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Senyecan nouns

From:caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
Date:Sunday, October 24, 2004, 21:51
Senyecan nouns are of two genders, animate and animate.  The animate
definite article is s-; the inanimate definite article is t-.

There are six classes of nouns, one for each of the vowels.  They are
always listed in the Senyecan alphabetical order, i.e., i, e, a, o,
ø, u.

The i-class contains the names of living plants.

The e-class contains the names of living animals.

The a-class contains abstract nouns.

The o-class contains perceptible things.

The ø-class contains composite creatures, e.g., the centaur.

The u-class contains loquent beings.

Many words can change their meaning by putting them in a different
class, e.g., mhácen = cow, but mhácon = beef.  hyásten = arm
as long
as it is connected to the body.  Once amputated, it is hyáston.

In the e-class are included several natural phenomena which are
considered alive, to wit, sun, moon, star, sea, ocean, fire, any type
of flowing water, any type of wind.

The a-class also contains the words áman, mother, and ápan, father.

The o-class contains words that denote anything that can be
perceived, i.e., seen, heard, felt, smelt, or tasted.  Admittedly,
the distinction between abstract and concrete is often close.

There are a few composite creatures not considered so in Senyecan.
The flying horse comes to mind.  But composite creatures like the
centaur, minotaur, satyr, sphinx, griffin, etc., belong in the ø-
class.

The u-class contains all words that denote anything that can speak.
This includes the six peoples (about which more later) and names of
the divinity.  The dragon, tsemélun, is also in this class.

There are four cases for these nouns.  Until I can do further
research I've decided to stick to the traditional names: vocative,
nominative, genitive, and accusative.  I list the vocative first
since it is an unmarked case.  The nominative ending is -n, the
genitive -s, the accusative -m.  The plural is indicated by adding -i
to the singular forms.

Adjectives follow the same patterns and agree with their nouns in
number, case, and declension, whether attributive or predicative.

Reply

Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>