Now onto nouns: nouns, as previously stated, decline to both case and number and have an inherent gender. It seems that at the era of PVA unity declensions perfectly matched to the gender, though when a derivational suffix was added to a nominal root, the gender of the noun was determined by the gender of the
root and not the
ending, thus the feminine noun *etjo (woman) with the abstract suffix *-jod (grammatically neuter) forms the feminine noun etjojod (then, via haplology) > etjod (femininity). Derivations formed from non-nominal roots take their gender from the suffix.
Masculine Nouns
Masculine nouns end with a single short vowel in the nominative singular, except for the I-stem declension, whose nom. s. is typically null (which resulted in a few stem alternations, such as *vīf acc. s. vīvnir (head). The only exceptions to the null I-stem rule are small handful of historically monosyllabic roots (ie those of the (C)CV type): xsi (dog), rvi (sky), twi (tool) and zi (tent hut, dwelling). The possible endings are -a, -e, -∅(-i), -y, -o, they decline according to the A-stem, E-stem, I-stem, Y-stem and O-stem paradigms respectively.
A-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-a
-ē
-av
-ēr
-ēnu
-ah, -eb
Plural
-āx
-ē
-ēv(ah)
-i, -ēr
-ēnu
-ēzi, -ūb
E-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-e
-i
-ev
-ir
-īnu
-eh, -eb
Plural
-āx
-i
-īv(ah)
-i, -ir
-īnu
-īzi, -ūb
I-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-∅ (-i)
-i
-iv
-ir
-īnu
-ih, -ib
Plural
-ȳx
-i
-īv(ah)
-i, -ir
-īnu
-īzi, -ūb
Y-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-y
-ȳ
-yv
-ir
-ȳnu
-yh, -yb
Plural
-ȳx
-ȳ
-ȳv(ah)
-i, -ir
-ȳnu
-ȳzi, -ūb
O-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-o
-ȳ
-ov
-ir
-ȳnu
-oh, -yb
Plural
-ōx
-ȳ
-ȳv(ah)
-i, -ir
-ȳnu
-ȳzi, -ūb
Naturally, these charts hardly explain the full story of masculine declension. Several notes and complexities should be explained:
First of all, note the large amount of identical endings in singular vs. plural actually did not create any functional difficulty in differentiating the two numbers, since masculine nouns featured a separate stem in the plural oblique cases, formed as so:
- p t k b d g > f þ x v ð h
- [fricative] > [fricative + geminate]
- V(n m) > [nasal vowel] + z
- r > h (sporadic)
- [sonorant] > [sonorant] + z
This occurred to the consonant immediately preceding the thematic vowel. These shifts often created illegal clusters which were subsequently simplified- the precise details of this type of sandhi are complex and irrelevant, thus roots are always listed with their plural stem in lexicon entries.
Now for some examples of declined nouns:
*sorja (light)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
sorja
sorjē
sorjav
sorjēr
sorjēnu
sorjah, sorjeb
Plural
sorjāx
sorzē
sorzēv(ah)
sorzi, sorzēr
sorzēnu
sorzēzi, sorzūb
pēse (bird)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
pēse
pēsi
pēsev
pēsir
pēsīnu
pēseh, pēseb
Plural
pēsāx
pēssi
pēssīv(ah)
pēssi, pēssir
pēssīnu
pēssīzi, pēssūb
rȳt (uncle)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
rȳt
rȳti
rȳtiv
rȳtir
rȳtīnu
rȳtih, rȳtib
Plural
rȳtȳx
rȳþi
rȳþīv(ağ)
rȳþi, rȳþir
rȳþīnu
rȳþīzi, rȳþūb
rvi (sky)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
rvi
rvi
rviv
rvir
rvīnu
rvih, rvib
Plural
rvȳx
rvi
rvīv(ah)
rvi, rvir
rvīnu
rvīzi, rvūb
vāty (dust)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
vāty
vātȳ
vātyv
vātir
vātȳnu
vātyh, vātyb
Plural
vātȳx
vāþȳ
vāþȳv(ah)
vāþi, vāþir
vāþȳnu
vāþȳzi, vāþūb
muro (water)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
muro
murȳ
murov
murir
murȳnu
muroh, muryb
Plural
murōx
muhȳ
muhȳv(ah)
muhi, muhir
muhȳnu
muhȳzi, muhūb
Feminine Nouns
Feminine nouns end in either a long vowel of a combination of a short vowel and a glide- with the exception of the Ī-stems since /i/ cannot be long word finally (for the purpose of nomenclature they are called Ī-stems and not I-stems since they clearly derive from a long /i/ historically). The respective declensions are the Wa-Stems, Jo-Stems, Ī-Stems, Ū-Stems and Ō-stems.
Wa-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-wa
-au
-wav
-au
-aunu
-wah, -wab
Plural
-awa
-awē
-awēv
-av
-awēnu
-awēh, -ūb
Jo-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-jo
-eu
-jov
-eu
-eunu
-joh, -job
Plural
-ewa
-ewē
-ewēv
-ev
-ewēnu
-ewēh, -ūb
Ī-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-i
-i
-ēv, -īv
-i
-īnu
-īh, -īb, -ēh, -ēb
Plural
-ja
-jē
-jēv
-iv
-jēnu
-jēh, -īb
Ū-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-ū
-ju
-ūv
-ju
-junu
-ūh, -ūb
Plural
-ywa
-ywē
-ywēv
-yv
-ywēnu
-ywēh, -ūb
Ō-Stem
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
-ō
-ō
-ōv
-ō
-ōnu
-ōh, -ōb
Plural
-owa
-owē
-owēv
-ov
-owēnu
-owēh, -ūb
The feminine declensions are much more straightforward than the masculine; the plural endings are distinct and so no stem alternations are present (minus some minor sandhi effects with the /j/ in the Jo-Stems and the /w/ in the Wa-Stems)
Voilà, declined feminine nouns:
xątwa (tree)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
xątwa
xątau
xątwav
xątau
xątaunu
xątwah, xątwab
Plural
xątawa
xątawē
xątawēv
xątav
xątawēnu
xątawēh, xątūb
etjo (woman)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
etjo
eteu
etjov
eteu
eteunu
etjoh, etjob
Plural
etewa
etewē
etewēv
etev
etewēnu
etewēh, etūb
rȳti (aunt)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
rȳti
rȳti, rȳtē
rȳtīv
rȳti
rȳtīnu
rȳtīh, rȳtīb, rȳtēh, rȳtēb
Plural
rȳtja
rȳtjē
rȳtjēv
rȳtiv
rȳtjēnu
rȳtjēh, rȳtīb
þāxū (fruit)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
þāxū
þāxju
þāxūv
þāxju
þāxjunu
þāxūh, þāxūb
Plural
þāxywa
þāxywē
þāxywēv
þāxyv
þāxywēnu
þāxywēh, þāxūb
nozmō (flower)
Case
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Ins
Loc
Singular
nozmō
nozmō
nozmōv
nozmō
nozmōnu
nozmōh, nozmōb
Plural
nozmowa
nozmowē
nozmowēv
nozmov
nozmowēnu
nozmowēh, nozmūb
Neuter Nouns
The simplicity of neuter nouns honestly makes it look like a joke compared to the other two genders. Nothing much to note, except that nouns belonging to these gender lack a thematic vowel and also the grammatical alignment is erg/abs rather than nom/acc. For the sake of parallelism the neuter paradigm is referred to as C-stem
C-stem
Case
Abs
Gen
Dat
Erg
Ins
Loc
Singular
-∅
-wo
-yti*
-ynu
-yk
-ytā*, -ūb
Plural
-eþ
-eþwo
-etti
-eðnu
-eþyk
-ettā, -eþub
*the <y> drops when following a plosive or fricative (note that p b > f v, þ ð d > t / _t)
kǫ (moon)
Case
Abs
Gen
Dat
Erg
Ins
Loc
Singular
kǫ
komwo
komyti
komynu
komyk
komytā, komub
Plural
komeþ
komeþwo
kometti
komeðnu
komeþyk
komettā, komeþub
zeg (blood)
Case
Abs
Gen
Dat
Erg
Ins
Loc
Singular
zeg
zegwo
zegti
zegynu
zegyk
zegtā, zegub
Plural
zegeþ
zegeþwo
zegetti
zegeðnu
zegeþyk
zegettā, zegeþub
Internal History
A case-by-case analysis can of the PVA declensional system reveals several patterns hinting at the origin of the endings.
Nominative (Absolutive)- root form for each gender, rather simply formed; for masculine nouns it was a basic thematic vowel and for neuter nouns it was a consonant (cluster). Feminine nouns seem to derive from diphthongs of the masculine thematic vowels that have since collapsed and/or shifted. The masculine plural is formed by lengthening the vowel and adding -x, which may be a retracted devoiced allomorph of the apparent plural affix -z- (or perhaps the reverse is true.) The neuter plural is formed with the suffix -eþ of unknown origin. The feminine plural is formed by suffixing -a to the the diphthong, fracturing it into a vowel-resonant sequence (in the case of the Ej-stems the vowel further disappeared).
Genitive- masculine nouns tend to raise the vowel, neuter nouns added the suffix -wo (note similar pronominal/adjectival suffixes -jo, -wo, -ywo, and -ō), and feminine nouns add a vowel which disappeared in the singular (but left an intact diphthong, suggesting that they disappeared after the period where the diphthongs collapsed) and in the plural is reconstructed as -ē.
Dative- masculine and feminine nouns attest a suffix -v, lengthened to -vah in some dialects to further mark the masculine plural. Neuter nouns used the suffix -ti, perhaps an ancient ablauted form of the locative suffix -tā
Accusative- masculine nouns suffix -r to the genitive singular, with the appropriate morphophonemics. In the plural some dialects suffix an -i while others add the same ending of the accusative singular to the plural stem. Feminine nouns behave similar to the genitive; singular desinence consists of an unreduced diphthong, plural consists of a vowel (this time -i, likely cognate to the masculine suffix) added to the vowel + resonant sequence
Ergative- neuter nouns formed the ergative case with -nu, the same suffix the common (masculine & feminine) genders used to form the instrumental
Instrumental- common genders attest the suffix -nu added to the genitive case and the neuter gender uses agglutinates the postposition *-yk meaning "made of, by means of"
Locative- some isoglosses attest a -h suffix (obligatorily lengthened to -zi in the masculine plural) in the common genders and the suffix -tā in the neuter gender. Others attest a uniform locative suffix ending in -b (which has some seemingly random effects on the preceding vowel, sometimes keeping it intact other times rounding it to -ū). The former system seems more archaic, since those languages not attesting a -b locative do attest an adposition reconstructed as *ubo, with a meaning of "within, inside" whereas no postposition matching *h or *zi can be identified.
See ya next time for pronouns and adjectives