Re: CHAT: I'm back

Julia "Schnecki" Simon wrote:
> Now I'm looking into noun class systems. I'm envisioning a system with
> a handful of inflectional classes and a somewhat larger number of noun
> classes; each noun would be assigned to a certain inflectional class
> based on its phonetic structure, and to a certain noun class based on
> its meaning.
Cool.  Genders can be fun.  :)  My Uatakassi has 7 genders in the
standard dialect.  Sentient Female, Sentient Male, Sentient Epicene,
Animals associated with people [domesticated animals and certain
agricultural pests], animals not associated with people, other animate,
inanimate.  The distinction between the last two is somewhat vague.
Gold is animate, copper is not, for example.  :) Things that can move on
their own, like wind and fire and insects, are considered animate, while
things that do no are often - but not always - considered inanimate.
Nouns referring to social/cultural entities are animate (e.g.,
"language", "word", "city", "law")

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