Noun and adjective morphology: view article

Nouns and adjectives are distinguished in three classes of consonantal harmony. The last consonant of a word determines which class it falls in. If <m,n,p,b,t,d,k,g>, the harmony is plosive. If <f,v,c,ś,s,ł,z>, the harmony is fricative. If <r,l> or none, the harmony is null.

Fricative harmony:

Peziv (ideogram)
Łäcäś (jewel)
Caułoi (agricultural tools)

Plosive harmony:

Cyhstyn (exploration)
Vyist (wisdom)
Lumpbea (budget)

Null harmony:

Śwohr (shadow)
Ioura (dream)
Y (appearance)

Note: by default, the harmonies are always sorted that way: fricative – plosive – null.

[top]Assonantal endings

Before diving into the core of Ov morphology, it is important to know about this specific feature of the language: the endings are assonantal. This doesn't apply if a given word ends in a vowel; the ending will be appended without anomaly (the plural of « keríemca » (potato), with the « -s » plural ending for the fricative harmony, will simply be « keríemcas » (potatoes).

However, if the word ends in a consonant, the last vowel will be reused to avoid stacking consonants. The plural of « dëł » (grain), with the « -s » plural ending for the fricative harmony, will be « dëłës » (grains) and not the expected *~~dëłs~~ which would result in a mouthful.

It is always the very last vowel that is retrieved, even if it's part of a diphthong (several vowels pronounced together). Thus, the plural of « zaiëc » (award), with the « -s » plural ending for the fricative harmony, will be « zaiëcës » (awards).

You'll find that Ov syncope cancels the work of assonances orally a lot.

Note: the letter <ś> becomes <sz> intervocallically: läś (light) → läszäs (lights).

[top]Genders and numbers

Ov has no grammatical genders. The personal pronouns are hardly ever used, so we will not review them for now.

Ov has four numbers, however: to the well-known singular and plural, you will add the INDIDIndefinite ideal (class)
word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something (English "any") and the TOTTotal
all/every ("all the").

Note: the INDIDIndefinite ideal (class)
word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something form can also be used for LPAULarge paucal (number)
AKA greater paucal, more than a few, but not a lot in practice ("some", as in a quantity).

These are the regular paradigms for each number, plus ergative, according to each harmony (remember that the order of the harmonies in the examples and tables is always fricative – plosive – null).

	∅	ERGErgative (case) TRANS subject; agent
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-sa
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-Vs	-(a)f
INDIDIndefinite ideal (class) word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something	-iauś	-ious
TOTTotal all/every	-iaus	-iauc

	∅	ERGErgative (case) TRANS subject; agent
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-Vt
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-Vk	-Vm
INDIDIndefinite ideal (class) word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something	-iot	-iout
TOTTotal all/every	-iat	-iak

	∅	ERGErgative (case) TRANS subject; agent
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-Vë
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-Vk	-Vr
INDIDIndefinite ideal (class) word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something	-ior	-iou
TOTTotal all/every	-iar	-iau

Note: V always stands for "any vowel" and indicates the assonantal endings.

wäi + ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent = wäisa (cat-ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent)
lohp + ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent = lohpot (hole-ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent)
arvihal + ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few = arvihalar (plants-ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent)

The assonantal endings are marked in purple.

Note: the sequence <rVr>, where V stands for any vowel, is not allowed in Ov. Wherever this occurs on morphological grounds, the first <r> will be replaced by <l>.

dähr + ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few = dählär and not *dährär (plates-ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent)

[top]Infixes

There are three kinds of affixes: prefixes, suffixes and infixes. Infixes are added within a word. In the case of Ov, an infix is always added before the first vowel of a word, as seen in adjectival and verbal morphologies.

[top]Additional declensions

In addition to ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent and ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument, which are considered syntactic declensions, Ov has a set of six semantic declensions: BENBenefactive (case)
recipient of benefit ("for"), INSInstrumental (case)
'with', 'using' ("with"), GENGenitive (case)
possessive ("of"), INEInessive (case)
'inside' ("in", "into"), ECTSEctessive (case)
outside of ("out of") and LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc ("at"). They are distinguished in number and harmony following these regular paradigms.

	BENBenefactive (case) recipient of benefit	INSInstrumental (case) 'with', 'using'	GENGenitive (case) possessive	INEInessive (case) 'inside'	ECTSEctessive (case) outside of	LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-s	-ś	-Vc*	-saf	-szaf	-ëł
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-vis	-s	-ś	-saś	-szał	-ëłë

	BENBenefactive (case) recipient of benefit	INSInstrumental (case) 'with', 'using'	GENGenitive (case) possessive	INEInessive (case) 'inside'	ECTSEctessive (case) outside of	LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-pV	-kV	-tV	-tak	-kut	-kVt
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-pVë	-tV	-tVë	-pak	-kyt	-kVk

	BENBenefactive (case) recipient of benefit	INSInstrumental (case) 'with', 'using'	GENGenitive (case) possessive	INEInessive (case) 'inside'	ECTSEctessive (case) outside of	LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc
SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-r	-Vsor	-Vsan	-Vler	-Vszkur	-ër
PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-ël	-Vsar	-Vsaiën	-Vlír	-Vszkubl	-ël

* The only assonantal ending in that paradigm.

Reminder:

dähr + LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc = dählër and not *dährër (at the plate)

[top]Absolutive and definite plural shifts

Unlike other declensions, the absolutive (marked on the direct object of a transitive verb) is not an ending. Also, it requires an animacy distinction. To summarize: the absolutive declension only marks an animate transitive object.

Setes sarranak = like-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I book-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few = I like books
Setes kgurok = like-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I <ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument>dog-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few = I like dogs

The shifts follow this pattern and apply to the first syllable of a word, be it short or long (except diacrited long vowels <é,ó,í> that do not shift).

<ea,a> and back diphthongs → o
<ä,e,ë> and front diphthongs → i
<i,u> → ei,ou
<o,ö,y> → oi

Note: /ɑɪ̯/ is classified as a front diphthong as far as the shift is concerned.

Some inanimate words like ”day” and ”year” function as animate and display a double shift from hypercorrection. Look up the appropriate forms on the words' pages.

The definite plural is a case that triggers similar shifts. It is used when there is a specified numeric amount of something, above three.

This shift works the same as the absolutive one (so the pattern applies here as well), except that it applies on the last vowel of the word, and assonantal endings shift along outside the paradigm.

If a noun is both absolutive and quantified above three, only the definite plural shift is used because it is the only shift of the two that causes the plural ending to shift along.

English	Ov	Ov, ABSAbsolutive (case) TRANS object, INTR argument	Ov, DEFDefinite "the".PLPlural (number) more than one/few
daughter	foca	foica	focos
mum	ohca	oica	ohcos
dog	kgor	kgoir	kgoirik
man	wel	wil	wilik
mercenary	canpłoun	conpłoun	canpłonok
uncle	yz	oiz	oizis
affectionate person	artur	ortur	artouruk
meteorite	ccoiël		ccolok
accident	kyhl		koilik
agricultural tools	caułoi		caułos
horn	maiëłen		maiëłinik

Setes kgoirik sök = like-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I dog<DEFDefinite
"the".PLPlural (number)
more than one/few>-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few four = I like four dogs

Exceptions can be found in the grammar tables. Declensions are never affected by the shifts.

[top]Adjective morphology

The morphology of adjectives is relatively simple, despite the many adjectival degrees.

The degrees are COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' ("more"), SUPSuperlative (comparison)
English 'most', '-est' ("the most"), EXTExtremitive (degree)
an adjectival degree, eg. "so big" ("so"), ELTElative (comparison)
absolutive superlative; eg. English 'too' ("too") and EMINEminentive (degree)
an adjectival degree, eg. "very big" ("very"). Because the degrees cannot apply to adverbs, these tend to be used less and less, but remain standard.

Apart from the expected singular and plural outcomes and harmonies, adjectives agree with an OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object, unvariant in number, used as an agreement with a noun in the ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent, INDIDIndefinite ideal (class)
word pertains to an indefinite (a/an/any) ideal or concept of something or TOTTotal
all/every. The degrees themselves use infixes, but the base form uses suffixes.

	∅	COMPComparative (comparison) e.g. 'better'	SUPSuperlative (comparison) English 'most', '-est'	EXTExtremitive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "so big"	ELTElative (comparison) absolutive superlative; eg. English 'too'	EMINEminentive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "very big"
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-ënsz-	-ansz-	-ansz-	-ëns-	-ens-
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-ś	-ëinsz-	-ainsz-	-ainsz-	-ëins-	-eins-
OBLOblique (argument) indirect or demoted object	-z	-ënsz- -z	-ansz- -z	-ansz- -z	-ës- -z	-eins- -z

	∅	COMPComparative (comparison) e.g. 'better'	SUPSuperlative (comparison) English 'most', '-est'	EXTExtremitive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "so big"	ELTElative (comparison) absolutive superlative; eg. English 'too'	EMINEminentive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "very big"
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-ënt-	-ant-	-antd-	-ënp-	-ent-
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-k	-ëint-	-aint-	-aintd-	-ëinp-	-eint-
OBLOblique (argument) indirect or demoted object	-z	-ënt- -z	-ant- -z	-antd- -z	-ët- -z	-ent- -z

	∅	COMPComparative (comparison) e.g. 'better'	SUPSuperlative (comparison) English 'most', '-est'	EXTExtremitive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "so big"	ELTElative (comparison) absolutive superlative; eg. English 'too'	EMINEminentive (degree) an adjectival degree, eg. "very big"
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.SGSingular (number) one countable entity	-∅	-eil-	-ail-	-oir-	-eir-	-öir-
POSIPositive (class) standard adjective.PLPlural (number) more than one/few	-k	-eil-	-aln-	-oir-	-eir-	-öir-
OBLOblique (argument) indirect or demoted object	-z	-eil- -z	-alm- -z	-oir- -z	-eir- -z	-öir- -z

aza + COMPComparative (comparison)
e.g. 'better' = ënszaza (more green)
söz + EXTExtremitive (degree)
an adjectival degree, eg. "so big" = sanszöz (so worthy)
díä + EMINEminentive (degree)
an adjectival degree, eg. "very big".OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object = dentíäz (very venerable-OBLOblique (argument)
indirect or demoted object)

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