There are two categories of nouns normally found ending in -a in Sarasí Lilitika: feminine nouns and natural/supernatural nouns. These each follow slightly different inflection patterns, and to know which is which, you generally either have to see them in use or guess based on the meaning of the noun. Some words may be hard to pin down as one or the other.
'True' feminine nouns include:
female people
female animals
mass groups of people that are mostly female
possessions of females that would otherwise be mundane neuter objects
things designed with a deliberate female character (e.g. statues of women or clothing designed for women)
deities of the Lilitai (though debatably these are also supernatural)
variants of objects that are perceived as more feminine than their alternatives (e.g. a cup is a more feminine bowl)
certain possessions or expressions of natural phenomena (e.g. a musical instrument)
These include:
weather
the universe
unnamed locations such as planets, stars, and moons (but note that any location can be given a masculine name, and its unnamed constituents or dependants would inherit that)
emotions and metaphysical concepts
plants
geographical features such as mountains, soil, rivers, oceans, caves
social constructs invented or discovered by the Lilitai
Lilitika exclusively uses a set of suffixes to mark case. In the dictionary, nouns starting in -a are definitely feminine in standard usage and fall under one of the above patterns; nouns ending in -u can usually be coerced into feminine. Note that the -u ending is not used in actual Lilitika and simply provides a placeholder. It is used in a pre-Lilitic language, called Oksí Lilitika, and is only retained in the dictionary for clarity. It should not be confused with the -e declension nominative ending, -ú.
To form a noun properly, simply remove the current ending (in this case, either -a, -u) and add on the appropriate ending from the table below. Letters in (parentheses) should be omitted when following a vowel.
There is a version of this table with the duplicates removed in the reference grammar; you may find this easier to memorize instead, as it highlights repeated forms. (But note that it is organized differently.)
Examples:
* Notice that s- + -ha has been written here as "saha" rather than the expected "sha" or "s·ha" as discussed in Basics I. This has been done to avoid bad form; it should be pronounced as an S followed by "ha", with the first A silent.
Memorize the following feminine nouns:
sa: I (female)
ra: you (female)
la: she
ekhañka: leotard
sta: woman
stipta: girl
terbelía: flower
haira: cup
khríméa: hair
sinoa: musical instrument
Memorize the following natural nouns:
la: it (natural)
adía: gust of wind
akoa: moon
atsha: star/sun
pléa: planet
fa: light
hapla: soil
mokalva: dune
venakoa: night
atshogía: dawn
venatsha: daytime
Memorize the following ungendered nouns:
altu: information
olíu: here
elíu: there
olu: this
elu: that
dazéu: fabric
dazu: outfit
dazou: cloud
yeletshu: rag
Feminine nouns
'True' feminine nouns include:
Natural and supernatural nouns
These include:
Forming a noun
Lilitika exclusively uses a set of suffixes to mark case. In the dictionary, nouns starting in -a are definitely feminine in standard usage and fall under one of the above patterns; nouns ending in -u can usually be coerced into feminine. Note that the -u ending is not used in actual Lilitika and simply provides a placeholder. It is used in a pre-Lilitic language, called Oksí Lilitika, and is only retained in the dictionary for clarity. It should not be confused with the -e declension nominative ending, -ú.
To form a noun properly, simply remove the current ending (in this case, either -a, -u) and add on the appropriate ending from the table below. Letters in (parentheses) should be omitted when following a vowel.
| -a | Feminine | Natural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| case | meaning | singular | plural | singular | plural |
| n. | this does | -a | -ai | -a | -ai |
| ac. | do this | -(a)ra | -(a)nai | -(a)ra | -(a)nai |
| v. | addressee | -(ê) | -asa | -éa | -asa |
| ab. | from this | -(a)van | -(a)vin | -(a)val | -(a)vin |
| l. | at this | -as | -as | -as | -as |
| d. | to/for this | -(a)kan | -(a)kan | -(a)kal | -(a)kal |
| g. | of this | -aní | -iní | -alí | -ilí |
| n. c. | be this | -ha | -hai | -ha | -hai |
| a. c. | make into this | -(a)rha | -(a)nhai | -(a)rha | -(a)nhai |
| i. | with this | -(a)wa | -(a)wa | -(a)wa | -(a)wa |
| e. | since this | -(a)pas | -(a)pas | -(a)pas | -(a)pas |
| tem. | during this | -(a)ta | -(a)ta | -(a)ta | -(a)ta |
| term. | until this | -(a)kas | -(a)kas | -(a)kas | -(a)kas |
There is a version of this table with the duplicates removed in the reference grammar; you may find this easier to memorize instead, as it highlights repeated forms. (But note that it is organized differently.)
Examples:
| -a | sa (I, me, etc.) | shistoa (dream) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| case | meaning | singular | plural | singular | plural |
| n. | this does | sa | sai | shistoa | shistoai |
| ac. | do this | sara | sanai | shistora | shistonai |
| v. | addressee | sê | sasa | shistoéa | shistoasa |
| ab. | from this | savan | savin | shistoval | shistovin |
| l. | at this | sas | sas | shistoas | shistoas |
| d. | to/for this | sakan | sakan | shistokal | shistokal |
| g. | of this | saní | siní | shistoalí | shistoilí |
| n. c. | be this | saha* | sahai* | shistoha | shistohai |
| a. c. | make into this | sarha | sanhai | shistorha | shistonhai |
| i. | with this | sawa | sawa | shistowa | shistowa |
| e. | since this | sapas | sapas | shistopas | shistopas |
| tem. | during this | sata | sata | shistota | shistota |
| term. | until this | sakas | sakas | shistokas | shistokas |
* Notice that s- + -ha has been written here as "saha" rather than the expected "sha" or "s·ha" as discussed in Basics I. This has been done to avoid bad form; it should be pronounced as an S followed by "ha", with the first A silent.
Vocabulary
Memorize the following feminine nouns:
Memorize the following natural nouns:
Memorize the following ungendered nouns:
Exercises
- Form the following in Lilitika (ignore "the"):
- my
- with the moon
- from light
- them
- in the soil
- at the dunes
- your
- since dawn
- of the girl
- me
- until night
- us
- my
- Translate the following into English:
- olía
- altanai
- haplê
- hairha
- sinonai
- dazéïlí
- venakopas
- olía
- Classify the following as feminine, natural, or undeterminable without context:
- shistonai
- altavin
- farha
- daziní
- yeletshakal
- a pebble
- the sky
- a tree
- a dress
- a woman's garden
- music
- shistonai
