Nouns

Types of Nouns

Nouns in Mirad can be distinguished in these various ways:

• common vs. proper

Common and Proper Nouns

COMMON	PROPER
tam....house	Emer....Venus
yagsim....bench	Fransam....France
dyes....book	Notre Dame...Notre Dame
tej....life	Tot....God

• concrete vs. abstract

Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns

CONCRETE	ABSTRACT
tab....body	ifon....love
mil....water	oyman....coolness
deuz....song	deuzen....singing

• countable vs. mass

Countable vs. Mass Nouns

COUNTABLE	MASS
pat....bird	pattel....bird food
patayeb....feather	patayebyan....plumage
meg....rock	mil....water

• gender-neutral vs. feminine or masculine

Gender-neutral vs. Gendered

GENDER-NEUTRAL	FEMININE	MASCULINE
tob....human being	toyb....woman	twob....man
edeb....royal person	edeyb....queen	edweb....king
ted....parent	teyd....mother	twed....father

• singular vs. plural

Singular vs. Plural Nouns

SINGULAR	PLURAL
dom....city	domi....cities
gon....part	goni....parts
jub....day	jubi....days

• inanimate (things) or animate (humans and animals, i.e. live, sentient creatures, not plants)

Inanimate vs. Animate Nouns

INANIMATE	ANIMATE
mam....sky	pot....animal
tom....building	aut....person
job....time	tobot....child

Nouns also include gerunds, i.e. abstract nouns which are nominalized derivations of verbs like deuzen....singing < deuzer....to sing or osexen....destruction < osexer....to destroy.

In Mirad, all common nouns in their singular dictionary lookup form end in a consonant. Proper nouns sometimes end in a vowel, such as Roma....Rome. Plural common countable nouns end in the vowel i (pat....bird ⇒ pati....birds).

The above noun type distinctions are relevant in various parts of Mirad's grammar.

Pluralization of Common Nouns

A singular countable common noun always ends in a consonant and is made plural by suffixing the plural suffix marker -i. So, the plural of pur....car is puri....cars. In noun phrases, for example, where a noun is modified by an article and adjective, only the noun is pluralized, that is, there is no agreement across word boundaries as in many European languages (la belle fleur →les belles fleurs).

Pluralization of Nouns

SINGULAR	PLURAL
tam....house	tami....houses
toyb....woman	toybi....women
tej....life	teji....lives
ha via dom....the beautiful city	ha via domi....the beautiful cities

Articles

In Mirad, there is only a definite article, ha (the). There is no indefinite article like English a / an. A noun is considered indefinite or general unless modified by the definite article ha (which in reality is a definite deictic determiner, discussed with other deictic determiners in the later section on Mirad Grammar/Determiners#Deictic Determiners). The definite article ha is positioned, as in English, before the noun and before any other adjectives or modifiers of that noun. It does not vary for gender, number, or case as in German or Spanish. The definite article acts like its counterpart in English, as shown in the following chart:

The Use of Articles

MIRAD	ENGLISH	SPECIFICITY
tam	a house	indefinite, no article
ha tam	the house	definite
ha tami	the houses	definite, plural
tej	life	general, no article
fitejawa tej	a life well-lived	indefinite, no article
ha tej (...hu at ayse)	the life (... that I have)	specific
Fransad	French	language name, already specific, no article
Ivan	Ivan	person's name, no article
Iflu yivan!	Cherish freedom	abstraction, no article
Ha yivani hu yat ifie.	The freedoms that we enjoy.	abstraction specified
Yata yivani...	Our freedoms...	abstraction specified with possessive pronoun, no article

Speakers of French and other European languages should take note that general concepts like love, life, freedom do not employ the definite article unless they refer to a specific instance, such as in the phrases the love that dare not speak its name or the life well-lived or the freedoms we possess. The names of languages and countries are also considered already specific, and so as in English, they do not take a definite article as they might in some European languages. Names of persons do not take the definite article as they do in modern Greek, unless in a phrase like "the Ivan I once knew."

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns, such as names of people, places, languages, etc., are capitalized as in English. The formation of country names and languages will be discussed in a later section. It can be said here, though, that country names for the most part end in -am; the inhabitants of those places end in -at or pl. -yat; and the languages they speak end in -ad. Country names take a definite article only in a few cases like ha Anxwa Doebi....the United States, which is really composed of common nouns. Otherwise, a country name like Fransam does not take a definite article, just as it does not in English.

Noun Modifiers: Placement and Agreement

Nouns can be modified by various qualitative, quantitative, and deictic adjectives, which all precede the noun. These modifiers come in the same order as in English. There is no gender or number agreement between the modifiers and the noun, except that numeric adjectives, such as ewa....two naturally are followed by a noun in the plural number.

Noun Modifiers

Mirad	English
ha ewa aga tami	the two big houses
gla ifxea taxi	many pleasant memories
hya fia tob	every good man
ha yaga via mepi	the long, beautiful roads
gra vua sexen	too much ugly construction
ata aja teji	My past lives

Noun Linkage

Nouns can be

1. linked with a preposition or conjunction, where the prepositional/conjunctional phrase follows the head noun, or
2. juxtaposed, where the modifier noun is separated by a space and comes before the head noun, or
3. compounded, where the modifier noun is prefixed to a headword, or
4. hyphenated, where two equal elements are joined by a hyphen.

Examples:

Noun Linkage

LINKAGE EXAMPLE	CONSTRUCTION
Ivan ay Maria....Ivan and Maria	nouns linked associatively by the conjunction ay (and)
ha tam ey ha par....the house or the car	nouns linked associatively by the conjunction ey (or)
hyati oy ha toybi....all but the women	nouns linked associatively by the conjunction or (but)
nyandras boy eta dyun....a list without your name	nouns linked associatively by the preposition boy (without)
tej bi nasuk....a life of poverty	nouns linked associatively by the preposition bi (of)
ha tam bi Maria ....Mary's house (the house of Mary	nouns linked possessively by the preposition bi (of)
job bi aga ivan....a time of great joy	nouns linked associatively by the preposition bi (of)
dyen ayv ha Ea Mira Dropek....a book about the Second World War	nouns linked associatively by the preposition ayv (about)
dropek jaxeni....war preparations	modifier noun dropek (war) juxtaposed with the head noun jaxeni (preparations)
dom yaudpur....a city bus	modifier noun dom (city) juxtaposed with the head noun yautpur (bus)
tojvaf....a death wish	modifier noun toj (death) compounded with the head noun vaf (wish)
jogatanyaf....youth league	modifier noun jogat (youth) compounded with the head noun anyaf (league)
maj-moj....a day-and-night	two or more equal, opposed nouns hyphenated

The X bi Y prepositional construction must always be used for possession by a named person, eg. ha tam bi Sam (Sam's house = the house of Sam). The methods of noun linkage otherwise follow the English pattern in most all cases. Pronominal possession such as his car is discussed in the section on personal pronouns. The preposition bi....of is used in partitive expressions like tilzyeb bi vafil....a glass of wine (but: vafil tilzeb....wine glass, where wine modifies the glass associatively). More about this and other prepositions or conjunctions can be found in the section on Mirad Grammar/Prepositions or Mirad Grammar/Conjunctions.

Details on how noun vocabulary is derived appears in the section on Mirad Grammar/Vocabulary Formation.

Noun Derivational Suffixes

Nouns can be divided into:

• simple nouns such as pur....vehicle
• compound nouns such as naadpur....train < naad....rail + pur....vehicle
• derived nouns such as fabyan....forest < fab....tree + -yan, a suffix meaning collection

Derived nouns are formed by attaching nominal suffixes (and sometimes prefixes)to other words or roots. A list of nominal suffixes to form derived nouns is shown in the following table. More can be read about noun derivation in the section on vocabulary-building.

Noun Derivational Suffixes

SUFFIX	MEANING	BASE ONTO WHICH SUFFIX IS ADDED	EXAMPLES
-ag	big	noun	tam house → tamag....mansion tyal....meal → tyalag....banquet tilar....spoon → tilarag....ladle
-an	abstact quality, -ness, -hood, -ity	adjective stem	via....beautiful → via....beauty yeva....fair → yevan....fairness, equity toba....human → toban....humanity, humanness, manhood
-ayg	big and cute	noun	tam....house → tamayg....cozy mansion epet....dog → epetayg....wolfie
-d	language, speech, sound	adjective and other stems	Angla....English → Anglad....English (language) Mira....of the world → Mirad....Mirad (world speech) apet....horse → aped....neigh, whinny
-ef	need of	noun	tel....food → telef....hunger iga....fast → igef....emergency til....drink → tilef....thirst
-en	present gerund, -ing, -tion, -ment	verb stem	ifier....enjoy → ifien....enjoyment deuzer....sing → deuzen....singing axer....act → axen....action, acting
-es	smaller counterpart thing	noun	tom....building → tomes apartment saun....kind → saunes....sample dreuz....poem → deuzes....stanza mek....dust, powder → mekes....speck, gain
-et	smaller counterpart person	noun	twob....man → twobet....boy toyb....woman → toybet....girl
-if	love of, -philia	noun	tel....food → telif....gourmandise doab....homeland → doabif....patriotism dyes....book → dyesif....bibliophilia, love of books
-ig	sudden	noun and verb stem	man....light → manig....flash pyex....stroke → pyexig....swat yopaper....dive, fly down → yopapig....swoop
-im	room, chamber	various stems	fyadiler....to pray → faydilim....chapel mageler....to cook → magelim....kitchen tofer....to dress → tofim....dressing room
-in	doctrine, dogma, -ism	various stems	tot....god → totin....religion, theism otofa....nude → otofin....nudism yufr-....terror → yufrin....terrorism
-n	abstract noun	various stems	ze....in the middle of → zen....center za....in front of → zan....face byi....since, starting with → byin....source go....less → gon....part
-am	house, building	various stems	nun- merchandise → nunam....store til drink → tilam....bar, tavern fyadiler....to pray → fyadilam....church
-(e)m	place	various stems	ho-? what-? → hom?....where? yex....work → yexem....worksite ab....on, above → abem....top, surface kua....lateral → kum....side
-im	room	various stems	magel-....cook → magelim....kitchen
-um	compartment, booth	various stems	teuzibar....telephone → teuzibarum....telephone booth
-yem	enclosure, box	various stems	apet....horse → apetyem....corral b-....put → byem....position
-ud	offspring, baby of	noun	apet....horse → apetud....foal
-og	little	noun	tab body → tabog corpuscle apet....horse → apetog....pony tyal....meal → tyalog....snack gorbun....cut → gorbunog....cutlet
-oyg	little and cute	noun	tam....house → tamoyg....cottage apayt....chicken → apaytoyg....chickadee mimpar....boat → mirparoyg....dingy
-ar -ir -ur	instrument, tool, machine, etc.	usu. verb stem	per....to go → pur....car drer....to write → drar....pencil gobler....to cut → goblar....knife yabler....to lift → yablur....elevator, lift yablar....lift, crane dop....military → dopar....gun dopur....machine gun dopir....artillery, cannon
-s	thing, something, object, the X one	adjective	aa first → aas....first one, first thing otwa....unknown → otwas....mystery, an unknown tejea....living → tejeas....living thing
-(s)on	abstract thing, issue	various stems	ifer....to love → ifon....love ov against → ovon....obstacle aza strong → azon....force yika....difficult → yikson....problem
-(s)un	object, thing, result of an action	various stems	vyua....dirty → vyun....spot tamber....settle → tambiun....settlement gofrer shred → gofrun....scrap, shred hyo....not a single → hyosun....not a single thing
-t	person	adjective	ea second → eat....second one, second person fya-....holy → fyat....holy one, saint ujna....last → ujat....last one, last person Amerika....American → Amerikat....an American
-tun	science of, -ology	noun	tot....god → tottun....theology tob....man → tobtun....anthropology vob....plant → vobtun....botany
-tut	scientist, -ologist, -ist	noun	tot....god → tottut....theologist tob....man → tobtut....anthropologist vob....plant → vobtut....botanist
-uf	hate of, -phobia	noun	mil water → miluf....hydrophobia totin....religion → totinuf....hatred of religion toyb....woman → toybuf....misogyny
-ut, -uyt (f.)	agent, one who Xes, -er, -ant, -ist	verb stem	beker....treat → bekuyt....nurse poper....travel → poput....traveler aker....win → akut....winner
-yaf	ability to, power, -ability	verb stem	teater....to see → teatyaf....ability to see texer....to think → texyaf....cognition tester....to understand → testyaf....comprehension noser....to spend → nosyaf....spending power ter....to know → tyaf....conscience
-yag	big and ugly	noun	tetwid....uncle → tetwidyag....dirty old uncle toyb....woman → toybyag....hag
-yan	collection, grouping, -ary	noun	tob....man → tobyan....mankind mar....star → maryan....constellation fab....tree → fabyan....forest dyes....book → dyesyan....library
-yef	duty to	verb stem	duder....to answer → dudyef....responsibility byoker....to ache → byokyef....punishment
-yik	difficulty to	verb stem	teeter....to hear → teetyik....difficulty hearing tiexer....to breathe → tiexyik....difficulty breathing, asthma
-yog	little and ugly	noun	tam....house → tamyog....shack epat....duck → epatyog....ugly duckling kod....secret → kodyog....little dirty secret
-yof	inability to, disability	verb stem	teater....to see → teatyof....blindness teeter....to hear → teetyof....deafness paser....to move → pasyof....paralysis tujer....to sleep → tujyof....insomnia
-yuf	fear of, -phobia	noun	lopyet....snake → lopyetyuf....fear of snakes mil....water → milyuf....hyrophobia
-yuk	ease of	verb stem	peser to wait → pesyuk....patience kovyoxer to fool → kovyoxyuk....gullibility, foolhardiness

Gender

Nouns in Mirad are gender-neutral, unless those relating to people, animals, and sometimes clothing, are altered to be specifically male/male-oriented or female/female-oriented. To create the male or male-oriented form of an otherwise gender-neutral noun, prefix the vowel of the semantically-significant syllable with the letter w. To create the female or female-oriented form, suffix the vowel of the semantically-significant syllable with y. If the noun is an agent noun with the suffix -ut, that is, a noun that means "one who does something as an occupation or behavior", the ending -ut is changed to -uyt for the female form, but the male form stays the same. The reason for this is that the addition of a w to the agentive ending could be confused with the verbal passive marker w (see the chapter on Mirad Grammar/Verbs. The chart below shows how this works:

Making Nouns Gender-specific

NEUTRAL	MALE/MALE-ORIENTED	FEMALE/FEMALE-ORIENTED
tob....human being, person	twob....man	toyb....woman
tobet....child	twobet....boy	toybet....girl
tad....spouse	twad....husband	tayd....wife
ejtad....step spouse	ejtwad....step-husband	ejtayd....step-wife
ajtad....ex-spouse	ajtwad....ex-husband	ajtayd....ex-wife
ted....parent	twed....father	teyd....mother
datif....sweetheart	dwatif....boyfriend	daytif....girlfriend
yapet....pig	yapwet....boar	yapeyt....sow
ideb....monarch	idweb....king	ideyb....queen
apat....fowl	apwat....rooster	apayt....hen
tiuv....underwear	tiwuv....briefs	tiuyv....panties
vapet....antelope	vapwet....deer	vapeyt....doe
deuzut....singer	deuzut....singer	deuzuyt....songstress
tud....child	twud....son	tuyd....daughter

For gender specification in pronouns, see Mirad Grammar/Pronouns, below).