An introduction to Catalan
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 12:32 pm
MORFOLOGIA NOMINAL
NOUN MORPHOLOGY
EL SUBSTANTIU
THE SUBSTANTIVE
El gènere del substantiu | The gender of the substantive
Some substantives that designate gendered beings have a masculine form for males and a femenine form for females.
The femenine and masculine forms coincide in the words ending in -arca, -ista, -cida, -aire, among others. The determinant indicates if it's a masculine or femenine term.
NOUN MORPHOLOGY
EL SUBSTANTIU
THE SUBSTANTIVE
El gènere del substantiu | The gender of the substantive
Some substantives that designate gendered beings have a masculine form for males and a femenine form for females.
cavall "male horse"
euga "female horse"
home "man"
dona "woman"
bruixot "wizard"
bruixa, bruixota "witch"
For non-human animated beings the most part of terms have a generic meaning, without specifying the gender, though every word as a characteristic gender.euga "female horse"
home "man"
dona "woman"
bruixot "wizard"
bruixa, bruixota "witch"
la guineu "the fox" (guineu is a femenine word)
el dofí "the dolphin" (dofí is a masculine word)
If we want to specify the gender we can add mascle "male" or femella "female" to the noun.el dofí "the dolphin" (dofí is a masculine word)
la guineu mascle "the male fox"
la guineu femella "the female fox"
el dofí mascle "the male dolphin"
el dofí femella "the female dolphin"
Note that every word retains its characteristic gender, even if it's referring to the opposite gender.la guineu femella "the female fox"
el dofí mascle "the male dolphin"
el dofí femella "the female dolphin"
The femenine and masculine forms coincide in the words ending in -arca, -ista, -cida, -aire, among others. The determinant indicates if it's a masculine or femenine term.
el monarca "the male monarch"
la monarca "the female monarch"
el pianista "the male pianist"
la pianista "the female pianist"
There are substantives that, with the masculine form and the femenine form, distinguish different lexical elements.la monarca "the female monarch"
el pianista "the male pianist"
la pianista "the female pianist"
el fi "the aim"
la fi "the end"
el vall "the dig"
la vall "the valley"
el pudor "the modesty"
la pudor "the stench"
Other substantives can bear both genders without changing their meanings.la fi "the end"
el vall "the dig"
la vall "the valley"
el pudor "the modesty"
la pudor "the stench"
el mar, la mar "the sea"
el serpent, la serpent "the snake"
The masculine and femenine forms with a common root can show differences between them, both in pronounciation and writting. We emphasize the following:el serpent, la serpent "the snake"
- 1) Alternance of sounds (plosives and fricatives, voiced and unvoiced): llop, lloba "wolf"; amic, amiga "friend"; serf, serva "slave"...
2) Alternance of -u and -v: hereu, hereva "heir, heiress"; esclau, esclava "slave"...
3) Duplication or non duplication of intervocalic s: pagès, pagesa "farmer"; gos, gossa "dog"...
4) Presence or absence of accents and diaeresis: veí, veïna "neighbour"; Lluís, Lluïsa "Louis"; avi, àvia "grandfather, grandmother"...