< Mirad Grammar

Nouns

Types of Nouns

Nouns in Mirad can be distinguished in these various ways:
  • common vs. proper
Common and Proper Nouns
COMMONPROPER
tam....houseEmer....Venus
yagsim....benchFransam....France
dyes....bookNotre Dame...Notre Dame
tej....lifeTot....God
  • concrete vs. abstract
Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
CONCRETEABSTRACT
tab....bodyifon....love
mil....wateroyman....coolness
deuz....songdeuzen....singing
  • countable vs. mass
Countable vs. Mass Nouns
COUNTABLEMASS
pat....birdpattel....bird food
patayeb....featherpatayebyan....plumage
meg....rockmil....water
  • gender-neutral vs. feminine or masculine
Gender-neutral vs. Gendered
GENDER-NEUTRALFEMININEMASCULINE
tob....human beingtoyb....womantwob....man
edeb....royal personedeyb....queenedweb....king
ted....parentteyd....mothertwed....father
  • singular vs. plural
Singular vs. Plural Nouns
SINGULARPLURAL
dom....citydomi....cities
gon....partgoni....parts
jub....dayjubi....days
  • inanimate (things) or animate (humans and animals, i.e. live, sentient creatures, not plants)
Inanimate vs. Animate Nouns
INANIMATEANIMATE
mam....skypot....animal
tom....buildingaut....person
job....timetobot....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....birdpati....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
SINGULARPLURAL
tam....housetami....houses
toyb....womantoybi....women
tej....lifeteji....lives
ha via dom....the beautiful cityha 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
MIRADENGLISHSPECIFICITY
tama houseindefinite, no article
ha tamthe housedefinite
ha tamithe housesdefinite, plural
tejlifegeneral, no article
fitejawa teja life well-livedindefinite, no article
ha tej (...hu at ayse)the life (... that I have)specific
FransadFrenchlanguage name, already specific, no article
IvanIvanperson's name, no article
Iflu yivan!Cherish freedomabstraction, 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
MiradEnglish
ha ewa aga tamithe two big houses
gla ifxea taximany pleasant memories
hya fia tobevery good man
ha yaga via mepithe long, beautiful roads
gra vua sexentoo much ugly construction
ata aja tejiMy 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 EXAMPLECONSTRUCTION
Ivan ay Maria....Ivan and Marianouns linked associatively by the conjunction ay (and)
ha tam ey ha par....the house or the carnouns linked associatively by the conjunction ey (or)
hyati oy ha toybi....all but the womennouns linked associatively by the conjunction or (but)
nyandras boy eta dyun....a list without your namenouns linked associatively by the preposition boy (without)
tej bi nasuk....a life of povertynouns linked associatively by the preposition bi (of)
ha tam bi Maria ....Mary's house (the house of Marynouns linked possessively by the preposition bi (of)
job bi aga ivan....a time of great joynouns linked associatively by the preposition bi (of)
dyen ayv ha Ea Mira Dropek....a book about the Second World Warnouns linked associatively by the preposition ayv (about)
dropek jaxeni....war preparationsmodifier noun dropek (war) juxtaposed with the head noun jaxeni (preparations)
dom yaudpur....a city busmodifier noun dom (city) juxtaposed with the head noun yautpur (bus)
tojvaf....a death wishmodifier noun toj (death) compounded with the head noun vaf (wish)
jogatanyaf....youth leaguemodifier noun jogat (youth) compounded with the head noun anyaf (league)
maj-moj....a day-and-nighttwo 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
SUFFIXMEANINGBASE ONTO WHICH
SUFFIX IS ADDED
EXAMPLES
-agbignountam house → tamag....mansion
tyal....mealtyalag....banquet
tilar....spoontilarag....ladle
-anabstact quality, -ness, -hood, -ityadjective stemvia....beautifulvia....beauty
yeva....fairyevan....fairness, equity
toba....humantoban....humanity, humanness, manhood
-aygbig and cutenountam....housetamayg....cozy mansion
epet....dogepetayg....wolfie
-dlanguage, speech, soundadjective and other stemsAngla....EnglishAnglad....English (language)
Mira....of the worldMirad....Mirad (world speech)
apet....horseaped....neigh, whinny
-efneed ofnountel....foodtelef....hunger
iga....fastigef....emergency
til....drinktilef....thirst
-enpresent gerund, -ing, -tion, -mentverb stemifier....enjoyifien....enjoyment
deuzer....singdeuzen....singing
axer....actaxen....action, acting
-essmaller counterpart thingnountom....buildingtomes apartment
saun....kindsaunes....sample
dreuz....poemdeuzes....stanza
mek....dust, powdermekes....speck, gain
-etsmaller counterpart personnountwob....mantwobet....boy
toyb....womantoybet....girl
-iflove of, -philianountel....foodtelif....gourmandise
doab....homelanddoabif....patriotism
dyes....bookdyesif....bibliophilia, love of books
-igsuddennoun and verb stemman....lightmanig....flash
pyex....strokepyexig....swat
yopaper....dive, fly downyopapig....swoop
-imroom, chambervarious stemsfyadiler....to prayfaydilim....chapel
mageler....to cookmagelim....kitchen
tofer....to dresstofim....dressing room
-indoctrine, dogma, -ismvarious stemstot....godtotin....religion, theism
otofa....nudeotofin....nudism
yufr-....terroryufrin....terrorism
-nabstract nounvarious stemsze....in the middle ofzen....center
za....in front ofzan....face
byi....since, starting withbyin....source
go....lessgon....part
-amhouse, buildingvarious stemsnun- merchandise → nunam....store
til drink → tilam....bar, tavern
fyadiler....to prayfyadilam....church
-(e)mplacevarious stemsho-? what-? → hom?....where?
yex....workyexem....worksite
ab....on, aboveabem....top, surface
kua....lateralkum....side
-imroomvarious stemsmagel-....cookmagelim....kitchen
-umcompartment, boothvarious stemsteuzibar....telephoneteuzibarum....telephone booth
-yemenclosure, boxvarious stemsapet....horseapetyem....corral
b-....putbyem....position
-udoffspring, baby ofnounapet....horseapetud....foal
-oglittlenountab body → tabog corpuscle
apet....horseapetog....pony
tyal....mealtyalog....snack
gorbun....cutgorbunog....cutlet
-oyglittle and cutenountam....housetamoyg....cottage
apayt....chickenapaytoyg....chickadee
mimpar....boatmirparoyg....dingy
-ar
-ir
-ur
instrument, tool, machine, etc.usu. verb stemper....to gopur....car
drer....to writedrar....pencil
gobler....to cutgoblar....knife
yabler....to liftyablur....elevator, lift
yablar....lift, crane
dop....militarydopar....gun
dopur....machine gun
dopir....artillery, cannon
-sthing, something, object, the X oneadjectiveaa first → aas....first one, first thing
otwa....unknownotwas....mystery, an unknown
tejea....livingtejeas....living thing
-(s)onabstract thing, issuevarious stemsifer....to loveifon....love
ov againstovon....obstacle
aza strong → azon....force
yika....difficultyikson....problem
-(s)unobject, thing, result of an actionvarious stemsvyua....dirtyvyun....spot
tamber....settletambiun....settlement
gofrer shredgofrun....scrap, shred
hyo....not a singlehyosun....not a single thing
-tpersonadjectiveea second → eat....second one, second person
fya-....holyfyat....holy one, saint
ujna....lastujat....last one, last person
Amerika....AmericanAmerikat....an American
-tunscience of, -ologynountot....godtottun....theology
tob....mantobtun....anthropology
vob....plantvobtun....botany
-tutscientist, -ologist, -istnountot....godtottut....theologist
tob....mantobtut....anthropologist
vob....plantvobtut....botanist
-ufhate of, -phobianounmil water → miluf....hydrophobia
totin....religiontotinuf....hatred of religion
toyb....womantoybuf....misogyny
-ut, -uyt (f.)agent, one who Xes, -er, -ant, -istverb stembeker....treatbekuyt....nurse
poper....travelpoput....traveler
aker....winakut....winner
-yafability to, power, -abilityverb stemteater....to seeteatyaf....ability to see
texer....to thinktexyaf....cognition
tester....to understandtestyaf....comprehension
noser....to spendnosyaf....spending power
ter....to knowtyaf....conscience
-yagbig and uglynountetwid....uncletetwidyag....dirty old uncle
toyb....womantoybyag....hag
-yancollection, grouping, -arynountob....mantobyan....mankind
mar....starmaryan....constellation
fab....treefabyan....forest
dyes....bookdyesyan....library
-yefduty toverb stemduder....to answerdudyef....responsibility
byoker....to achebyokyef....punishment
-yikdifficulty toverb stemteeter....to hearteetyik....difficulty hearing
tiexer....to breathetiexyik....difficulty breathing, asthma
-yoglittle and uglynountam....housetamyog....shack
epat....duckepatyog....ugly duckling
kod....secretkodyog....little dirty secret
-yofinability to, disabilityverb stemteater....to seeteatyof....blindness
teeter....to hearteetyof....deafness
paser....to movepasyof....paralysis
tujer....to sleeptujyof....insomnia
-yuffear of, -phobianounlopyet....snakelopyetyuf....fear of snakes
mil....watermilyuf....hyrophobia
-yukease ofverb stempeser to waitpesyuk....patience
kovyoxer to foolkovyoxyuk....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
NEUTRALMALE/MALE-ORIENTEDFEMALE/FEMALE-ORIENTED
tob....human being, persontwob....mantoyb....woman
tobet....childtwobet....boytoybet....girl
tad....spousetwad....husbandtayd....wife
ejtad....step spouseejtwad....step-husbandejtayd....step-wife
ajtad....ex-spouseajtwad....ex-husbandajtayd....ex-wife
ted....parenttwed....fatherteyd....mother
datif....sweetheartdwatif....boyfrienddaytif....girlfriend
yapet....pigyapwet....boaryapeyt....sow
ideb....monarchidweb....kingideyb....queen
apat....fowlapwat....roosterapayt....hen
tiuv....underweartiwuv....briefstiuyv....panties
vapet....antelopevapwet....deervapeyt....doe
deuzut....singerdeuzut....singerdeuzuyt....songstress
tud....childtwud....sontuyd....daughter
For gender specification in pronouns, see Mirad Grammar/Pronouns, below).


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