; its creation is either late, as it does not have vowel nasalization, or reflects compensatory lengthening from dropping the final syllable of domum. displays a paroxytone accentual pattern and has the zero-grade endings: sing. gen. dēŋ < *dems and dat. déi̯me < *demi, the latter showing regular mutation after the lowering of the final *-i.

n-stems

sē akmō, "stone" tod dēmuŋ, "house"
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative akmō akmenē akmenes dēmuŋ dēmunī dēmnō
Vocative akmo
Accusative akmenum kuŋmūŋ
Genitive kuŋmō kuŋmōs kuŋmõ damēi̯ŋ damenus demõ[1]
Locative kumeine kumnō kumuŋsu damenu deŋsu
Dative kuŋmē kuŋmō kuŋmus damēi̯ne dameŋma demnos
Instrumental kuŋma damēna
tod dēmuŋ, "home"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative nomuŋ nomnī nomnō
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive nemuŋ nemunus nemnõ
Locative nemunu nemsu
Dative nemne nemuŋma nemuŋmos
Instrumental nemna

r-stems

There are three subtypes within the r-stem group. mētur "mother" represents the group with initial accent, which persists on the root syllable and always takes suffix and ending in zero-grade. βrētur "brother" is inflected in the same manner. This is a small group of nouns recognized by their unaccented endings in both nom. and gen.

sē mētur, "mother"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative mētur mētu̯ra mēθres
Vocative
Accusative mēθrum mētu̯ruŋ
Genitive mētūr, mētūs mētu̯rus mēθrõ
Locative mēθre mētu̯ru mētuiru
Dative mēturma mēturmus
Instrumental mēθra

Gen. mētūs < *meHtr̥s, while mētūr appears to be a later regularization, restoring the *r that has been dropped in *-rs. Dat. mētrė < *meHtri, acc. mētrum show regular forms. Loc. mēteire appears with full grade suffix.

su̯éhi̯itur "daughter" represents the oxytone group of the r-stems, which includes many agentive nouns that terminate in -er and -or. They are recognizable by their zero-grade nom. endings and full-grade -ō endings in gen. The behaviour of the word ɣenur "hand" is underlyingly identical.

sē su̯éhi̯itur, "daughter"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative su̯éhi̯itur duɣaterē duɣateres
Vocative su̯éhi̯itur
Accusative duɣaterum duɣateruŋ
Genitive duɣaθrō duɣaθrōs duɣaθrõ
Locative duɣaθrē duɣaterō duɣatuiru
Dative duɣaturmō duɣaturmō
Instrumental duɣaθra

patēr "father" is a variation of the pattern of "daughter", where in the nom. the accent is on the ending instead of the stem; otherwise, it follows the pattern of "daughter" exactly.

sē patēr, "father"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative patēr paterē pateres
Vocative pater
Accusative paterum pateruŋ
Genitive paθrō paθrōs paθrõ
Locative paθrē paterō paθruiru
Dative patu̯rmō patu̯rmō
Instrumental paθra

The paroxytone declension of ster "star" is unique, sg. gen. stēr < *Hsters, dat. steire, etc.

l-stems

The l-stems originally inflect as other ablauting consonant stems, but because intervocalic *-l- regularly > -y-, the resulting paradigm presents certain quirks not seen in the normal consonant-stem paradigm.

sē slō sáyum

s-stems

There are two classes in the s-stem group, one for masculine and feminine nouns, and another for neuter ones. The masculine and feminine nouns are formally indistinct but behave like other consonant-stem nouns, with or without ablaut. The noun mus "mouse" is unique in its preservation of an initial accent. The neuter nouns fall into two groups, those with oxytone or paroxytone accents.

sē nēs, "nose"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative nēs narē nares
Vocative nes
Accusative narum naruŋ
Genitive narō narōs narõ
Locative naere narō nassu
Dative narē nasmō nasmus
Instrumental nara


tod kretō, "intellect, power"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative kretō kretera kretera
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive kreterō kreterus kreterõ
Locative kreteire kreteru kretessu
Dative kretesma kretesmus
Instrumental kretera


tod menō, "mind"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative menō menera menera
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive menēs menerus menerõ
Locative meneire meneru menessu
Dative menesma menesmus
Instrumental menera

i-stems

The i-stems were a prolific class of nouns in Northian during the Galic period. In PEE, the i-stems were completely parallel to the u-stems in virtually all contexts, but due to sound changes their surface forms in Northian are quite different. Accordingly, they are considered separate classes in Northian tradition.

sa socis, "ally"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative socis skoi̯ē sokoi̯is
Vocative soci
Accusative socim skoin
Genitive skiō skiōs skiõ
Locative skoi̯e skiō skisu
Dative skiē skimō skimus
Instrumental skī
sē mentis, "thought" tod more, "sea"
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative mentis mentēa mentēis more morēa morēi̯
Vocative meinte
Accusative mentim mentīn
Genitive muntēs muntēus muntēõ mrēs mrēus mrēõ
Locative muntēi muntēu muntēsu mrēē mrēo mrēsu
Dative muntēma muntēmus mrēma mrēmus
Instrumental muntēa mrē
sa potis, "master"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative potis potī potiis
Vocative poti
Accusative potim potīn
Genitive petis petius petiõ
Locative peti petiu petisu
Dative petima petimus
Instrumental petī

u-stems

sē genus, "chin"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative genōs geneu̯ē geneu̯is
Vocative genō
Accusative genōm geneu̯uŋ
Genitive genuō genuōs genuõ
Locative geneu̯i genuō genuru
Dative genuē genumō genumus
Instrumental genua
sa suyus, "child" = υἱύς
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative suyus suyeu̯a suyeu̯is
Vocative suyu
Accusative suyum suyuuŋ
Genitive suyeu̯s suyeu̯us suyeu̯õ
Locative suyeu̯i suyeu̯u suyeu̯su
Dative suyeu̯ma suyeu̯mus
Instrumental suyū
tod meθu, "honey" = μέθυ tod doru, "wood" = δόρυ
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative meθu meθū meθū doru dorū dorū
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive meθus meθuus meθuõ derus deruus deruõ
Locative meθō meθuu meθuru derō deruu denuru
Dative meθuma meθumus deruma derumus
Instrumental meθū derū

ī-stems oxytone

sē sθerīs, "heifer"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative sθerīs sθerīa sθurīis
Vocative sθerī
Accusative sθerīum sθurīuŋ
Genitive sθurīō sθurīōs sθurīõ
Locative sθurīē sθurīō sθunīru
Dative sθurīmō sθurīmus
Instrumental sθurīa

ī-stems paroxytone

sē genaθrī, "genitrix"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative genaθrī genaθrīa genaθrīis
Vocative
Accusative genaθrīum genaθrīuŋ
Genitive ŋaθri̯ēs ŋaθri̯ēus ŋaθri̯ēõ
Locative ŋaθri̯ēi ŋaθri̯ēo ŋaθri̯ēru
Dative ŋaθri̯ēma ŋaθri̯ēmus
Instrumental ŋaθri̯ēa

ū-stems

sē tenūs, "body"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative tenūs tenōa tunu̯ēis
Vocative
Accusative tunu̯ēum tunu̯ēuŋ
Genitive tunuō tunuōs tunuõ
Locative tunu̯ēi tunuō tunuru
Dative tunuē tunumō tunumus
Instrumental tunua

r/n-stems

tod yosur, "liver" = ἥπαρ
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative yosur meθū meθū
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive yesuŋ meθuus meθuõ
Locative yesune meθuu meθuru
Dative meθuma meθumus
Instrumental yesna

sāu̯u̯ō

The noun sāu̯u̯ō "sun" continues the PEE heteroclitic stem in *-l/n-. The nominative is due to assimilation of approximants and the regular sound change of *wu > wo. Genitive has χu̯eīŋ, for expected *xʷvēn < *swens.

sē sāu̯u̯ō, "Sun"
Singular
Nominative sāu̯u̯ō
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive hʷu̯eīŋ
Locative hʷu̯eine
Dative
Instrumental hʷu̯ena

d-stems

tod kerd, "heart" = καρδία
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative kerd kreda kordō
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive krēd kredus kurdō
Locative kerde kredu kerde
Dative kresma kurdē
Instrumental kreda

mēŋ

tod mēŋ, "meat"
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative mēŋ kreda kordō
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive krēd kredus kurdō
Locative kerde kredu kerde
Dative kresma kurdē
Instrumental kreda

Verbs

See also

  1. Oblique forms in plural suppleted from dōm