 |
Classical Yiklamu Tutorial:
Indefinite Nouns, Singular and Plural |
| Polymathix |
|
Home : Conlangs : Yiklamu : Classical : Tutorial : Lesson 2
Models
| kenizu |
'a woman' |
keniza |
'some women' |
kenizi |
'a/some woman/women' |
| yudoduz |
'a man' |
yudodaz |
'some men' |
yudodiz |
'a/some man/men' |
| yolyozu |
'a classroom' |
yolyoza |
'some classrooms' |
yolyozi |
'a/some classroom(s)' |
| yegemuz |
'a teacher' |
yegemaz |
'some teachers' |
yegemiz |
'a/some teacher(s)' |
Grammar
Definiteness/Number Suffix. A noun can be marked as indefinite
and for singular or plural number. Indefiniteness means that
the identity of a noun's intended referent is not necessarily known to
the hearer, nor understood from context. Each definiteness/number suffix
has a consonant-vowel (CV) form and a vowel-consonant (VC)
form. The CV form is used when the stem ends in a vowel. The VC form is
used when the stem ends in a consonant. In all cases, the vowel is either
u (singular), a (plural) or i (indeterminate). The
consonant can be z (indefinite), k (indeterminate) or one
of the proximity suffixes discussed in Lesson 6. Note that nouns of indeterminate
definiteness (with suffix k) amount to definite nouns, because unmodified
noun stems are definite by default. In practice, this means that the suffix
k is only used with definite nouns which are being marked for singular
(with u) or plural (with a).
Vocabulary
- fopol 'uncle (parent's brother or aunt's husband)'
- jujo 'chalk (for writing on blackboards)'
- keni 'woman (adult female person)'
- mubut 'aunt (parent's sister or uncle's husband)'
- nifmo 'paper (material made from cellulose pulp)'
- vapic 'pupil (schoolchild)'
- yegem 'teacher'
- yolyo 'classroom'
- yoto 'box (rectangular container)'
- yudod 'man (adult male person)'
Exercises (Java Applets)