II. TEONAHT: PARTS OF SPEECH

This page on nouns, articles, and nominal compounds contains information on the following topics:

A. NOUNS

As in English, Teonaht nouns exhibit a variety of forms and functions. There is the proper noun, which is a name, and which takes initial mutation in direct address: Sendl, Ha Hsendl, "O Sendl!"; there is the vast majority of concrete nouns that refer to persons, animals, places, things; there is the verbal noun, such as derem, "acting," "doing": fyl derem tso dihs, "your acting we want," i.e., "we want you to do something," and which will be covered in the section on "Verbs"; likewise, there are the verbal nominalizations which turn the verbal noun into a specific instance of the action: derem, "acting," "to act"--deuo, "deed"; enyverem, "eating," "to eat"--ennyvo, "meal." there are the abstract nouns (firkol, "generosity")and collective nouns (deygrin, "butter") that are uncountable, and also the nominalizations made from adjectives: uanta, "sad," uantale, "sadness"; hejvant, "absent," hejvando, "absence."

Except for the genitive and the vocative, nouns exhibit "case" in Teonaht primarily through their articles. Only a scant few show accusative case in the form of an ending or a mutation, such as in the Nenddeylyt nouns listed below; so inflection will not be a problem for the learner of Teonaht. The learner of Teonaht will not be plagued by the fabulous array of cases exhibited, say, by the Finnish. In fact, case is blindingly simple.

Teonaht is what I am calling an "Accusative Language" with a "split nominative." There are four major cases for nouns: Subject or nominative (Nom.), Object and Oblique Object (O), Possessive or genitive (Gen.), and Vocative (Voc.). The subject or nominative case, however, has two categories: "agentive" (A) and "participatory" (S). I have borrowed the system of abbreviation that other linguists give to "transitive" and "intransitive" subjects in these two instances (A, S), even though Teonaht uses these categories somewhat differently:

1. Cases.

a. The Split Nominative

i. The Agent

The agent performs the action of most transitive verbs and certain intransitive verbs, but its primary use is to express volitional action on the part of the subject:

Il mabbamba (O) le betõ (A) htesa.
"The ball (O) the boy (A) chases."

ii. The Participant (S)

The participant (S) performs the action of non-volitional (often intransitive) verbs and the copulative:

Li betõ (S) tabllysan
"The boy (S) weeps."

Tamol (O) li betõ
"A child (O) the boy (S) [is]."

The Participatory case expresses a state in which the subject is a participant, rather than an active agent, in the deed being performed. This often makes use of verbs we would consider transitive, like "hear," "see," "perceive." These actions don't involve quite the same voluntary action that "look," "listen," "touch" do, and Teonaht makes a distinction between subjects that make decisions and subjects that don't. The participatory nominative is also used with the predicate adjective or passive:

Uanta li betõ.
"Sad the boy (S) [is]."

Lõ nrinarem li betõ lis.
"His finding the boy gets" [i.e., "the boy is found"]

**Pronunciation Reminder!

Uanta li betõ
['jan t@ l@ 'be tu] (Yan-tuh luh BAY-too)
(normal stress in both nouns; no double letters)

b. The Object and Oblique Object

The object receives the action of either the agent or the participant. It can be either a transitive object (TO) as in 1) below; or an oblique object (OO--requiring a preposition), as in 2) below. It can be the object complement (OC) in a copula structure, as in 3):

1) Il kohsa (TO) ry (A) refod.
"The dog (TO) I (A) choose."
["I choose the dog"]
2) Kyam (TO) euil zef (OO) le betõ (A) vergo.
"A book (TO) to the man (OO) the boy (A) gives."
["The boy gives a book to the man."]
3) Hdand (OC) li zef (S).
"A doctor (OC) the man (S) [is]."
["The man is a doctor"]

c. The Genitive

The genitive is the only regular type of noun (outside the Nenddeylyt nouns, to express case with an affix--either a suffix or a prefix, depending on context and preference:

idbbetõ kyam
"A boy's book"--or:
dibbetõ kyam
"A boy's book"--or:
kyam betõid
"book of a boy"

Rules for possession will be discussed at greater length below.

d. The Vocative

The vocative is expressed in Teonaht by an initial mutation. In direct address, the initial letters of Teonaht nouns will "aspirate" or "fricatize":

  • Vowels will acquire an "h": Ha Hahtttely!"
  • Stops will become fricatives:
    • p becomes "hp" or "f": Ha Hpetr! ("Peter"), and pronounced "fetr."
    • b becomes "hb" or "v": Ha Hbarin, ha Varin! ("Barin").
    • t become "ht": Ha htamolin! ("My children").
    • d becomes "hd": Ha Hdavyd ("David").
    • k become "hk": Ha Hkahtryn ("Katherine").
    • g becomes "hg": Ha hgwenhda ("little girl"--note how in these two the second syllable mutates as well from Katryn to Hkahtryn and gwenda to hgwenhda).
  • Nasals are "aspirated":
    • m becomes "hm": Ha hmeo! ("sir")
    • n becomes "hn"
    • ng becomes "hng"
  • As are the glides:
    • w becomes "hw":
    • l becomes "hl":
    • u becomes "hu":
    • r becomes "hr":
  • Fricatives become affricates:
      f becomes "pf"
    • v becomes "bv"
    • ht becomes "tht"
    • hd becomes "dhd"
    • s becomes "ts"
    • z becomes "dz"
    • hs becomes "ths" or "c"
    • j becomes "dj"
    • h becomes silent
    • hk becomes "khk" (which ends up sounding a little bit like "cr" in Fr. je crains
    • hg becomes "ghg" (ditto: a little like "gr" in Fr. grand
  • Affricates lose their affricating element, as do the aspirated nasals their aspiration:
    • ts becomes "s"
    • dz becomes "z"
    • c becomes "hs"
    • dj becomes "j"
    • hm becomes "m"
    • hn becomes "n"
    • hng becomes "ng"

This rule is worth knowing because it is used in other rare instances of Teonaht mutation (which arise when certain words appear out of their customary word order: for instance, when a predicate noun or adjective follows the copula where it should precede--lynna vandivar, "she is a dancer" (fandivar). See the page on Syntax for more information.

**Pronunciation Reminder!

Ha Hahtttely! (Hey, Ahtttely!)
['ha haT 'te li] (Ha hath-TAY-lee)
(abnormal stress: double "t" required (after digraph "ht")

2. Articles.

The article in Teonaht, once a marker for gender, now solely marks case, and, by its positioning, definiteness or indefiniteness. The true indefinite is without marking: generalized singulars (tah uaflas, a bird will fly), the predicate in a copula construction (hdand li zef, a doctor the man is). The marked indefinite uses a special article developed from the word for "one," and means "a certain" or a "single" one which has not yet risen to the status of definiteness.

DEFINITE:
le Agentive (formerly nominative masculine)
li Participatory (formerly nominative feminine)
il Accusative and Oblique
ilid/ild Genitive

INDEFINITE:
uõa Agentive
uõ(n) Participatory
uol Accusative and Oblique                                    

Agentive uõ(n) has a nasal ending before words beginning with a vowel. Sometimes the particle in the object case is suffixed:

harod-uõl uõa kohsa bettaiel
"a rabbit a dog caught."
("a dog caught a rabbit")
Ordinarily there is no plural form for the article, except in the case of the Nenddeylyt nouns (listed below), where you have les, lez, lis, liz and ils/ilzwhich merely pick up the initial plural tag on the noun--hence this is more of a spelling convention than a morphology. Sometimes, however, these are analogized for Teonaht nouns as well (especially nouns starting with vowels), and you get a pleonasm (see the section below on Nenddeylyt plurals):

liz/ilz ytanneyn, "the feet"
(plural marking at the end of both words: -z, and -n)

There is no genitive case for the indefinite article, the genitive affix usually attaching to the front of the indefinite noun (see "Possession" below).

uõ hohza vlar,
"a wind (indef.S) loud."
[i.e., "a loud wind"]
Hohz-uõl ryttepron,
"a wind (indef.O) I feel."

Or:

Hohza ryttepron,
"I feel wind."

But:

neome hohzid ryttepron,
"a breath of wind I feel."

A note about the indefinite article; Teonaht prefers to leave the indefinite noun unmarked, especially if you are speaking of things as general and as unspecified as wind, time, air, sky, and so forth. The indefinite article has more limited application in Teonaht than it does in English, being used mainly to specify "a certain one" of general things that does not yet enjoy specification. So here's the general rule for marked indefinite nouns: these are individual persons or objects, to be distinguished from a collective or mass entity, that show up on the scene for the first time before they have been singled out from the rest of their type:

Ar il verinyn       elry atwa;
"To the park (def.OO) did I walk;"
uol zef,        lindrel-lo kohs--uol,
"A (certain) man (indef.O), led he a dog (indef.O),
elry ke
did I see."
("I walked to the park; I saw a man walking a dog.")
Pom il zef        elry jane,
"With the man (def.OO) did I talk,"
uo il kohsa       ry sõvuin.
"and the dog (def.O) I pet[ted]."

The indefinite indicates a certain man of many. The definite shows that there is now a specified man and his dog. One could just as easily say, and without ambiguity, zef elry ke, "I saw a man." But the advantage of the indefinite article is that, like the definite article, it expresses agentive/participant information about the noun it modifies. So it is more common for it to appear when the noun is the subject, obviously: Uõa zef elry harimar mante, "a man came here"; Uõ kohsa ai winyfdarem elai lis, "a dog, its feeding it got" ("a dog was fed").

The unmarked indefinite noun can also signify a collective:

Te uafla
"A bird flies"; but also: "birds fly."

To disambiguate these two, Teonaht will often use the habitual or consuetudinal ending:

Te uaflom.
"A bird/birds will fly."

But the marked indefinite also helps clarify the difference between the collective and the singular concept. Take the phrase that was chosen for the CONLANG t-shirt: "invent a language." As in English, T's kalalya can refer to a specific language or language in general, language in the abstract. "Invent language" is not the same as "invent A language." So we have uol kalalya hadhaf, which commands one to make a specific language instead of to speak or to create poetry. "Make war," "make love," these are similar phrases in English that do not specify a single war or a single love.

See more about this in the section on "Verbs."

The Teonaht article precedes the noun, and is often prefixed to it and treated as one word. Hence, the double letters signify a change in stress, as though the unit were a new word. The same is true of the prefixed personal pronoun y/ry in ryttepron, below:

blar lihhohza; ilhhohza ryttepron.
"loud the wind; the wind I feel."

This can be a confusing rule for learners of Teonaht, so in the first few sections of this grammar I will separate article from noun, pronoun from verb, for clarity.

Likewise, the oblique object articles will often bond with the preposition: aril, "to the"; celuõl, "in a"; euil "to the" (this last needs the glide "u" to bond e and il). Again, in the first few sections of this grammar, I will separate preposition and article, or show them alternatively.

**Pronunciation Reminder!

uo il kohsa ry sõvuin ("and the dog I petted")
['jo Il 'ko S@ ri'su vjIn] (yole KOH-shuh ree SOOV-yin)

3. Word Order.

Teonaht, as I said above, is OV in its typology, but adjectives tend to follow the noun, rather than precede, if one pays attention to those old rules. It is not true that the verbs are given short shrift by being made to occupy terminal position: terminal position is strong in Teonaht, and hence we have the development of the "verbal adjective":

blar li hozha,
"loud the wind [is]."
li hohza blar,
"the loud wind."
li hohza vlaren
"the wind louds"

More about this in the section on "Verbs."

4. Plurality

Plural nouns are expressed in a number of ways. The most common is to add an -n or -en to the end of the word:

ytanney, ytanneyn, "foot, feet"
fanttear, fanttearn, "dance, dances"
pyttela, pyttelan, "color, colors"
paneht, pannehten, "force, forces" (here the word undergoes a change in stress)
imuif, imuivn, "gift, gifts" (here the -en has been modified, and the "f" voiced)

The other most common plural is the addition of the plural prefix ni- or mim-:

htindro, nihhtindro ("song, songs")
flehta, nifflehta ("fire, fires")
hsavves, mimhsaves ("grass, grasses"--note here the shift in emphasis back to the initial syllable, now mim-)
selivy, niselivy ("concept, concepts")

The last example shows no change in stress in the root word because the rules have not been violated (i.e., a four syllable word is stressed on the second syllable); therefore, the prefix form of the plural is most often applied to three-syllable words with initial (normal) stress. Nonetheless, there are plenty of two syllable words that take the plural prefix, changing their stress, and many cases in which such words show either form: betõn ("boys"), and nibbetõ ("boys"). Occasionally you get a pleonasm: nibbetõn ("boys"), but this is rare.

Typographically, definite articles are almost never bonded to nouns with plural prefixes, but stand alone:

li nihhtindro, "the songs"

Occasionally:

lini htindro, "the songs"

The indefinite article suffix is never added to plural nouns, the preferred form being the adjective mimim(pronoun mim + partitive genitive õm): "some of," from which the plural prefix is of course formed:

mimim nihhtindro
"some (of) songs"

This is oftened abbreviated to mimi before non-collective ni- plurals: mimi nihhtindro, and to mi before mim- plurals: mi mimshaves, "some grasses." Typographically, this is sometimes rendered mimmim hsaves, "some grasses."

The numbers followed suit, and when used adjectivally ("four spoons") they were assumed to carry the same plural force that mimmim does: so nouns aren't made plural after numbers:

tibrom pronep "two (of) fork[s]"

...although you will occasionally see tibro nippronep, "two forks"

**Pronunciation Reminder!

nihhtindro ("songs")
[nI 'TIn dro] (nih-THIN-droh)
(abnormal stress on penultimate; double letter "h" required)
niselivy ("concepts")
[nI 'sE l@ vi] (nih-SEL-ih-vee)
(normal stress on second of four syllables; no double letters)

5. Possession.

The Teonaht noun shows a variety of ways of expressing possession, as we have seen already with the "genitive" above. The most common way is to suffix -id to the noun:

betõid, "boy's"
tohda betõid, "cat of a boy", "a boy's cat"

Another way is to prefix d-, di- or id- to the noun:

dytanney, "of a foot," "foot's"
dippaneht, "of force"

Still another way is to suffix -id to the article:

mabbamba ilid betõ, "the boy's ball"
ilid flehta, "of the fire"

A rule of thumb is that the possessed object generally precedes the possessor, and where there are exceptions, convention requires that d-, di-, and -id- not be placed between the two words to avoid a construction like betõid mabbamba, which could be taken for betõ idmabbamba, "the ball's boy." The Teonaht would say, however, that this makes little difference in the close relationship of possessor and possessed--and violate this prescription all the time. If the NP is head initial, then that in itself reduces ambiguity, although you will also find dotma paneht, "the demon's strength." This, actually, seems to be the older tradition, back when Teonaht, a good OV language, was more "head final" in structure, and its adjectives preceded its nouns. In short, Teonaht is fairly flexible about word order.

How do these work with other prefixes? With plural prefixes, the possessive suffix is used if there is no article: wydo niselivyd, "[the] truth of concepts." Otherwise: paneht ilid niselivy, "[the] strength of the concepts."

6. Gender.

Teonaht once exhibited a morphology of gender, but that has been effaced by time. Nouns and articles do not reflect gender by themselves, whereas pronouns do. Animals, however, have a whole range of gendered categories expressed in an adjective that follows the noun; these vary according to the type of animal but are far from being consistent. Click here if you want to see that brief list of male and female beasts.

6. Nenddeylyt Noun Classes.

a) Classes.

The following classes of noun are presumed to come from Nenddeyly, a language for which we have little textual evidence and much folklore. They take different endings:

i. -ar/-arn nouns.
These are primarily used for animals and plants and some gods: things of the earth; -ar was originally the masculine ending; -arn is the feminine. Plurals are formed variously, usually with a prefix (see Plurals below:

pavar, "clam."
ivvarn, "deep glen."
õllern, "pigeon."
teanar, "fawn."
hsarn, "tundra."
celnar, "snail."
dõvvarn, "cave."
novvirn, "moss."
ydonar, "forest"
pelnarn, "river"
Tebnar, a man's name.
Netiliar Netavia, originally a nature god: "velvet leaf"?

**Pronunciation Reminder!

ollern, "pigeon":
[u 'lErn] (oo LEHRN)
celnar, "snail"
['tsEl nar] (CHELL-nar)
ydonar, "forest":
['i do nar] (EE-doh-nar)
(normal stress on initial of two syllables. No double letters required)

ii. -im/-em nouns.

velim, "female."
fyllim, "female virgin."
zelim, "male."
zellem, "male virgin."
teuim, "god."
ildrim, "angel" (cognate with eldrimed, a Teonaht word).
uelfem, "youth."

**Pronunciation Reminder!

fyllim
[fi 'lIm] (fee-LIM);
(abnormal stress on ultimate syllable; double letters)
teuim
['teIm] (TAY-im)
(normal stress)

iii. -õl, -ol, -or nouns. This group includes nouns made from verbs, adjectives, or other nouns and represent both states of being and generality. By analogy, these endings have been applied to non-Nenddeylyt words:

firkol, "generosity" (from firik, "giving").
nisimol, "pushing" (from nisim, "aggressive").
toykor, "sarcasm" (from toyk, "cutting").
coyol, "sentimentality" (from coy, "sweet").
hrelor, "lordship, nobility" (from hrelorem, "rule").
vetor, "irritation" (from vetoned "get angry").
ririkor, "matter" (from ririk, "object".
karor, "thought," "thinking" (from karo, "a thought."

iv. -õn, õ , -õ, -is/-il, -l, -ik, -k nouns. This very large group includes objects. Not all Teonaht words ending with these letters are Nenddeylyt:

flanis, "wool"
fõn, "dust"
findris, "glass"
perõ, "song" (Teonaht equiv. is htindro)
toysdõv, "dagger"
hwendl, "infant"
htrindl, "feather"
sendl, "brunette"
ririk, "thing," "material"
vilrik, "spirit," "anima"
reik, "crown"
rilik, "comb"
amik, "toy"
kelik, "shift"
narnok, "form," "shape"
fetl, "leaf"

These -ndl endings, a favorite sound, seem to refer to small, ornamental things, things worn, personal things, whereas the -il endings below have connotations of hugeness, remoteness, the grandeur of Nature:

hil, "constellation"
ril, "band, plain, horizon"
iliril, "deep valley"
fefiril, "lightning," "sunrise"
menril, "mountain" (Teonaht equiv. elmen)
ilva, "night sky"
selda, "day sky"
esdiril, "sea"
tilva, "star" (Teonaht equiv. esttelva, influenced by L. stella).
tennil, "air"
leyvitil, "night"
il, "darkness"
fel, "brightness"

**Pronunciation Reminder!

iliril
['IlIrIl] (ILL-ih-rill)
fefiril
['fEfIril] (FEFF-ih-rill)
(normal stress)

v. -yr nouns. This special class of nouns takes traits from Teonaht nouns, so it is unclear whether they are corrupted forms of Nenddeylyt nouns or vice versa. An unerring characteristic is the stress on the second syllable in disyllabic words. They have a special form of the object case, described below, and take Teeonaht endings in the plural:

byr, byrn, "guilty one(s), beer(s)."
dyr, dyrn, "scream(s)."
cyr, cyrn, "tumult(s)."
greddyr, greddyrn, "measurement(s)."
gryr, gryrn, "madman(men)."
krellyr, krellyrn, "seaweed(s)."
hlabbyr, hlabbyrn, "rumor(s)."
massyr, massyrn, "nobleman(men)."
mettyr, mettyrn, "net(s)."
nettyr, nettyrn, "metal(s)."
orryr, orryrn, "astrological map(s)."
põvvyr, põvvyrn, "basin(s)."
hraddyr, hraddyrn, "radius/radii."
lrammyr, lrammyrn, "twist(s)."
syr, syrn, "shooting star(s)."
hsyr, hsyrn, "wheel(s)."
tyr, tyrn, "nation(s)."
yr, yrn, "foreign language(s)."

b) Nenddeylyt Plurals.

Class One Nenddeylyt nouns take a special plural in the form of a prefix: se-, ze- (depending on voiced consonants in thee noun), es-, or e-. The se-/ze- prefixes are often abbreviated: s', z':

pavar, sippavar, s'pavar, "clam, clams."

When the article is added, the s' or z' often transfer to the end of the article:

li pavar, lis pavar; il pavarb, ils pavarb.

The indefinite article also transfers the "s" or "z" plural particle:

uõas pavar; uõs pavar; uols pavar.

So:

ivvarn, zivvarn, lez ivvarn, "the glens"
õllern, s õllern, les õllern, "the pigeons"
teuanar, etuanar, lis eteuanar, "the fawns"
hsarn, ehhsarn, les hsarn, "the tundras"
celnar, eccelnar, lis celnar, "the snails"
dõvvarn, edõvvarn, les dõvvarn, "the caves"
novvirn, enovvirn, lis enovvirn, "the mosses"
ydonar, zydonar, liz ydonar, "the forests"
pelnarn, seppelnarn, les pelnarn, "the rivers"
teuim, steuim, les teuim, "the gods"

Note that where the juxtaposition of an article ending with a vowel and the e- form of the plural causes an awkward stop, -s or -z will be suffixed to the article while retaining the plural prefix of the noun: ils/lis eteanar, "the fawns."

This rule applies with dwindling force to the other classes of Nenddeylyt nouns (siffindris, sipperõ), and then just applies, by analogy, the common -en plural suffix, occasionally the ni- prefix, especially with the -ndl/-il nouns:

hilen, "constellations."
tilvan, "stars."
hwendlen, "infants."
fefirilen, "lightning bolts."

NOTE: In Class One N. Nouns, the plural particle can suffix itself to possessive pronouns as well:

las pelnarn, "her rivers"
lõz ydonar, "his forests"

8. Object Case in Nenddeylyt Nouns

The objective form occurs only in Nenddeylyt nouns; wherever it occurs in Teonaht nouns as well it is due to analogy. It is likely that Teonaht itself was inflected, but that morphology is lost to us. The accusative ending in Nenddeylyt nouns is most commonly -p and -b, appended to nouns ending in -m, -r, -s, and -ol; for nouns ending with -arn, the mutations is to -armp; -s for nouns ending with -k; -z for nouns ending in -il or -ndl, or a vowel. Plural forms are given below:

a. Class-i nouns

pavarb, "clam," spavarb, "clams."
    ils pavarb, "the clams," etc.
ivvarmp, "glen," zivvarmp, "glens."
õllermp, "pigeon," sõllermp, "pigeons."
teanarb, "fawn," eteanarb, "fawns."
    ils eteanarb, "the fawns," etc.
hsarmp, "tundra," ehhsarmp, "tundras."
celnarb, "snail," eccelnarb, "snails." dõvvarmp, "cave," edõvvarmp, "caves."
novvirmp, "moss," enovvirmp, "mosses."
ydonarb, "forest," zydonarb, "forests."
pelnarmp, "river," spelnarmp, "rivers."
Tebnar, proper noun, unaffected.

b. Class-ii nouns:

velimp, "female," zvelimp, "females."
fyllimp, "female virgin," sfyllimp, "unmarried girls"
zellemp, "male virgin," ezellemp, "unmarried boys."
teuimp, "god," steuimp, "gods."
ildrimp, "angel," zildrimp, "angels."
uelfemp, "youth," suelfemp, "youths."

c. Class-iii nouns:

firkolp, "generosity" (no plural).
nisimolp, "a push," ninisimolp, "pushes."
toykorp, "sarcasm" (no plural).
coyolp, "sentimentality" (no plural).
hrelorp, "nobility" (no plural).
vetorp, "irritation" (no plural--note that this describes not an external source of irritation, but a state of mind).

d. Class-iv nouns:

flanisp, "wool," sifflanisp, sflanisp, "woolens."
fõmp, "dust," siffomp, "dustballs."
findrisp, "glass," siffindrisp, "glasswares."
perõb, "song," sipperõ, sperõ, "songs."
toystõv, "dagger," stoysdõv, "daggers."
ririks, "thing," "material," sririks, "materials."
vilriks, "spirit, ghost," svilriks, "spirits."
reiks, "crown," sreiks, "crowns."
riliks, "comb," sriliks, "combs."
amiks, "toy," amikenz, "toys."
keliks, "garment," kelikenz, "garments."
narnoks, "form," ninnaroks, "form."
hilz, "constellation," hilenz, "constellations.
rilz, "band, horizon," rilenz, "horizons."
ilirilz, "deep, dark valley," ilirilenz, "valleys."
fefirilz, "lightning," fefirilenz, "lightning bolts."
menirilz, "mountains," menrilenz, "mountains."
ilvaz, "night sky," ilvanz, "night skies."
seldaz, "day sky," seldanz, "day skies."
tilvaz, "star," tilvanz, "stars."
tennilz, "air" tenilenz, "gusts of wind."
leyvitilz, "night," leyvitilenz, "nights."
ilz, "darkness," ilenz, "dark places."
felz, "brightness, glory," felenz, "beautiful places."

**Pronunciation Reminder!

eteanar, "fawns"
[E 'te @ nar] (eh-TAY-uh-nar)
fefirilenz, "bolts of lightning"
[fE 'FI ri lEnz] (feh-FIHR-ih-lenz)
(normal stress, no double letters)
eccelnar, "snails"
[E 'tsEl nar] (eh-CHEL-nar)
(abnormal stress on penulatimate: double letters)

e. Class-v nouns:

This class, as stated, has an entirely different object case involving radical mutation of the noun:

subject: byr, byrn; 
     object: binis, nibbinis, "beer(s)."
subject: dyr, dyrn; 
    object: dinis, niddinis, "scream(s)."
subject: cyr, cyrn; 
    object: cyr, cinis, "tumult(s)."
subject: greddyr, greddyrn;
    object: grendis, niggrendis, "measurement(s)."
subject: gryr, gryrn;
    object: grinis, niggrinis, "madman/men."
subject: krellyr, krellyrn;
    object: krinlis, nikkrinlis, "seaweed(s)."
subject: hlabbyr, hlabbyrn;
    object: hlambis, nihhlambis, "rumor(s)."
subject: massyr, massyrn;
    object: mansis, nimmansis, "nobleman/men."
subject: mettyr, mettyrn;
    object: mentis, nimmentis, "nets."
subject: nettyr, nettyrn;
    object: nentis, ninnentis, "metals."
subject: orryr, orryrn;
    object: ornis, ninnornis, "astrological map(s)."
subject: põvvyr, põvvyrn;
    object: põnvis, nippõnvis, "basin(s)."
subject: hraddyr, hraddyrn;
    object: hrandis, nihhrandis, "radius/radii."
subject: lrammyr, lrammyrn;
    object: lrambis, nillrambis, "twist(s)."
subject: syr, syrn;
    object: sinis, nissinis, "shooting star(s)."
subject: hsyr, hsyrn;
    object: hsinis, hihhsinis, "wheel(s)."
subject: tyr, tyrn, "nation(s)."
    object: tinis, nittinis, "nations."
subject: yr, yrn;
    object: inis, mimminis, "foreign language(s)."

9. Nominal Compounds

Teonaht lacks the flexibility of English which allows some nouns to take the place of an adjective in close or loose compounds:

Seahorse in Teonaht is "horse of the sea."
Starfish in Teonaht is "fish like a star."

The relationship of the primary noun to the secondary one has to be shown, and Teonaht compounds fall into six basic categories, governed by abbreviated forms of the prepositions, which are then prefixed or suffixed to either the primary or the secondary noun. These are: a) the Partitive Compound; b) the Attributive Compound; c) the Functional Compound; d) the Comparative Compound; e) the Objective Compound; and f) the Nominal Potentive Compound.

a. Partitive, with prefix m-/im-:

The possessive genitive as we have seen is formed with prefix d- or suffix -id. The partitive genitive shows a portion come out of a greater whole, and is formed by an abbreviation of the preposition om, "of," very often suffixed to the head noun:

imffindrisp, "of glass."
elnnaowym findrisp, "glass window"

This form also shows that something is constructed out of or consists of or is taken from a larger group:

morwem õnde, õnde morwem,
"of gold [a] bowl," "bowl of gold" (om + orwem)
mim mohsam ddeygrin, "a large amount of butter"
mimõm takrem, "some earth"

Morwem (made "of gold") is to be distinguished from orwemaht ("golden"--noun orwem + adjectival suffix -aht). Thus a bowl can be both orwemaht and morwem, but the sun cannot properly be described as morwem. It is orwemaht.

NOTE: a construction such as "King of Melpomnea" or "Lord of Angels" takes the possessive genitive: Hrel dizzeldrimehhde (lord of angels).

**Pronunciation

Hrel dizzeldrimehhde
[hrEl dI 'zEldrImE 'ðe] (HREL dih-ZEL-drih-meh-THEY)
(abnormal stress: double letters)

b. attributive, with a juxtaposition:

This compound shows a quality of the primary noun by following it with a noun expressing that quality. It's the only construction that does not require an affix:

Hrel rolyzamar, "Lord of Brightness"
Eldrimed Nored, "Angel of Death"
nipllebyam linda, "words of wisdom"

In the first example given, "of brightness" is an attribute that defines Lord--it means "brightful Lord." So it is called the attributive juxtaposition, for it expresses an atribute or quality of the primary noun it stands next to.

NOTE: all Nenddeylyt nouns drop their accusative endings in favor of this construction. So "a dust (touch) of glory" would be fõn fel.

A slightly different use of the attributive compound is expressed using the -del suffix described in the section on "Adjectives": eldrimed lehttel, "fiery angel," "angel full of fire," "angel of fire." This construction uses a straight adjective, formed from the noun with a suffix that means "full of": "angel fireful."

c. Functional Compound, with suffix -t:

This compound shows the function of the primary noun as it relates to the noun which describes it; i.e., the secondary noun describes the function of the primary one:

dinner table, ice box, trash can

are literally rendered in Teonaht as:

table for dinner, box for ice, can for trash

It is formed with the suffix -t, -ot (to, "for") which attaches to the secondary noun:

bav memwat, "room for water (memwa)," i.e., "bathroom."
bav kwecot, "room for cooking (kweco)," i.e., "kitchen."
nikkably ennyvot, "boards for meal (ennyvo)," i.e., "dinner table."
talaket millefõt, "ring for wrist (millefõ)," i.e., "bracelet."
hovik marront, "house for hermit (marron)," i.e., "hermitage."
bav rittatt, "room for images (rittad)," i.e., "gallery."

-t or -ot are suffixed where the secondary noun already ends with a consonant (as in marron above); and when the suffixual noun ends with a d or a t, then it converts to -tt, as in rittad/rittatt.

NOTE: Again, the Nenddeylyt object suffixes are dropped in favor of this construction.

d. Comparative Compound, with suffix -ema:

This compound shows the primary noun to be like the secondary, and it is not properly a compound but a noun with an adjective: the suffix attaces to the adjectival noun, while the primary noun often drops the last syllable:

perpwe, "fish" + esttelva, "star":
perpõ estelvema, "fish star-like," i.e., "starfish."

maskwy, "fly" + typpena, "dragon":br maskõ tepenema, "dragonfly."

zef honema, "man like an ape (hon)."
todha rakydnema, "spider cat"
     (a thin, tree-dwelling cat)
kohs kõklima, "monkey dog (kohsa)."
     (a ferocious, climbing dog of legend)

The plural suffix in this construction is often attached to both nouns:

kohsan kõkliman, "monkey dogs."

e. Objective Compound, with suffix -r:

In this compound, the suffix -r, short for the preposition ri/rin (a particle connecting the verbal noun to its direct object) attaches to the secondary noun. In this way it identifies the object:

naivvohsy, "teacher" + niggildro, "music":
naivvohsy niggildror, "teacher of music."
iselnivar, "bearer" + memwa, "water":
iselnivar memwar, "water bearer."

This construction, turned around and compounded, becomes something like a present participle:

mohhead memwarisselnarem, "water-bearing spirit (mohhead)."

Here is how the particle ri/rin works in a sentence:

ri memwa iselnarem cotanib "of water [the] bearing is needed."

f. Nominal Potentive, with to:

In this construction, the "fitability" of a noun is expressed, and is almost identical in structure to the potentive verbal adjective (see in the section on "Verbs"). There, the infinitive/gerund takes the preposition to, "for," in order to express "doability":

htindro to htindelrem, "song for singing" i.e., "a singable song."

Here, the same construction with a noun indicates suitability, fitability:

commanco, "feast"; to commanco, "fit for a feast."
bav to commanco, "a room fit for a feast."
perõ to eldrimed, "a song fit for an angel."

Note that it differs from the functional compound only in not suffixing the same preposition, and in expressing praiseworthy qualities.

And here I have come to an end to this long chapter on Teonaht Nouns.

Sally Caves

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E-mail me at scaves@frontiernet.net.

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