Ďomün Noun Cases: view article

Ďomün has six noun cases. They are not differentiated by gender, as the only gender marking on nouns occurs on plural prefixes.

Nominative is marked with -m after vowels and -ṃ after consonants, but this is dropped after nasals.
Accusative is marked with -zi/-zï after vowels, and just -i/-ï after consonants. The ending is dropped entirely from words ending in -i/-ï.
Genitive is marked with -be/-bë
Locative/Destination is marked with -re/-rë
Comitative/Instrumental/other is marked with -po/-pa
Vocative uses the bare stem

The following four nouns should demonstrate all of the above rules:

case	"man"	"woman"	"talisman bag"	"word"
NOM	vëm	an	ëlïkïm	negṃ
ACC	vëzï	anï	ëlïkï	negi
GEN	vëbë	ambë	ëlïkïbë	negbe
LOC	vërë	anrë	ëlïkïrë	negre
INS	vëpa	ampa	ëlïkïpa	negpo
VOC	vë	an	ëlïkï	neg

Notes:

vë- is a completely regular stem;
an- is unmarked in the nominative;
an- undergoes nasal assimilation in the relevant cases;
ëlïkï- is unmarked in the accusative;
neg- takes syllabic ṃ in the nominative;
an- and neg- take -ï/-i rather than -zï in the accusative.

The majority of nouns fall into this conjugation class, however there are three other irregular verb classes with their own rules. These are ablaut stems, q-dropping stems, and epenthetic stems. ablaut stems, as their names imply, undergo ablaut, in the nominative and accusative cases only. q-dropping and epenthetic stems are similar in that they both end in consonant clusters, which Ďomün phonology does not permit. However, q-dropping stems resolve this by eliminating the q whenever it violates phontactic rules, while epenthetic stems instead add the vowel e/ë to complete the syllable.

The following table demonstrates examples of each. Characteristic features have been marked in bold:

stem type:	ablaut	q-dropping	epenthetic
	"wind"	"cloud"	"garb"
NOM	getṃ	vëdqṃ	litsṃ
ACC	geti	vëdqï	litsi
GEN	gotbe	vëdbë	litsebe
LOC	gotre	vëdrë	litsere
INS	gotpo	vëdpa	litsepo
VOC	got	vëd	litse

Ablaut in nouns follows the same rule as in adjectives, that is:

base stem (non-core)	ablaut stem (core)
o	e
e	i
ë	ï
a	ï

Examples
The following are a few examples of the basic cases. For simplicity, only sentences that do not require prepositions have been used.

[edit] [top]Nominative

The nominative marks both subjects of clauses and subject complements of copular phrases.

Wevitṃ giśzonü zolüzi.
Wefit-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.TANUnknown code.OBJObject (argument)-chop tall.grass-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
Wefit is chopping the tall grass.

Subject complements also take nominative marking:

Manzam mudzëñ gasṃ.
Manza-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.TANUnknown code.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-show snake-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
The River Manza looks like a snake.

There is usually no copula in the present tense, so copular clauses just take two nominative nouns in a row:

La qutmëm gimgizṃ.
that cave-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male.GENGenitive (case)
possessive-house-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
That cave is his home.

[edit] [top]Accusative

This is a basic accusative case.

Śonzem lëśud savïś vimozi.
Śonze-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument now 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.FEMFeminine (gender)
feminine or female-eat-IMPERFUnknown code yoghurt-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
Śonze is eating yoghurt (right) now.

[edit] [top]Genitive

It can be possessive:

Lü b́iwüdzṃ Ǧaryakbë.
this saddle-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument Ǧaryak-GENGenitive (case)
possessive
This is Ǧaryak's saddle.

Or equivalent to "from":

Igib̌enǧü Ďargïmbë.
3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-come-PERFPerfect (aspect/tense)
have verb-ed Ďargïn-GENGenitive (case)
possessive
They have come from Ďargïn.

[edit] [top]Locative

It can indicate a location for general verbs:

Kalañ gïlutśë yadzrë.
Kalañ 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-wait-IMPERFUnknown code hut-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
Kalañ is waiting at/in the hut.

Or the destination for verbs of motion:

Kalañ gïrgeś yadzrë.
Kalañ 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-walk-IMPERFUnknown code hut-LOCLocative (case)
'in, on, at' etc
Kalañ is walking to the hut.

[edit] [top]Comitative/Instrumental

With humans this is always comitative:

Tanu wazëpa.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-go PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.MASCMasculine (gender)
masculine or male-friend-COMComitative (case)
'together with'
I go with friends.

with other things it is up to context:

Tanu aigeśpo.
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-go aigeś-COMComitative (case)
'together with'
I go with an aigeś/I go by aigeś.

It's not clear if I am using the aigeś (horse-like animal) as transportation, or just going somewhere with it.

Wośṃ nï mukura as gotpo qunluz.
tree-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech 3Third person (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.TANUnknown code.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-fall one wind-INSTInstrument (gender/class)
tool, machine strong
The tree fell (down) in the strong wind.

(the word for "one" is also a definite article as well as a relative pronoun)

[edit] [top]Vocative

This can of course be used to address people:

Azë var.
friend.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]' slow
Friend, you are slow.

Or other things:

B̌ir attalut, attalut.
rain.VOCVocative (case)
'O [addressee]' 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-wait 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument-wait
Rain, we wait, we wait. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

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