Northian grammar
Northian grammar is highly synthetic.
Overview
Ablaut
Ablaut is a system of vowel apophony, altering the quality or quantity of vowels but not their meaning, that is inherited from Proto-Nordic-Northian and ultimately Proto-Erani-Eracuran. It affects most classes of words in Northian. Though ablaut was a regular process closely tied to accent in the reconstructed proto-language, by Galic times new ablaut formulae are no longer being made, and only a few remained productive. Moreover, existing formulae have been disrupted by sound change and both general and sporadic analogical replacement. The result that surfaces in Galic Northian is a rich yet unpredictable set of alternate morphologies that confuses modern readers and, often, even ancient Northians themselves.
In nouns, there are four main ablaut patterns that Northian inherited from its ancestors, in the scholarly discourse of PEE called acrostatic, proterokinetic, amphikinetic, and hysterokinetic. The medieval Northian grammarians astutely observed that the position of the accent in the genitive singular form was diagnostic of the declensional pattern: where it was on the final syllable (oxytone or OX), a full-grade ending was used in the oblique cases, and where it was not on the final syllable (paroxytone or PX), the zero-grade set of endings were used. The former situation developed mostly from PEE amphikinetic and hysterokinetic patterns, and the latter from the acrostatic and proterokinetic ones.
PP (IVb) | PX (IVa) | OX (IIIa) | OX (IIIb) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nom. sg. | *wósu > vóhu | *wósu > vóhu | *léi̯mōn > lēmą̄ | *ph₂tḗr > pitṓ |
gen. sg. | *wósu-s > wóhuš | *uséu̯s > ušaóš | *limnós > limnṓḫ | *ph₂trós > piθrṓḫ |
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 in all athematic declensions and with the dative, with or without the instrumental, in the dual and 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 PX for the paroxytone group. Certain neuter nouns do not take plural endings but collective endings with a lengthened stem; these nouns are not formally predictable. Because neuter nouns always have the same nominative and accusative forms, only their nominative endings will be listed, and in grey.
Athematic endings | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | Collective | ||||
OX | PX + PP | OX | PX + PP | ||||
Nominative | -s or bare stem (long or zero grade), -Ø | -ōi̯, -ā̊, -āḥ, -ōḥ, -ī | -a, -āu̯, -ī̆ḥ, -åḥ, -V̄R-Ø, -īḥ | -āḫ, -iš, -ōḫ, -a, -V̄R-Ø | -ā̊ | ||
Vocative | -Ø | ||||||
Accusative | -m, -ā̆m, -in | -V̄n, -ā̆ṇġ, -ā̆ŋhiš | |||||
Locative | -i, -eC-Ø | -eC-Ø | -ō | -u, -u̯-a | -hu, -šu | -eC-Ø | |
Genitive | -ōḫ, -ā̊ | -š, -V̄s, -V̄n, -ā̆ṇġ, -ā̊, -Ø | -ōš | -uš, -u̯-ōḫ | -õ, -ą̄ | ||
Ablative | -mō | -V̄-m, -VC-ma | -muš | ||||
Dative | -ei̯, -ai̯, -oi̯ | -Vi̯R-i, -Vi̯ | |||||
Instrumental | -ōi̯, -å, -Ø | -C-a, -V̄R-Ø | -mi̯āḫ |
Nom. sing. A general discussion of the athematic declension cannot omit to mention that many of these divergent forms are conditioned on phonetic change, but so too there are divergences because 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 garde or in some instances a 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.
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. -s is always present and surfaces as -š after *i- and *u- in animate nouns, and its absence indicates neuter gender, both instance without regard to ablaut pattern. Final *-s was absent in resonant-stems, whose nom. sing. is signified by lengthened grade in OX and PX. After plosives the distribution of *-s is not predictable: nepōt "grandchild" was asigmatic, but nōi̯ṯ "night", ponθāu̯ "path", and nouns ending in -tāi̯ṯ certainly had *-s, which is altered after most stems.
In OX resonant stems the lengthened grade is altered prehistorically by the opening of closed long syllables ending in a resonant. For those terminating in nasals, the nom. sing. ending is -ą̄. This alteration occurs regardless whether the ending originally had *o or *e. For those ending in liquids, an original *o vowel will surface as -å, while and original *e will surface as -ō. In PX and PP resonant stems, i.e. mātar, θāmān, etc., 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 -u; the ending is only altered after stems ending in -u, 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 -īn.
Gen. pl. The ending was consistently -õ, or -ą̄ after vowel stems.
Abl. / dat. pl. The ending was consistently -muš.
Ins. pl. The ending was consistently -vi̯āḫ.
Thematic
There are two thematic declensions of nouns in Northian, the one ending in -ā (I declension) and -o (II declension). Neither declension displays visible ablaut, and accents of various forms are all lexically fixed on the same syllable.
The pattern ending in -ā was a prolific class in all branches of Northian. These nouns were all feminine in gender.
Basic ā-stem endings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | ||
nom | -āḥ | -ā | -aŋhā̊ | |
voc | ||||
acc | -ą̄̊m | -ā̊ | ||
loc | -aịi | -āụu | -āhu | |
gen | -ā̊ | -āụuš | -amą̄̊m | |
abl | -āṯ | -āmi̯ā | -āmi̯ā̊ | |
dat | -ai̯ai̯ | |||
ins | -ā | -āi̯š |
The chart below illustrates the o-stem declension of Galic. Animate nouns took an -ōḫ ending, while inanimate (neuter) nouns had the -õ ending in the nom. sing.
Basic o-stem endings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | ||
nom | -ōḫ, -õ | -ō, -oịī | -ā̊ḫ, -ohā̊ḫ, -āḥ | |
voc | -i | |||
acc | -õm | -amą̄̊ | ||
loc | -ōi̯ | -ā̊ | -ohu | |
gen | -oi̯ō | -ā̊š | -ā̊m | |
abl | -ōṯ | -omi̯ā | -omi̯ā̊ | |
dat | -ōi̯ | |||
ins | -ō | -ōi̯š |
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 | -aēmi | -iu̯iñi | -amiñi | 1p | -aai̯ | -iu̯ozθa | -amozθa | |||
2p | -i[s]i | -itāḫ | -ite/ti/ta | 2p | -itai̯ | -aātaθai | -i[s]θvo | |||
3p | -iti | -ites/tiš | -(e)nθi | 3p | -itoi̯ | -o | -aātāi̯ī | -aā | -inθro | -ir/ro/ūš |
Secondary active endings | Secondary middle endings | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |||||
trans | intrans | trans | intrans | trans | intrans | |||||
1p | -(ā̆)m/n | -iu̯ōḫ | -amōḫ | 1p | -aa | -iu̯oθa | -ameθa | |||
2p | -i(s) | -itam | -ité | 2p | -ita | -ii̯(a)tāθi | -iθō | |||
3p | -it | -itim | -(ā̆)t | 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.
-tõ 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 | -ō | -ou̯ōḫ | -omōḫ | 1p | -ā̊i̯ | -ou̯ōzθa | -omozθa |
2p | -ei̯ | -etāḫ | -eti | 2p | -etai̯i | -etõ | -eθō |
3p | -ei̯i | -etiš | -onθi | 3p | -etoi̯i | -etą̄ | -ō |
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 | -Ø | -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 | -e | 2p | |||
3p | -e | -ātā | -ā̆r | 3p |
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 that are attested in Galic Northian, as well as the genders of attested nouns. A green cell indicates that the attestation of a stem-accent paradigm is solid (five lemmas or more and paradigm more or less complete); a yellow cell indicates a marginal attestation (one to four lemmas or paradigm incomplete); a red cell indicates no or only dubious attestations.
-C | -m | -ns | -n | -r | -l | -s | -i | -u | -h₁ | -h₂ | -ī | -ū | -r/n | -t | -nt | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OX | M/F | F | M/F | M/F | M/F | M/F | M/F | M/F | M/F | M | No | M/F | F | N | M/F | M/F |
PX | F/N | No | No | N | No | No | N | All | All | No | F | F | F | N | No | No |
PP | F/N | Yes | No | N | Yes | No | N | All | All | N | No | No | No | N | F | Yes |
As will appear from this schematic, there are few noun classes that exhibit all three patterns that continue the ablaut patterns of the proto-language; rather, there was a strong tendency for noun classes to coalesce on one pattern identified with the stem, or for masculine and feminine nouns to coalesce on one pattern and neuter nouns on another.
In the latter case, neuter nouns are almost always identified with the paroxytone pattern, and masculine and feminine nouns with the oxytone. The exception is for i-stems and u-stems, where a considerable portion of masculine and feminine nouns inherit acrostatic patterns from the proto-language. In other cases, the skewed distribution of gender is inherited from the proto-language, as in the case of ī- and ū-stems, which historically are combinations of *i-h₂- and *u-h₂- and therefore take their feminine gender and proterokinetic pattern from the h₂-stems in PEE. Some nouns of this class have been further elaborated with an -s ending, which brings about the oxytone pattern and can be masculine in gender.
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 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.
sā āfš, "river" | taṯ 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 |
There is also a class of nouns with PX inflection in this group.
taṯ osta, "bone" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | osta | ostī | ostō |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | stēs | steuš | ostō |
loc | stēi̯ | steo | ostēi̯ |
dat | stēma | ostēi̯i | |
ins | stōi̯ |
osta "bone" is from PEE *h₃esth₁ and behaves somewhat like a -h₁ stem somewhat similar to ponθōs. In the sing. nom. the accented syllable is in e-grade which, under the influence of the initial laryngeal, becomes Galic o-. In the oblique cases, the root is in zero grade, the suffix being accented, and surfaces as stē < *h₃steh₁-. In the du. gen. and dat., the laryngeal ending of the stem scans as part of the ending syllable beginning in vowel and thus does not lengthen the stem vowel, creating the stem of ste-; in the dat. the ending does begin with a consonant, which then causes the laryngeal to be part of the suffix syllable and lengthens it. The plural is a collective and shows e-grade in the root and vr̩ddhied o-grade in the nom. ending < *h₃estōh₁ "bones (of a skeleton)". The oblique stem of the collective is from *h₃esth₁-, the full-grade root having spread from the nom., replacing *h₃sth₁-. Gen. ostō reflects *h₃esth₁-os. The collective loc. has *h₃esteh₁ > ostē-.
t-stems
The stems ending in -t comprise both of root nouns and suffixed nouns of all ablaut patterns. 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 the -t-.
nēpōs "grandchild" has the stem nep-ot-, where the suffix undergoes ablaut to zero grade in the oblique cases as nep-t- > nef-t-.
ha nēpōs, "grandchild" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | nēpōs | nepotōi̯ | nepotiš |
voc | |||
acc | nepotam | nefθaṇġ | |
gen | nefθōḫ | nefθōš | nefθõm |
loc | nepoti | nefθō | nefšu |
dat | nefθei̯ | nefθmō | nefšmuš |
ins | nefθa |
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 and extended by the suffix -t-. Whatever the case in the parent language, the -t- never becomes an independent syllable even in the plural nominative, which does not support its potential identification as a suffix. But a small group of other words with proparoxytone inflection exhibit the same behaviour.
hā nōxš, "evening, night" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | nōxš | noxta | noxtiš |
voc | |||
acc | noxtam | noxtaṇġ | |
gen | noxtōḫ | noxtuš | noxtõm |
loc | nakti | noxtū | nošθū |
dat | noxtōi̯ | noxśmuš | |
ins | noxta |
The PEE suffix *-teh₂ts created nouns of states of being; 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 | āmmərətātaṇġ | |
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 masculine participles and lexical gender. With nouns in -m, nt-stems often have three ablaut grades.
hā voą̄s, "wind" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | vóą̄s | vóanδōi̯ | vóanδiš |
voc | vóaõṯ | ||
acc | vóanδam | vóanδaṇġ | |
gen | ūnδōḫ | ūnδōs | ūnδõ |
loc | vóanδi | ūnδō | ūnδšo |
dat | ūnδei̯ | ūnδmō | ūnδmuš |
ins | ūnδōi̯ |
m-stems
This class is known from only a few but important nouns, e.g. θáɣam "earth", jii̯ā̊ "winter", and 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.
hā hīi̯ā̊, "winter" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | jīi̯ā̊ | jīi̯amōi̯ | jīi̯aēmiš |
voc | jīi̯õm | ||
acc | jīi̯ą̄m | jīi̯amāṇġ | |
gen | jimōḫ | jimōš | jimõm |
loc | hīi̯ai̯mi | jimō | jimhū |
dat | jimāi̯ | jimmō | jimmuš |
ins | jīm |
Most suffixed nouns with OX inflection will have a full-grade suffix, e.g. jii̯ā̊, but the archaic noun θáɣam has a full-grade root and zero-grade suffix reflecting *dʰéǵʰm̥. The zero-grade suffix in the nominative, for an OX noun, indicates a full-grade suffix in the accusative, i.e. *dʰǵʰem-m̥. However, the sequence *-em-m̥ in the proto-language resolves prehistorically to *-ēm via Stang's law and appears in Northian as -ā̊. As a result, the nominative ending appears like an accusative one (which usually ended in -am < *-um), and the accusative ending, like a nominative one (*-V̄R usually > -ā̊).
Note that the full grade in the accusative plural θágmaṇġ 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 θáɣam, "ground, earth" = χθών | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | θáɣam | θxamōi̯ | θximiš |
voc | |||
acc | θxā̊ | θágmaṇġ | |
gen | θxmōḫ | θxą̄mōš | θxmõm |
loc | θximi | θxą̄mō | θxāhū |
dat | θxmāi̯ | θxą̄mmō | θxą̄muš |
ins | θxma |
ns-stems
mā̊aṇġ "moon" has one of the less transparent paradigms in Galic.
hā mā̊aṇġ, "moon, month" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | mā̊aṇġ | māŋhə̄i̯ | māŋhāḫ |
voc | mā̊ṇġ | ||
acc | māŋhəm | māŋhaṇġ | |
gen | māŋhə̄ | māṇśmōš | māŋhą̄m |
loc | māṇġ | māŋhə̄u̯ | māŋhu |
dat | māŋhai̯ | māṇśmō | māṇśmuš |
ins | māŋha |
n-stems
A type of n-stem is found in the suffix *-mn, which are prolific in Northian in both the Galic and Epic languages, and they exhibit three ablaut patterns. In this case, the oxytone pattern was normal in animate nouns, and the paroxytone in neuter nouns. The acrostatic ablaut pattern is restricted to a few inherited terms.
In akmå "stone", the nom. singular ending is due to the opening of original final long syllables ending in nasals. The short stem is visible in the voc. and acc. The weak stem is from PEE *h₂kmn- > PNN *kumn- > Galic kāšm-. The nom. dual and acc. singular and plural have the stem influenced by the nom. singular. The original weak stem is visible in the sing. locative and pl. nominative, where it has shifted from *e to ai̯ under the influence of the ending containing i. This change would thus date the replacement of e-grade suffixes with o-grade to after the i-epenthesis has occurred.
hā asmā̊, "stone" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | asmā̊ | asmonōi̯ | asmiñiš |
voc | asmon | ||
acc | asmonam | asmonaṇġ | |
gen | xāšmōḫ | xāšmōš | xāšmõ |
loc | xāmiñi | xāmnō | xāmāhu |
dat | xāšmai̯ | xāšmō | xāšmuš |
ins | xāšma |
θēman "temple" has the variable ending -ā̆n after PNN *-un, resolving as short -an due to the long vowel preceding. The stem shows ablaut reflecting PEE *dʰéh₁-mn̥ ~ dʰh₁-mén-s.
θaṯ θēman, "house of a god, temple" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | θēman | θēmnī | θēmēn |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | šmēn | šmenuš | šmenõm |
loc | šmenu | šmai̯ni | |
dat | šmai̯ñi | šmāŋma | šmeŋmuš |
ins | šmēn |
The word nomān takes the proparoxytone pattern. The nom. sing. represents PEE *h₃nomn̥, where PNN final *-ā̆n was resolved long due to the short syllable preceding. The gen. is for PNN *nomā̆ns, with zero-grade gen. ending *-s. This noun in particular does not form a plural bur a collective. In the nom. the collective probably had PNN *nomōn, but *nomēn is also possible. The collective has an invariant stem throughout the paradigm.
taṯ nomān, "name" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | nomān | nomnī | nomā̊ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | nomaṇġ | nomnuš | nomnõm |
loc | nomunhu | noŋhu | |
dat | nomni | nomāma | nomnei̯ |
ins | nomna |
There are also n-stems not as part of a suffix of *-mVn. As they are considerably rarer than the latter type, they are sometimes emphasized as "bare" n-stems. They are of two types, distinguished in the nom. sing., those with -ō and those with -ēn. Though uncommon, they are typical of family names in the Epic age.
In woi̯ą̄ "wine", of the type ending in -ō, PNN stems are ablauting *wei̯-on- < *wei̯-Hon and *wī-n- < *wiH-n-. In the nom. sing. the root vowel is lengthened and opened prehistorically. In the oblique cases, stem *-n is altered before endings beginning in -m and becomes -ŋ-.
sā woi̯ą̄, "wine" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | woi̯ą̄ | woi̯onōi̯ | woi̯oniš |
voc | woi̯õ | ||
acc | wīi̯onam | woi̯onāṇġ | |
gen | wīnōḫ | wīnōš | wīnõ |
loc | wīi̯an | wīnō | wīŋhu |
dat | wīi̯ei̯ | wīŋmō | wīŋmuš |
ins | wīn |
ōrēn "lamb, ram" exemplifes the stems ending in -en-. The direct stem reflects PEE *wr̥h₁-en- > Galic wor-en, by way of PNN *wur-en, and the oblique *wr̥h₁-n- > PNN *wurə-n-. In both cases, PNN *wu dissimilates to *wo, and in Galic gives ō. This ablaut pattern contrasts with those in -on- in that the root is never accented and always shows zero-grade.
sa worą, "ram" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | worą̄ | worenōi̯ | woriñiš |
voc | woren | ||
acc | worą̄ | worenaṇġ | |
gen | wōra̯nōḫ | wōra̯nōš | wōra̯nõ |
loc | woriñi | wōra̯nō | wōra̯hu |
dat | wōra̯nei̯ | wōra̯mō | wōra̯muš |
ins | wōra̯nōi̯ |
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 mātā̆r, "mother" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | mātā̆r | mātēr | mātiriš |
voc | |||
acc | māδrąm | māδraṇġ | |
gen | mātūš | māturuš | māδrõm |
loc | māδri | māturo | mātuššu |
dat | māturụma | māturmuš | |
ins | māδra |
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".
Many derived nouns as well as agent nouns in -tor take PX inflection, such as dōtar "giver".
ha dōtar, "giver" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | dōtar | ditō | dōteriš |
voc | |||
acc | dōδram | dōtərəṇġ | |
gen | ditōḫ | diteruš | diterõm |
loc | ditiri | diteru | diteršu |
dat | diterma | ditermuš | |
ins | ditō |
sōhitār "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 ɣehār < 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 sōhitār, "daughter" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | sōhitār | duhiterōi̯ | duhitiriš |
voc | |||
acc | duhiteram | duhitərəṇġ | |
gen | duhiδrōḫ | duhiturōš | duhiδrõ |
loc | duhiδrei̯ | duhiturō | duhituššu |
dat | duhiturmō | duhiturmō | |
ins | duhiδrōi̯ |
pitō "father" is at a small variance from 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" nearly exactly. Only the gen. form paδrūš is aberrant and is influenced by "mother"; this genitive ending is common to all two-syllable nouns ending in -r, with the exception of "hand". The suppletive vocative atta is reserved for a biological father, whereas the general term pitō can have a broader application as a term of respect for any elderly male member of the community.
ha pitō, "father" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | pitō | piterōi̯ | pitiriš |
voc | piter / átta | ||
acc | piteram | pitərəṇġ | |
gen | piδrūš | piδrōš | piδrõ |
loc | patíri | piterō | piδruššu |
dat | piturmō | piturmuš | |
ins | pitār |
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 | niriš |
voc | |||
acc | drām | drāṇġ | |
gen | drōḫ | dārōš | drõ |
loc | níri | dārō | dāršu |
dat | drei̯ | dārmō | dārmuš |
ins | drōi̯ |
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 māṇġ-ša "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 | xratištāḥ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | xratištōḫ | xratištuš | xratištõ |
loc | xratišti | xratištū | xratiššū |
dat | xratišma | xratišmuš | |
ins | xratišta |
The PPX version of this stem had a few differences to the PX version that enabled it to withstand the general tendency to substitute PPX with PX or OX forms; its preservation cannot be unrelated, according to authorities, with the prevalence and prominence of the noun mānōḫ "mind", a central idea in the Galic religion and often mentioned in the Gales. The nom. sing. was mānōḫ < PEE *mn̥-os, with ending -ōḫ undergoing the same changes as the PX counterpart. The gen. had māṇġ < PEE *mn̥-s-s.
θaṯ mānōḫ, "mind" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | mānōḫ | māŋhī | māŋhā̊ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | māṇġ | māŋhuš | māŋhōḫ |
loc | māŋhi | māŋhū | māŋhōḫ |
dat | māŋhma | māŋhei̯ | |
ins | māŋha |
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 viịā̊ "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 viịā̊, "fear" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | aōštā̊ | uštištōi̯ | uštahāḫ | viịā̊ | vii̯ahōi̯ | vii̯ahāḫ |
voc | aōštōḫ | vii̯ōḫ | ||||
acc | uštahām | uštahāṇġ | vi̯ahām | vi̯ahahāṇġ | ||
gen | ušštōḫ | ušštōs | ušštõm | višštōḫ | višštōs | višštõm |
loc | uštišti | ušštō | ūšštū | vištišti | višštō | višštū |
dat | ušštei̯ | uššmō | uššmuš | višštei̯ | viššmō | viššmuš |
ins | ušštōi̯ | višštōi̯ |
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 | mūštaṇġ | |
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.
hā menδiš, "thought" | θaṯ mori, "sea" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | coll | |
nom | menδiš | menδēi̯ | menδai̯āḫ | mori | morēi̯ | morōi̯ |
voc | menδi | |||||
acc | menδin | menδī | ||||
gen | māδēš | māδei̯uš | māδei̯õm | brēš | brei̯uš | meri̯õm |
loc | menδei̯ | māδei̯ū | māδēšū | brei̯ei̯ | brei̯ū | merišū |
dat | māδei̯ai̯ | māδēma | māδēmuš | brēma | brēmuš | |
ins | māδēi̯ | brī |
The OX pattern of the nouns ending in -iš are mostly inheritances from the protolanguage, with paucal verifiable examples of later creations in this pattern. In the nominative dual and plural, the suffix is in o-grade, and the i̯ is consonantal. The combination *i̯e regularly > i̯a prehistorically; the same change intervenes in the athematic optative in verbs. In the dual, -i̯ah₁ > -i̯ā, cp. in other cases where this change does not occur, the dual ending *-eh₁ > *-ē > -ōi̯. Perhaps owing to the phonetic similarity between the dual and plural nom. forms, the ending for when *-eh₁ does not follow *i- -ōi̯ often displaces the expected -āḥ. In the plural, the ending *oi̯-es > *oi̯-as > -oi̯-āḫ.
ha hokai̯š, "ally" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | hokai̯š | sokoi̯āḥ sokoi̯ōi̯ |
sokoi̯āḫ |
voc | hoki | ||
acc | hokin | hokoi̯ām | |
gen | śxiịōḫ | śxiịōš | śxiịõm |
loc | śxoi̯i | śxiō | śxišu |
dat | śxịi̯ei̯ | śximō | śximuš |
ins | śxī |
The word *fotiš "lord, master" has PP inflection. As a word it is not seen alone but does serve as the second element in the terms dā̊ṃśfatiš "master of the house" and vixšfatiš "lord of the settlement". It has been questioned what ablaut pattern *fotiš actually has as an independent word, with some authorities dissenting it actually had PP inflection, on the grounds that the accent seems fixed in compounds like dā̊ṃśfatiš because it is drawn away by the first element.
ha dā̊ṃśfatiš, "master of the house" = δεσπότης | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | dā̊ṃśfatiš | dā̊ṃśfatī | dā̊ṃśfatiịāḫ |
voc | dā̊ṃśfati | ||
acc | dā̊ṃśfatim | dā̊ṃśfatīn | |
gen | dā̊ṃśfatiš | dā̊ṃśfatiịuš | dā̊ṃśfatiịõ |
loc | dā̊ṃśfati | dā̊ṃśfatiịū | dā̊ṃśfatišū |
dat | dā̊ṃśfatiị | dā̊ṃśfatimuš | |
ins | dā̊ṃśfatī |
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.
hā jenōš, "chin" | θaṯ dānū, "dew, tears" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | jenōš | jenuụa | jenəu̯ōḫ | dānū | dāunnī | dānāu̯ |
voc | jenaō | |||||
acc | jenā | jenau̯õ | ||||
gen | gāu̯ōḫ | gānnōš | gānuõ | daunnōḫ | daunnōš | daunnõ |
loc | jenaō | gānnō | gānuhu | ? | daunnō | daunuhu |
dat | gāu̯ōi̯ | gānumō | gānumuš | daunōi̯ | daunumō | daunumuš |
ins | gāu̯a | daunnū |
The OX pattern had a nom. sg. ending in PNN *-ou̯-s which regularly gave Galic -ō-š, the final -š being a regularly conditioned result of *-is and *-us. The gen. and dat. reflects PNN *-u-os and *-u-ei̯ as expected in a hysterokinetic pattern. The ins. may reflect PEE *gen-u-eh₁ or *gen-u-h₁, and the metre does not clarify. The dual behaves as expected. In the plural, final -eōs < *-eu̯-es, as though *-e-u̯es. The expected *-eu̯-iš anomalously does not occur with OX nouns but does with PX nouns, which may be a dialectal influence. The acc. shows -eõ which is from *-eu̯-ōn < *-eu̯-ons < *-eu̯-uns.
In contrast with common-gender u-stem OX nouns, neuter u-stem OX nouns are very rare, and only one item dāonū "dew, tear" is well-attested. The nom. sing. is from PEE *déh₂nu > PNN *dānu. The oblique stem is from PEE *dh₂n̥-u- > Galic daunn- because *-nu̯- is subject to assimilation to -nn-. The dual has *dāun-w- (effectively a mixture between direct and oblique stems) because the neuter dual ending is vocalic and causes the preceding *-w- to become a consonant, which then causes the *-n- preceding it to become *-n̥-. Interestingly, a person's tears is usually inflected as a dual, possibly itemizing tears as "streams of tears" coming from a person's eyes (which is by default inflected as dual).
ha hui̯us, "child" = υἱύς | θaṯ ai̯ū, "lifetime" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | coll | |
nom | hui̯uš | hui̯āu̯ | sui̯au̯ōḫ | ai̯ū | ai̯āu̯ | ai̯ō |
voc | hui̯aō | |||||
acc | hui̯ām | hui̯āṇġ | ||||
gen | hui̯ōš | hui̯au̯ō | hui̯au̯õ | i̯ao̯š | i̯au̯ō | i̯au̯ō |
loc | hui̯au̯i | hui̯au̯ū | hui̯au̯šū | i̯ai̯vi | i̯au̯a | i̯au̯ |
dat | hui̯au̯ma | hui̯au̯muš | i̯au̯ma | i̯au̯oi̯ | ||
ins | hui̯āu̯ | i̯āu̯ |
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 *seu̯i̯uš or *sou̯i̯uš would be expected based on the general ablaut tendencies, but it is in fact the proto-form of sui̯uš 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 *poh₂-i̯u > PNN *pōi̯u > Galic pōi̯o. The oblique stem is from PEE *ph₂-i̯ou̯-s > PNN *pə-i̯ou̯-s > Galic pii̯ōš, where PNN *ə regularly becomes Galic -i- before high vowels or their allophones. The du. and pl. nom. have the same form because their endings in PEE were *-h₁ and *-h₂ respectively, which were levelled and trigger Cammer's law lengthening the preceding vowel.
θaṯ doru, "wood" = δόρυ | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | dorū | doruụīḥ | dorāu̯ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | doruš | doruu̯ōḫ | druu̯ōḫ |
loc | derū | doruu̯a | doruu̯i |
dat | doruu̯i | doruma | druu̯ēi̯ |
ins | dorūḥ |
Laryngeal stems
Certain PEE nouns terminated in -h₁ or -h₂, which may follow a preceding vowel and showed ablaut in various ways. The ones without a preceding stem vowel will be discussed first.
The word fonδā̊ "path" had a stem ending in PEE *póntoh₁- ~ pn̥th₁-, with dual ablauting syllables that always show the same grades. The nom. pl. stands for *póntoh₁-es: the i̯ is spurious and does not cause the ending to become *-āḫ, as it always does were it genuine.
ha fonδā̊, "path, way" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | fonδā̊ | fonδōi̯ | fónδoịiš |
voc | |||
acc | fonδām | fāδoā̊ṇġ | |
gen | fāδōḫ | fānδōš | fānδõ |
loc | fonδō | fāδō | fāδu |
dat | fāδei̯ | fāδmō | fāδmuš |
ins | fāδā |
gą̄ "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 > gą̄n, and the zero-grade *gʷnéh₂- > jnā-.
hā gą̄n, "woman" = γυνή | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | gą̄n | jnå | gonāḫ |
voc | |||
acc | gonām | gonāṇġ | |
gen | jnās | jnāuš | jnāõ |
loc | jnāi̯ | jnāo | jnāhu |
dat | jnāma | jnāmuš | |
ins | jnå |
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 janiδrī "genitrix", the nom. is asigmatic. Notice that, in the gen. ganụiδri̯ā̊, the laryngeal is syllabified with the preceding vowel and causes it to lengthen, but in the dat. ganụiδri̯ai̯i it syllabifies with the following vowel and does not cause the preceding one to lengthen; in both cases, though, the preceding vowel is coloured. The regular syllabification is only attested in the earliest Galic texts; by the later Galic period, the dative was remade according to the genitive and has a long suffix.
In dat. ganụiδri̯ai̯i, the first yod <i̯> is genuine, and the second is spurious or merely orthographic. It is inserted by certain Runic writers to remind the reader that the following <i> is a separate syllable and not an offglide. The dat. ending *-i does not become an offglide because it was preceded by a laryngeal, which drops but is phonetically retained as a hiatus in many positions. The same is ture in the nom. dual janiδrīi̯a < PNN *jenəδrīə < PEE *ǵénh₁trih₂h₁, and in the gen. and loc. dual forms, where the <u̯> serves to demark the following short <u> as a syllable.
hā janiδrīḥ, "genitrix" = genitrix | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | janiδrīḥ | janiδrīịa | janiδriịāḫ |
voc | |||
acc | janiδrīm | janiδrīn | |
gen | ganụiδri̯ā̊ | ganụiδri̯aụuš | ganụiδri̯aõm |
loc | ganụiδri̯aịi | ganụδri̯aụū | ganụiδri̯āhū |
dat | ganụiδri̯āma | ganụiδri̯āmuš | |
ins | ganụiδri̯å |
The ī-stems in oxytone is mainly an adjectival declensional pattern, but it does also contain a few nouns. The main points of contrast to those in PX are that the nom. singular is sigmatic and that the nom. dual ends in -ii̯ā, 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 šterīš, "heifer" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | šterīš | šterii̯ā | šterii̯āḫ |
voc | šterī | ||
acc | šterīm | šterīn | |
loc | šterī | štrii̯ō | štrīšu |
gen | štrii̯ōḫ | štrii̯ōš | štrīi̯õ |
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 tenūš, "body" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | tenūš | tenāu̯ | tenuu̯āḫ |
voc | tenāu̯ | ||
acc | tenu̯ą̄m | tānu̯aā̊ṇġ | |
gen | tānuu̯ōḫ | tānuu̯ōs | tānuõ |
loc | tānuu̯āi̯ | tānuu̯ō | tānūhu |
dat | tānumō | tānūmuš | |
ins | tānāu̯ |
The ū-stems also includes one member with paroxytone accent, namely hōxrū "mother-in-law".
hā hōxrū, "mother-in-law" = socrus | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | hōxrū | hōxrāu̯a | hōxruu̯āḫ |
voc | |||
acc | hōxrūm | hōxrāṇġ | |
gen | hōxru̯āu̯ | hōxru̯āu̯uš | hōxru̯aõ |
loc | hōxru̯ā | hōxru̯āu̯u | hōxru̯āhu |
dat | hōxru̯āi̯i | hōxru̯āma | hōxru̯āmuš |
ins | hōxrūu̯a |
Heteroclitics
The r/n-stems, or heteroclitics, continue a class of (mostly agreed to be) archaic EE nouns that had different suffixes depending on case even at the level of the proto-language. They are special in that they are all neuter nouns with fundamental meanings and show acrostatic > PPX or proterokinetic > PX ablaut in the singular and dual. These nouns do not take plural endings in Galic times but rather form a "collective" which take OX singular endings. In this respect they are similar to mn-stems and dissimilar to es/os-stems, which are both reserved to neuter nouns. In the Epic language, many heteroclitics also formed ordinary plurals from the zero-grade stem, which agree with singular verbs and have meanings different to their collective brethren.
In the Galic language, many heteroclitic nouns have opaque forms owing to their (generally) short stem and susceptibility to ablaut, vocalization, and internal sandhi. From a historical angle, there are three heteroclitic stems that give rise to differing forms in Northian—those in *-wr̥/wn-, *-Hr̥/Hn-, and *-rr̥/rn-. The type of på "dwelling" ended in PEE *-r-r̥ in the nominative, but the second *r is syncopated into the first in its evolution to Northian; the oblique stem assimilates to -nn-. The type with nom. ending in -ō such as perå "mountain" ended in *-wr̥ in the proto-language. This ending would first become PNN *-wur, then Northian *-wor; in Galic, *-wo- following a vowel regularly becomes -å. For the stems ending in laryngeal, the effect is most noticeable before the PX ending *-ens; this ending surfaces as -āš after *h₂- and -ōḥ after *h₃-.
PP i̯å "year", is from *yoh₁-r̥ > *yō-ur, gen. *yeh₁-n̥-s > *yē-uns. In Galic, unaccented final -ur regularly drops and lengthens preceding syllable. The strong stem with *-r- is visible in the dual nom. In the gen., *uns > *ə̄ṇġ. In the dat. the long vowel resists mutation caused by final short *-i. The ins. ending has dropped, but the preceding long vowel cannot be further lengthened to *å because it is closed. The rest of the du. behaves as expected. In the collective, the stems are from the e-grade and zero grade (as opposed to o-grade and e-grade of the PPX singular and dual). The nom. has a vṛddhied ending. The zero-grade stem is from *ih₁-n- > Galic īn-, and OX endings follow as usual.
i̯å is famously found in G.Nr. 59/2, using the similarity between the word for a single year and a group of years, i.e. an age or epoch, to contemplate the relationship between a single revolution of the annual cycle and the cycle of annual cycles, i̯ā̊ toi̯ i̯ə̄ṇġ, īnō i̯å "ages from year, year of ages".
θaṯ i̯å, "year" = ὥρα | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | i̯ā̊ | i̯ōrī | i̯ā̊r |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | i̯āṇġ | i̯ānuš | īnōḫ |
loc | i̯āi̯ni | i̯ānū | i̯anei̯ |
dat | i̯āŋma | īnē | |
ins | i̯ān | īnā |
pāu̯ar "fire" represents the heteroclitic nouns with proterokinetic pattern, with accented stem in the oblique cases. The PNN form is *pāwur and gen. *pəwens, from PEE *peh₂-wr̥ and gen. *ph₂wen-s. In the nom., the sequence *-wu- differentiates to *-wo- prehistorically. In the gen. *ə before -e- regularly becomes -a-. Final *-s drops and causes the preceding *-e- to lengthen. Mutation occurs in the dat. with *-e- > -ei̯-.
θaṯ pāu̯ar, "fire" = πῦρ | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | coll | |
nom | pāu̯arạ | pāu̯orī | pāu̯ā̊ |
voc | |||
acc | |||
gen | pau̯ōn | pau̯onuš | fūnōḫ |
loc | pau̯oni | pau̯onū | fūni |
dat | pau̯onma | fūnei̯ | |
ins | pau̯ōn | pūn |
Other common heteroclitic nouns include:
- PX aɣar ɣēn "day"
- PX petar ptå "feather"
- PPX woθar woθə̄ṇġ "water" < PEE *wodr̥ *wodn̥s
- PPX perå perō "mountain"
- PPX på perə̄ṇġ "house"
sā̊l, phonologically probably sāōl, "the Sun" continues the PEE heteroclitic stem in *-l/n-. The strong stem descends from PEE *seh₂w- > sāw-; the weak stem from *sh₂ew- > saw-. The nominative is due to the regular sound change of *wu > wo. Genitive has hu̯ə̄ṇġ, for expected *hwēn < *swens < *sh₂wens; this possibly suggests the proterokinetic ending *-ens was replaced by acrostatic ending *-n̥s prehistorically, as from from PNN *swuns < PEE *sh₂wn̥s. However, because other Nordic languages show a reflex of *sh₂wens, the insertion of the acrostatic ending must have occurred only after Northian diverged from PNN.
The word sā̊l signifies a heavenly body that is considered a god 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". After the Late Canon period, the genitive dual sunuš < PEE **sh₂wn-us displaced the singular hu̯ə̄ṇġ in all but ritualistic contexts as the normal word for "Sun's". During the imperial period, the stem from the dual was re-interpreted as an o-stem and formed the neologism sunō for the nom. sing., which also replaced sā̊l in non-ritualistic contexts.
hā hāu̯al, "the Sun" | ||
---|---|---|
sing | du | |
nom | hāu̯al | hāwa |
voc | ||
acc | ||
gen | hūvaṇġ | sānuš |
loc | hvíni | sānui̯ |
dat | sāŋma | |
ins | hūva |
ā-stems
sā mihrā, "mist" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | mihrā | mihrāi̯ī | mihråḫ |
voc | |||
acc | mihrām | mihrāṇġ | |
gen | mihrāu̯ | mihrā̊s | mihrą̄̊ |
loc | mihrā | mihrā̊ | mihrāhu |
dat | mihråi̯ | mihrāmō | mihrāmuš |
ins | mihrå |
o-stems
sa θūmōḫ, "smoke" | taṯ i̯uɣõ, "yoke" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | θūmōḫ | θūmō | θūmōi̯is | i̯uɣõ | i̯uɣōi̯ī | i̯uɣō |
voc | θūmi | |||||
acc | θūmõ | θūmōn | ||||
gen | θūmōi̯o | θūmōu̯uš | θūmą̊ | i̯uɣōi̯o | i̯uɣōu̯uš | i̯uɣą̊ |
loc | θūmēi̯ | θūmōu̯u | θūmōi̯o | i̯uɣēi̯ | i̯uɣōu̯u | i̯uɣōi̯o |
dat | θūmōi̯ | θūmōma | θūmōmuš | i̯uɣōi̯ | i̯uɣōma | i̯uɣōmuš |
ins | θūmō | i̯uɣō |
Acrean declensions
Many words in later Northian are ELder Old Nordic loanwords from speakers of Acrean, which was used as a lingua franca in western Eracura for centuries under the influence of the Acrean Empire. These words were so 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 sāwula huvə̄ṇġ and displaced the latter's oblique forms. Displacement concentrated in Epic forms made opaque by regular sound change, e.g. the forms of PEE *séh₂wl̥ had become hāvula, hau̯ą̄m, and huvə̄ṇġ. While all these forms were regular outcomes of Erani-Eracuran ablaut, at least in this noun they were no longer so understood after the Epic age.
hā hāvula, "Sun" | ||
---|---|---|
sing | du & pl | |
nom | hāvula | 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 |
Irregular nouns
Country names
All country-names in Northian are feminine in gender, though the declensions may not reflect this readily. Nevertheless they agree with feminine adjectives and participles in all cases.
"Æþurheim", the name of the country to the southwest of Shalum, has an invariant stem with full grade throughout and initial persistent accent in Aí̯θrō-, which takes oxytone endings. The vocative form is identical to the nominative, showing full grade. Because the accent is in its expected position in the nom. and voc. forms, the acute accent on the i is not necessary there, while it is found in all other forms to denote the irregular accent.
"Shalum" behaves in a manner more reminiscent of a regular n-stem noun in oxytone and has the expected endings and accentual positions, but the stem does not display apophony as is usual in this class of nouns.
"Acrea" is named Aṇhrōs, which is a compound from aṇh- "lord" and rōs "realm, power", gen. Aṇhurō.
sā Ai̯θrō, "Æþurheim" | sā Halō, "Shalum" | sā Aṇhrōs, "Acrea" | sā Silū, "Silua" | sā Hu̯inī, "Svinia" | sā Ossorī, "Ossoria" | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | sing | sing | sing | sing | sing | |
nom | Ai̯θrō | Halō | ||||
voc | ||||||
acc | Aí̯θrōnum | Halomnum | ||||
gen | Aí̯θrōnō | Halomnō | ||||
loc | Aí̯θrōni | Halomei̯ne | ||||
dat | Aí̯θrōnē | Halomnē | ||||
ins | Aí̯θrōn | 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 | -wos | -ā | -o | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Few | Few | Yes | Few | Yes | Yes | Yes | I | II |
PX | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Few | Few | No | No | No | ||
PP | No | No | No | No | poluš | No | No | No | No | No |
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 Sā̊l "the 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.
Two-ending
In the case of meδuš "sweet", the masculine and feminine forms have PX inflection, while the neuter has PP inflection. This is usually held to be an archaicism as the word is related to the neuter noun meδū "honey", and it appears it is the animate descriptors that are derived from the neuter noun, which retains its original inflection pattern.
m. and f. meδuš, "sweet" | n. meδū, "sweet" = μέθυ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | meδuš | meδēu̯ | meδeu̯ōḫ | meδū | meδuu̯īḥ | meδūḥ |
voc | meδū | |||||
acc | meδām | meδāṇġ | ||||
gen | ādōš | ādeu̯ōḫ | ādeu̯õ | meδuš | meδuu̯ōḫ | meδuu̯õ |
loc | ādeu̯ | ādeu̯a | ādeu̯šu | meδū | meδuu̯a | meδušu |
dat | ādeu̯i | ādeu̯u̯a | ādeu̯mus | meδuu̯i | meδuma | meδumus |
ins | ādēu̯ | meδūḥ |
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. θenuš, "thin" = thin | n. θenū, "thin" | f. θenūḥ, "thin" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | θenuš | θenēu̯ | θeneu̯ōḫ | θenū | θeneu̯ī | θenēu̯ | θenūḥ | θenūu̯a | θenuu̯ōḫ |
voc | θenū | ||||||||
acc | θenām | θenāṇġ | θenu̯ą̊ | θenu̯åṇġ | |||||
gen | θānaoš | θāneu̯ōḫ | θāneu̯õ | = m. | θānu̯āu̯ | θānu̯āu̯uš | θānu̯ą̄̊ | ||
loc | θāneu̯ | θāneu̯a | θāneu̯šu | θenūḥ | θānu̯āu̯u | θānu̯āhu | |||
dat | θāneu̯i | θāneu̯ma | θāneu̯mus | θānu̯ai̯i | θānu̯āma | θānu̯āmus | |||
ins | θānēu̯ | θānu̯å |
The feminine forms of hvāsvīḥ "sweet, gentle" < PEE *swéh₂dwih₂ are provided by way of illustration of the u-stem adjectives with feminine forms in -īḥ.
f. hvāsvīḥ, "sweet, gentle" | |||
---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | |
nom | hvāsvīḥ | hu̯āsu̯īi̯a | hu̯āsu̯ii̯āḫ |
voc | |||
acc | hu̯āsu̯īəm | hu̯āsu̯īi̯aṇġ | |
gen | hūšu̯i̯āu̯ | hūšu̯i̯āu̯us | hūšu̯i̯ą̄̊ |
loc | hūšu̯i̯āi | hūšu̯i̯āu̯u | hūšu̯i̯āšu |
dat | hūšu̯i̯āi̯i | hūšu̯i̯āma | hūšu̯i̯āmuš |
ins | hūšu̯i̯å |
i-stem
m. θrēštiš, "sad" | n. θrēšti, "sad" | f. θrištei̯īḥ, "sad" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | θrēštiš | θrēštī | θrēštai̯āḫ | θrēšti | θrištei̯īḥ | θrištēi̯ | θrištei̯īḥ | θrištei̯īi̯a | θrištei̯īš |
voc | θrēšti | ||||||||
acc | θrēštin | θrēstei̯āṇġ | θrištei̯īi̯am | θrištei̯īi̯aṇġ | |||||
gen | θrištēš | θrištei̯uš | θrištei̯õm | = m. | θrištii̯āu̯ | θrištii̯āu̯uš | θrištii̯ą̄̊ | ||
loc | θrēšti | θrištei̯u | θrištēšu | θrištii̯āḥ | θrištii̯āu̯u | θrištii̯āhu | |||
dat | θrištei̯ei̯ | θrištēma | θrištēmuš | θrištii̯āi̯i | θrištii̯āma | θrištii̯āmuš | |||
ins | θrištēi̯ | θrištii̯å |
nt-stem (adjectives)
From PEE *rh₁-wénts, "rich in possessions", from *reh₁s, "possession". This word takes the OX inflection.
m. rawōi̯t, "wealthy" | n. rawoi̯t, "wealthy" | f. rawonθī, "wealthy" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | rawōi̯t | rawonθōi̯ | rawonθiš | rawoi̯t | rawonθī | rawonθiš | rawonθī | rawonθii̯ōi̯ | rawonθii̯āḫ |
voc | rawōt | ||||||||
acc | rawonθam | rawonθāṇġ | rawonθii̯ām | rawonθii̯āṇġ | |||||
loc | rawonθi | ranθō | rawontšu | = masc. | ranθi̯ā | ranθi̯aō | ranθi̯āhu | ||
gen | ranθōḫ | ranθtōš | ranθõ | ranθi̯ā̊ḫ | ranθi̯aōš | ranθi̯aõ | |||
Ablative | 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 scholars suspect 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 very remote period. 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. hāmenōḫ, "well-intended" | n. hāminiš, "well-intended" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | hāmenōḫ | hāmenezōi̯ | hāmenišiš | hāminiš | hāmenezī | hāmeneza |
voc | hāméniš | |||||
acc | hāmenehām | hāmenezāṇġ | ||||
gen | hāmenezōḫ | hāmenehōš | hāmenehõ | = m. and f. | ||
loc | hāminiš | hāmenehō | hāmenešu | |||
dat | hāmenezei̯ | hāmenehmō | hāmenehmus | |||
ins | hāmenezōi̯ |
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).
There is a possible form of the nom. pl. of the feminine participle in the shape of bíβiθušiịā from the Gellar Manuscript, which could suggest *be-bidʰ-us-ih₂-es. This would echo the zero-grade in the feminizing suffix seen in the dual béβiθuštīịa, but the interpretation of the solitary exmaple has not been uncontroversial. Those who oppose the identification of an alloform have pointed out that Gellar is not a particularly old or fruitful manuscript and that the feminizing suffix is always in the full grade in the nominative plural elsewhere. Additionally, Grover notes that if the suffix had been in the zero grade, the sound after the perfect participle suffix would have been a vowel, and a t would have been inserted as is done usually; she suggests that the manuscript's <iia> was a simple error for <iaa>.
m. biβišvā̊, "sympathetic" = πεποιθώς | n. béβiθuš, "sympathetic" = πεποιθός | f. béβiθušīḥ, "sympathetic" = πεποιθυῖα | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | biβišvā̊ | biβišvóhōi̯ | biβišvóhiš | béβiθuš | biβišvóhī | biβišvóha | béβiθuštīḥ | béβiθuštīịa | béβiθuši̯a·ā̊ |
voc | béβišvōḫ | ||||||||
acc | biβišvohām | vevišvohāṇġ | veviθušīi̯am | veviθušīi̯aṇġ | |||||
gen | biβiθuštōḫ | veviθušōš | veviθušõ | = m. | veviθuši̯āu̯ | veviθuši̯āi̯uš | veviθuši̯ą̄̊ | ||
loc | veviθuši | veviθušō | veviθūššu | veviθuši̯āḥ | veviθuši̯āi̯u | veviθuši̯āhu | |||
dat | biβiθuštei̯ | veviθušmō | veviθušmuš | veviθuši̯āi̯i | veviθuši̯āma | veviθuši̯āmuš | |||
ins | biβiθuštōi̯ | veviθuši̯å |
Comparative adjectives in -yos-
Many (but not all) adjectives formed comparative forms with the suffix -i̯ōs- ~ -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. hu̯āzi̯āu̯, "sweeter" = sweeter | n. hu̯āzi̯ōḫ, "sweeter" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | hu̯āzi̯āu̯ | hu̯āzi̯oha | hu̯āzi̯ohiš | hu̯āzi̯ōḫ | hu̯āzi̯ohī | hu̯āzi̯oha |
voc | hu̯āzi̯ōḫ | |||||
acc | hu̯āzi̯aham | hu̯āzi̯ahāṇġ | ||||
gen | sūdišōḫ | sūdišōš | sūdišõ | = m. | ||
loc | sūzi̯ahi | sūdišō | sūdišu | |||
dat | sūdišei̯ | sūdihmō | sūdihmuš | |||
ins | sūdišōi̯ |
r/n-stem
This class of adjectives were principally derived from the heteroclitics neuter nouns. The neuter singular was identical to the collective of the heteroclitic noun, while the neuter plural was formed by adding athematic endings to the collective stem. The masculine was formed as an n-stem, while the feminine was formed as with the suffix -ih₂ from the zero-grade of the collective stem. In the following example, the neuter singular pei̯å "fat" is from PEE *piH-wor- ~ piH-ur-; the masculine was from *piH-won- ~ piH-un-, and the feminine *piH-ur-ih₂- ~ piH-ur-i̯eh₂-.
m. pei̯u̯ą̄, "fat" = fat | n. pei̯u̯å, "fat" | f. pīə̄rī, "fat" | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | sing | du | pl | |
nom | pēu̯ą̄ | pēu̯ōnōi̯ | pēu̯ōniš | pēu̯å | pēu̯ōrīḥ | pēu̯ōr | pu̯iu̯urīḥ | pu̯iu̯urīi̯a | pu̯iu̯urii̯āḫ |
voc | pēu̯on | ||||||||
acc | pēu̯onām | pēu̯onāṇġ | pu̯iu̯urii̯ām | pu̯iu̯urii̯āṇġ | |||||
gen | pu̯iu̯unōḫ | pu̯iu̯unōš | pu̯iu̯unõ | pu̯iu̯urōḫ | pu̯iu̯urš | pu̯iu̯urõ | pu̯iu̯uri̯āu̯s | pu̯iu̯uri̯āu̯us | pu̯iu̯uri̯ą̄̊ |
loc | pu̯iu̯on | pu̯iu̯unō | pu̯iu̯uŋhu | pu̯iu̯uron | pu̯iu̯urō | pu̯iu̯urhu | pu̯iu̯uri̯āḥ | pu̯iu̯uri̯āu̯u | pu̯iu̯uri̯āhu |
dat | pu̯iu̯unei̯ | pu̯iu̯unmō | pu̯iu̯unmuš | pu̯iu̯urmō | pu̯iu̯urmuš | pu̯iu̯uri̯ai̯i | pu̯iu̯uri̯āma | pu̯iu̯uri̯āmuš | |
ins | pu̯iu̯unōi̯ | pu̯iu̯urōi̯ | pu̯iu̯uri̯å |
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" | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | |
Nominative | hā̊ | hõm | hámīḥ | dvō | duịīḥ | dvóịīḥ | θráịi̯āḫ | θrī́ḥ | θrišríš | koδvóriš | kótar | kotušriš |
Vocative | hõm | |||||||||||
Accusative | hə̄m | hámīi̯am | θrī́ | θrisérə̄ṇġ | koδvórāṇġ | kotušárəṇġ | ||||||
Locative | himi | hmi̯āi | duō | θvāu̯u | θrišū | θrižərəžū | koδvərəžū | kotušštū | ||||
Dative | hmei̯ | dumā́ | θvāma | θrimuš | θrižərəmuš | koδvərəmuš | *koδvərəzərəmuš | |||||
Ablative | hmōḫ | hmi̯āu̯ | θribi̯ō | θrižərəbi̯ō | koδvərəbi̯ō | kotušūbi̯ō | ||||||
Genitive | duōš | θvāu̯uš | θri̯õm | θrišrõm | koturõm | kotušrõm | ||||||
Instrumental | hmōi̯ | hmi̯å | dumā́ | θvāma | θrišūr | θrišra | kotura | kotušra |
"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. θráịi̯āḫ 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 θrei̯štar θrišrōḫ < *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- gives rise to a-vocalism in auslaut, such as in the neuter nominative hotār < *kʷetw̥r. But where an obstruent follows the suffix it is the *-r- that becomes syllabic, as in koδvərəmuš < *kʷetwr̥mus. There was also a singular form koδvā̊ < *kʷetwōr = Acrean quattuor.
The hypothetical dative feminine for "four", hoδvərəzərəmuš is for *kʷétwr̥sr̥mus. This word is syncopated in various ways by the ancients owing to the unusual sequence of four consecutive similar and unaccented vowels. Such a word would have been metrically unusable. Nevertheless, the hypothetical form is posited by all authorities to account for all the syncopated variants attested in literature.
5 and higher
Pronouns
First person
sing | du | pl | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stressed | enclitic | stressed | enclitic | stressed | enclitic | |
nom | áhō | vṓ | vōi̯ | |||
acc | ammṓi̯ | mi | āŋhō | nō | aŋhmṓi̯ | nā̊́ḫ |
gen | mémi | moi̯ | nō | āŋhér- | ||
dat | máji̯o | nanā́ | āŋhméi̯ |
Second person
sing | du | pl | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stressed | enclitic | stressed | enclitic | stressed | enclitic | |
nom | tū́ | yṓ | yā̊́ḫ | |||
acc | svō | ti | ūšō | vō | ušmé | vā̊́ḫ |
gen | téve | toi̯ | wō | yuštr-(I/II) | ||
dat | tévi̯ō | toi̯ | wanā́ | ušmḗ |
Demonstrative
Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | |
Nominative | ha | taṯ | hā | tō | toī | tāī | toy | tā | 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 | aẹ̄ụu̯õm | |
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
genmi, gānté, "to strike"
active | middle | fut imp | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ||
1 sg | gén-mi | igḗn | gḗn | ah-ō | gān-i̯ą̄m | — | gān-ūm | igun-ūm | gān-ūm | gén-ą̄m | jñ-īma | — | — |
2 sg | gáŋ-hi | igḗn | gḗn | -ehi | -i̯āu̯ | gān-θī́ | -šθoi̯ | -šθo | -šθo | -ésθoi̯ | -īšθo | gān-švō | gān-θitoṯ |
3 sg | gén-ti | igeṯ | ge-ṯ | -eti | -i̯āṯ | -itū́ | -θoi̯ | -θo | -θo | -étoi̯ | -īto | -θo | -θoṯ |
1 du | gāŋ-víñi | iguŋ-vo | gāŋ-ivó | -ou̯iñi | -īu̯o | — | gāŋ-vózθa | iguŋ-vóθa | gāŋ-vóθa | -ou̯ozθa | -īvóθa | — | — |
2 du | gān-tāḫ | igun-θõm | gān-θõm | -étāḫ | -ītõm | -θāḫ | jñ-ātiθai̯i | igñ-ātiθa | jñ-ātaθa | -ētaθai | -ītaθa | jñ-ātaθa | -θoṯ |
3 du | -tés | -θą̄m | -θą̄m | -étiš | -ītąm | -θés | -ātāi̯i | igñ-ātā | -ātā | -ētāi̯i | -ītā | jñ-ātā | -θoṯ |
1 pl | -míñi | -mo | -mo | -omiñi | -īmō | — | gān-mózθa | igun-meθa | gān-meθa | -omozθa | -īmeθa | — | — |
2 pl | -θé | -θé | -θe | -éti | -īte | gén-θi | -šθve | -šθve | -šθve | -ésθve | -īšθve | -θve | -θoṯ |
3 pl | jñ-énθi | igñ-éṯ | jñéṯ | -ónθi | -ii̯āṯ | 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 | ā̊s-am | áh-am | áh-ō | h-i̯ą̄m | — | — |
2 sg | é-si | ā̊s | es | es-ei̯i | -i̯āu̯ | z-θī́ | z-θitoṯ |
3 sg | és-ti | ā̊s-ṯ | es-ṯ | es-ei̯ | -i̯āṯ | s-itū́ | s-toṯ |
1 du | h-víñi | āh-vo | h-vó | áh-ou̯iñi | s-īu̯o | — | — |
2 du | s-tāḫ | ēs-tõm | s-tõm | es-étāḫ | -ītõm | -tāḫ | -toṯ |
3 du | -tés | -tą̄m | -tą̄m | es-étiš | -ītąm | -tés | -toṯ |
1 pl | h-míñi | āh-mo | h-mo | áh-omiñi | -īmō | — | — |
2 pl | s-té | ēs-té | s-te | es-éti | -īte | és-ti | -toṯ |
3 pl | h-ánθi | ēs-éṯ | háṯ | áh-onθi | -ii̯āṯ | h-ánθu | h-unθoṯ |
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 | -ei̯ | -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 | -ētā | -ētā | -ētāi̯i | -ii̯itā | -ētā | -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-éṯ | -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
paēmi, pité, "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-.
active | middle | fut imp | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ||
1 sg | p-aḗmi | ep-ą̄m | p-ą̄m | p-ā̊ | f-i̯ą̄m | — | p-ā́m | ep-ā́m | p-ā́m | p-ą̄m | p-īma | — | — |
2 sg | p-ā́hi | epā-š | -iš | -ā̊i̯i | -i̯āu̯ | piθī́ | -išθoi̯ | -išθo | -išθo | -ásθoi̯ | -īšθo | p-išvō | p-iθitoṯ |
3 sg | -ā́ti | epā-t | -it | -ā̊i̯ | -i̯āṯ | -itū́ | -itoi̯ | -ito | -ito | -átoi̯ | -īto | -ito | -itoṯ |
1 du | p-ivíñi | ep-ivo | p-ivó | -ou̯iñi | p-īvo | — | -ivózθa | -ivóθa | -ivóθa | -ou̯ozθa | -īvóθa | — | — |
2 du | -itāḫ | -itõm | -itõm | -átāḫ | -ītõm | -itāḫ | -ātiθai̯i | -ātiθa | -ātaθa | -ātaθai | -ii̯itaθa | -ātaθa | -itoṯ |
3 du | -ités | -itą̄m | -itą̄m | -átiš | -ītąm | -ités | -ātāi̯i | -ātā | -ātā | -ātāi̯i | -ii̯itā | -ātā | -itoṯ |
1 pl | -amíñi | -amo | -amo | -omiñi | -īmō | — | -amózθa | -ameθa | -ameθa | -omozθa | -īmeθa | — | — |
2 pl | -ité | -ité | -ité | -áti | -īté | pā́-ti | -išθvé | -išθvé | -išθvé | -ásθve | -īšθve | -iθve | -itoṯ |
3 pl | p-ánθi | ep-áṯ | p-áṯ | -ónθi | -ii̯āṯ | p-ánθu | -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 |
néu̯ ~ nu
hšnéu̯u̯i, hšnuθvé, "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 | hš-néu̯u̯i | ekš-neu̯õ | hš-ną̄m | hš-neu̯ō | hš-nui̯ą̄m | — | hš-nūm | ekš-nūm | hš-nūm | hš-neu̯ą̄m | hš-āŋvīma | — | — |
2 sg | hš-náōši | -neu̯š | hšneu̯š | -neu̯ehi | -nui̯āu̯ | hš-néu̯ | -nušθoi̯ | -nušθo | -nušθo | -neu̯esθoi̯ | -āŋvīšθo | hš-nušvō | hš-nuθitoṯ |
3 sg | hš-néu̯ždi | -neu̯ | -neu̯ | -neu̯eti | -nui̯āṯ | -nutu | -nutoi̯ | -nuto | -nuto | -neu̯etoi̯ | -āŋvīto | -nuto | -nutoṯ |
1 du | -nuu̯íñi | ekšnuu̯o | hšnuu̯o | -neu̯ou̯iñi | hš-āŋvīu̯o | — | -nuu̯ózθa | -nuu̯óθa | -nuu̯eθa | -neu̯ou̯ozθa | -āŋvīu̯óθa | — | — |
2 du | -nutāḫ | -nutõm | -nutõm | -neu̯ótāḫ | -āŋvītõm | -nutāḫ | -āŋvātiθai̯i | -āŋvātaθa | -āŋvātaθa | -neu̯ātaθai | -āŋvītaθa | -āŋvātaθa | -nutoṯ |
3 du | -nutés | -nutą̄m | -nutą̄m | -neu̯ótiš | -āŋvītąm | -nutíš | -āŋvātāi̯i | -āŋvātā | -āŋvātā | -neu̯ātāi̯i | -āŋvītā | -āŋvātā | -nutoṯ |
1 pl | -numíñi | -numo | -numo | -neu̯omiñi | -āŋvīmō | — | -numózθa | -numeθa | -numeθa | -neu̯omozθa | -āŋvīmeθa | — | — |
2 pl | -nuté | -nute | -nute | -neu̯óte | -āŋvīte | -nute | -nušθve | -nušθve | -nušθve | -neu̯esθve | -āŋvīšθve | -nuθve | -nutoṯ |
3 pl | hš-ŋvónθi | ekš-ŋvóṯ | hš-āŋvóṯ | -neu̯onθi | -āŋvi̯āṯ | -āŋvónθu | -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
tetóna, tetné "to be long".
active | middle | fut imp | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ind | plpf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ||
1 sg | tetón-a | etetón-ą̄m | p-ą̄m | teten-ō | tetn-i̯ą̄m | — | p-ā́m | ep-ā́m | p-ā́m | p-ą̄m | p-īma | — | — |
2 sg | -θa | etetṓn | -iš | -esi | -i̯āu̯ | tetun-θī́ | -išθoi̯ | -išθo | -išθo | -ásθoi̯ | -īšθo | p-išvō | p-iθitoṯ |
3 sg | -i | etetṓṯ | -it | -eti | -i̯āṯ | -tū́ | -itoi̯ | -ito | -ito | -átoi̯ | -īto | -ito | -itoṯ |
1 du | tetun-vo | etetun-vo | p-ivó | -ou̯iñi | -īvo | — | -ivózθa | -ivóθa | -ivóθa | -ou̯ozθa | -īvóθa | — | — |
2 du | tetn-itā | -θõm | -itõm | -etāḫ | -ītõm | -tāḫ | -ātiθai̯i | -ātiθa | -ātaθa | -ātaθai | -ii̯itaθa | -ātaθa | -itoṯ |
3 du | -itṓ | -θą̄m | -itą̄m | -átiš | -ītąm | -tés | -ātāi̯i | -ātā | -ātā | -ātāi̯i | -ii̯itā | -ātā | -itoṯ |
1 pl | -mé | -mo | -amo | -omiñi | -īmō | — | -amózθa | -ameθa | -ameθa | -omozθa | -īmeθa | — | — |
2 pl | -é | -θé | -ité | -áti | -īté | -ti | -išθvé | -išθvé | -išθvé | -ásθve | -īšθve | -iθve | -itoṯ |
3 pl | -ṓ | -áṯ | p-áṯ | -ónθi | -ii̯āṯ | tétn-unθu | -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 |
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 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 | fut imp | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ind | plpf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ind | impf | inj | subj | opt | imp | ||
1 sg | u̯ṓi̯d-a | etetón-ą̄m | p-ą̄m | teten-ō | tetn-i̯ą̄m | — | p-ā́m | ep-ā́m | p-ā́m | p-ą̄m | p-īma | — | — |
2 sg | u̯ṓi̯š-θa | etetṓn | -iš | -esi | -i̯āu̯ | tetun-θī́ | -išθoi̯ | -išθo | -išθo | -ásθoi̯ | -īšθo | p-išvō | p-iθitoṯ |
3 sg | u̯ṓi̯d-i | etetṓṯ | -it | -eti | -i̯āṯ | -tū́ | -itoi̯ | -ito | -ito | -átoi̯ | -īto | -ito | -itoṯ |
1 du | vis-vo | etetun-vo | p-ivó | -ou̯iñi | -īvo | — | -ivózθa | -ivóθa | -ivóθa | -ou̯ozθa | -īvóθa | — | — |
2 du | -tā | -θõm | -itõm | -etāḫ | -ītõm | -tāḫ | -ātiθai̯i | -ātiθa | -ātaθa | -ātaθai | -ii̯itaθa | -ātaθa | -itoṯ |
3 du | -tṓ | -θą̄m | -itą̄m | -átiš | -ītąm | -tés | -ātāi̯i | -ātā | -ātā | -ātāi̯i | -ii̯itā | -ātā | -itoṯ |
1 pl | -mé | -mo | -amo | -omiñi | -īmō | — | -amózθa | -ameθa | -ameθa | -omozθa | -īmeθa | — | — |
2 pl | vid-é | -θé | -ité | -áti | -īté | -ti | -išθvé | -išθvé | -išθvé | -ásθve | -īšθve | -iθve | -itoṯ |
3 pl | u̯ṓi̯d-ūš | -áṯ | p-áṯ | -ónθi | -ii̯āṯ | tétn-unθu | -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 |
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
vēθō act "I trust"
Indicative | Imperfect | Injunctive | Subjunctive | Optative | Imperative | Future imp. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 sg. | vēθō | evēθõ | vēθõ | vēθō | vēθīm | — | — |
2 sg. | vēθēši | evēθiš | vēθiš | vēθēši | vēθīs | vēθi | vēθetoṯ |
3 sg. | vēθei̯ | evēθiṯ | vēθiṯ | vēθēi | vēθīṯ | vēθetu | vēθetoṯ |
1 du. | vēθou̯éi̯ñi | evēθowi | vēθowi | vēθōu̯iš | vēθīu̯ō | — | — |
2 du. | vēθétas | evēθetõ | vēθetõ | vēθētas | vēθītõ | vēθetas | vēθetoṯ |
3 du. | vēθétiš | evēθetą̄m | vēθetą̄m | vēθētiš | vēθītąm | vēθetiš | vēθetoṯ |
1 pl. | vēθomái̯ñi | evēθomi | vēθomi | vēθomiš | vēθīmō | — | — |
2 pl. | vēθéti | evēθeti | vēθeti | vēθéti | vēθīti | vēθeti | vēθetoṯ |
3 pl. | vēθōi̯ | evēθenṯ | vēθenṯ | vēθō | vēθīn | vēθenθu | vēθetoṯ |
inf vēθetiš, vēθetuš, ptcpl vēθå, vēθōnθō; vēθāṯ, vēθōnθō; vēθenθī, vēθenθi̯ās |
Indicative | Imperfect | Injunctive | Subjunctive | Optative | Imperative | Future imp. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 sg. | kārnām | ekārnūm | kārnūm | kārneu̯ōm | kārninīma | — | — |
2 sg. | kārnušθoi̯ | ekārnušθo | kārnušθo | kārneu̯esθoi̯ | kārninīšθo | kārnuhvō | kārnutoṯ |
3 sg. | kārnutoi̯ | ekārnuto | kārnuto | kārneu̯etoi̯ | kārninīto | kārnuto | kārnutoṯ |
1 du. | kārnou̯enθa | ekārnou̯eθa | kārnou̯eθa | kārneu̯ou̯osθa | kārninīu̯eθa | — | — |
2 du. | kārnnātaθai | ekārnnātaθa | kārnnātaθa | kārneu̯ātaθai | kārninītaθa | kārnnātaθa | kārnutoṯ |
3 du. | kārnnātāi̯i | ekārnnātā | kārnnātā | kārneu̯ātāi̯i | kārninītā | kārnnātā | kārnutoṯ |
1 pl. | kārnumenθi | ekārnumeθa | kārnumeθa | kārneu̯omosθa | kārninīmeθa | — | — |
2 pl. | kārnušθve | ekārnušθve | kārnušθve | kārneu̯esθve | kārninīšθve | kārnuθve | kārnutoṯ |
3 pl. | kārnnenθroi̯ | ekārnnenθro | kārnnenθro | kārneu̯onθroi̯ | kārninīnθro | kārnnunθo | kārnunθoṯ |
inf kārnuθi̯ō, kārnuθi̯ōi̯o, ptcpl kārnūmnō, kārnūmnōi̯o; kārnūmnõ, kārnūmnōi̯o; kārnūmnā, kārnūmnās |
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