beruthielthequeen:

arpharazonthegolden:

Nouns in Adûnâyê are separated into four “genders:” Masculine, Feminine, Neuter, and Common. Unlike some languages, in which the grammatical and literal genders of a noun may not match, Adûnâyê’s Masculine and Feminine classes refer only to male beings/functions and female beings/functions. The Neuter class is applied to inanimate objects, and the Common to general words which are not characterized as to sex/gender, such as words for animal species.

For example, karab, horse, is a Common noun. However, karbû, stallion, and karbî, “mare,” are Masculine and Feminine respectively.

Adûnâyê nouns have three numbers: the singular, the plural, and the dual.  The dual form is an interesting one. It is only used in cases of natural pairs, not in any situation in which there are two of the same thing. The classic example is huzun, ear. If I am referring to one of my ears and one of your ears, I would use the plural form, huzîn. If, however, I am referring to both of my own ears, which constitute a natural pair, I would use the dual, huznat.

Nouns are also divided into “strong” and “weak” categories, which division influences the formation of the plural. Strong nouns form their plural by modification  of the last vowel of the stem word. Weak nouns add inflexions.

And the Adûnâyê noun has three forms which might be called cases: the Normal, the Subjective, and the Objective.

The Normal form of the noun is the basic, uninflected form, not morphologically marked by any affix, and would be used in all cases in which the sentence structure does not require either the Subjective or Objective form. Perhaps confusingly enough, the Normal (not the Objective!) is typically used when the noun is the object or predicate of the sentence. For example:

Sauronun Zigûr. (Sauron is the Wizard/Zigûr.)

In this example, Zigûr is in the Normal form, serving as the predicate. (Note: State-of-being verbs are generally not included in sentences, being implied by the structure.)

The Subjective form is used when the noun is, indeed, the subject of the sentence. In the example used above, Sauronun is in the subjective form. The Subjective is also used when the noun stands in apposition to another noun. For example:

            Sauron Zigûrun. (Sauron the Wizard)

The Masculine subjective is formed by adding the suffix –un, and the Feminine by the suffix –in.  Strong Neuters are formed by a process known as “a-fortification.” Zadan, house, becomes zadân, huzun becomes huzôn. What is actually happening here is an extra “a” is being added to the last syllable, and the final forms therefore represent “zadaan” and “huzaun” being monophthongized or simplified.

Weak Neuters take –a, the element which was infixed in the Strong form here being suffixed instead. Common nouns take the suffix –a(n) in the singular. The plural subjective is formed by adding –a in Neuter nouns and –im in non-Neuters. This does mean that in the event of a plural Weak Neuter, number is not discernible through the form of the noun but must be inferred by the context.

The Objective form is not an independent form of the noun, as might be guessed from Adûnâyê’s use of the Normal noun as the object of sentences. The Objective form is only used in compound words, and is created by adding “u” to the noun as either an infix or suffix, often replacing the final vowel altogether. As an example, the Objective of azra, sea, is azru, and the Objective of batân, road, is batânu.

The Objective is used as the first element in a compound word when the second element in some way acts upon the first. A common example is the name Azrubêl, sea-lover. In this example, azru is in the Objective because it is the object of the lover’s love. In the compound Minultârik, pillar of heaven, the pillar (târik) is seen as upholding the heaven or sky, therefore acting upon them.

The Objective can be considered effectively numberless (as opposed to singular) and will never appear in dual or plural forms. This “numberless” state can be seen in some compound names: Balkumagân (shipwright) and Nimruzîr (elf-lover or elf-friend). In theory, using the singular Objective forms of balak, ship, and nimir, elf, should make direct translations of these names “builder of that one ship” and “lover/friend of that one elf.” However, it should be clear that “ship” and “elf” are used here as collectives which are therefore, grammatically singular despite their implications of number.

There is no genitive form in Adûnâyê. Compounds are often used, as in Yôzâyan, the Land of Gift. Possession is indicated by the prefix an- or the elided ’n-, as in Bâr ‘nAnadûnê, Lord of Anadûnê.