Kiravic Coscivian: Difference between revisions

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Tag: 2017 source edit
Tag: 2017 source edit
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Kiravic nouns inflect for two numbers (singular/nonplural and plural) and X main cases: The absolutive, ergative, genitive, indirect, locative, lative, essive, benefactive, and instrumental. Within the absolutive case, nouns further inflect for three tenses (present/gnomic, past, future, imperative) and two aspects (simple and perfect).\
Kiravic nouns inflect for two numbers (singular/nonplural and plural) and X main cases: The absolutive, ergative, genitive, indirect, locative, lative, essive, benefactive, and instrumental. Within the absolutive case, nouns further inflect for three tenses (present/gnomic, past, future, imperative) and two aspects (simple and perfect).\


Among native speakers and in [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Literary Kiravic]], the plural is marked only sparingly, and never in the company of numerals or {{wp|Classifier (linguistics)|classifiers}} (e.g. ''vôrux ethruv'' "five tree" rather than ''vôrux ethruya'' "five trees"). In [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Standard Kiravic]] (which eschews classifiers) and the Svéaran dialect, plural marking is more frequent; marking enumerated plurals, while acceptable and formerly standard, has become less common since Reunification.
===Number===
Grammatically, nouns can be nonplural (unmarked) or plural. Nonplural nouns may be semantically singular, collective, uncountable, or plural. Among native speakers and in [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Literary Kiravic]], the plural is marked only sparingly, and never in the company of numerals or {{wp|Classifier (linguistics)|classifiers}} (e.g. ''vôrux ethruv'' "five tree" rather than ''vôrux ethruya'' "five trees"). In [[Kiravic_Coscivian#Written_Registers|Standard Kiravic]] (which eschews classifiers) and the Svéaran dialect, plural marking is more frequent; marking enumerated plurals, while acceptable and formerly standard, has become less common since Reunification.


As illustrated in the following section, there are only two declension patterns for plural nouns. Form II (''-a'') nouns take a unique plural suffix for each case. On all other nouns, the plural base form is marked with the sufix ''-ya'' and is then declined as if it were a Form II <u>singular</u> noun.
==Case - Grammaticals==
There are four general declension patterns in Kiravic, characterised by the suffixes taken in the absolutive and genitive cases:
There are four general declension patterns in Kiravic, characterised by the suffixes taken in the absolutive and genitive cases:


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Case syncretism is fairly common. The most common syncretic pattern variant is Form I nouns that take the Form III suffix ''-sk'' in the genitive, a prominent example being the word ''Kirav'' (genitive ''Kiravsk'' rather than ''Kiral'').
Case syncretism is fairly common. The most common syncretic pattern variant is Form I nouns that take the Form III suffix ''-sk'' in the genitive, a prominent example being the word ''Kirav'' (genitive ''Kiravsk'' rather than ''Kiral'').


====Grammatical cases====
====Ergative-Absolutive====
The two most important noun cases in sentence formation are the '''absolutive''', which marks the object of a transitive sentence or the subject of an intransitive sentence, and the '''ergative''', which marks the subject of a transitive sentence. At minimum, a Kiravic subject-predicate sentence comprises an absolutive noun and a verb.
The two most important noun cases in sentence formation are the '''absolutive''', which marks the object of a transitive sentence or the subject of an intransitive sentence, and the '''ergative''', which marks the subject of a transitive sentence. At minimum, a Kiravic subject-predicate sentence comprises an absolutive noun and a verb.


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====Constructive cases====
====Constructives====
In addition to the three grammatical cases which establish the structure of a sentence, Kiravic nouns also decline for several "constructive cases" that are used to form {{wp|noun phrase}}s.
In addition to the three grammatical cases which establish the structure of a sentence, Kiravic nouns also decline for several "constructive cases" that are used to form {{wp|noun phrase}}s.