Like the -a declension, the -e declension loosely maps to a gender—the neuter—and can also contain feminine nouns. The forms are more distinct, however, and the set of feminine nouns that fall under the -e pattern is much smaller.

Neuter nouns ending in -ú

These include:

Mundane objects which are too simple, basic, or bland to inspire recognition of nature or artifice (e.g. dust, sand, mucus, an insignificant moment in time)

Individuals or animals of ambiguous gender (e.g. a stranger seen from a distance, a stray cat)

Creations (with no clear gender cues) that lack an owner (e.g. a lost key)

Feminine nouns ending in -é

These include:

Certain feminine names—treat grammatically as fully female (use a-declension pronouns and articles)

Neuter objects possessed by females (see Nouns II) which must be contrasted with an inherently feminine version of the same (e.g. her bowl with a cup)—treat grammatically as neuter (use e-declension pronouns and articles)

Weakly feminine phenomena (e.g. the darkness of an unlit room) which are natural but not expressions of nature—treat grammatically as neuter (use e-declension pronouns and articles)

Forming an e-declension noun

Follow the procedure for stem formation specified in the previous chapter. In the dictionary, e-declension nouns are shown as ending in -e, and remember not to confuse -ú with -u; the latter form is only shown in the dictionary.

-e		Feminine		Neuter
case	meaning	singular	plural	singular	plural
n.	this does	-é	-ai	-ú	-ei
ac.	do this	-(a)né	-(e)nai	-enú	-(e)nei
v.	addressee	-[y]é*	-(i)vai	-[y]ú*	-(i)vei
ab.	from this	-(e)vé	-(e)vin	-(e)vú	-(a)vin
l.	at this	-es	-(e)sai	-es	-(e)sei
d.	to/for this	-(e)ké	-(e)kai	-(e)kú	-(e)kei
g.	of this	-ení	-iní	-elí	-ilí
n. c.	be this	-(e)hé	-(a)hai	-(e)hé	-(e)hei
a. c.	make into this	-(a)nhé	-(e)nhai	-(e)nhé	-(e)nhei
i.	with this	-(e)wé	-(e)wai	-(e)wú	-(e)wei
e.	since this	-(e)pes	-(e)pes	-(e)pes	-(e)pes
tem.	during this	-(e)té	-(e)ltai	-(e)tú	-(e)ltei
term.	until this	-(e)kes	-(e)kes	-(e)kes	-(e)kes

* Include the y when following a vowel.

There is, again, 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:

-e		habe (unlit darkness)		mileme (glass)
case	meaning	singular	plural	singular	plural
n.	this does	habé	habai	milemú	milemei
ac.	do this	habané	habenai	milemenú	milemenei
v.	addressee	habé	habivai	milemú	milemivei
ab.	from this	habevé	habevin	milemevú	milemavin
l.	at this	habes	habesai	milemes	milemesei
d.	to/for this	habeké	habekai	milemekú	milemekei
g.	of this	habení	habiní	milemelí	milemilí
n. c.	be this	habehé	habahai	milemehé	milemehei
a. c.	make into this	habanhé	habenhai	milemenhé	milemenhei
i.	with this	habewé	habewai	milemewú	milemewei
e.	since this	habepes	habepes	milemepes	milemepes
tem.	during this	habeté	habeltai	milemetú	milemeltei
term.	until this	habekes	habekes	milemekes	milemekes

Remember again from Nouns II and Basics I the nominative complement forms have a silent vowel at the start, which is not written nor spoken in Lilitika and has only been included for legibility in this table.

Vocabulary

Memorize the following feminine nouns:

habe: darkness of an unlit place (e.g. a room)

henweste: glove or boot

greñksite: mask

podte: toy

azide: voice

aiteke: gift

karipe: palette

lúdaire: paint bottle

fertove: easel

udzhove: reading desk

Memorize the following neuter nouns:

le: it (mundane neuter)

mileme: glass (material)

haire: small bowl

ilede: desire

reghe: grass or reeds

senerave: limit

solwikse: day (unit of time)

tsheke: disagreement

verede: counting bead

zíbere: correction

zeltere: tofu

Memorize the following ungendered nouns:

illu: idea

stu: person

stiptu: child

koisu: home

klegu: bone

zholu: hand

fídu: neck

slokdtabu: slave

thelu: self

lobíu: tool

Exercises

1. Form the following in Lilitika using the e-declension (ignore "the"):
   • from the paint bottle
     
   • until the correction
     
   • with the people
     
   • since the desire
     
   • its
     
   • the person's
     
   • to the slaves
     
   • from home
     
   • at the grass
     
   • with the toy
     
   • during the disagreement
     
   • the bones
   
   
2. Translate the following into English:
   • veredenei
     
   • stewú
     
   • karipiní
     
   • fertovevé
     
   • iledetú
     
   • lobíemes
     
   • illenhai
   
   
3. Classify the following as feminine, natural, neuter, feminized neuter, or undeterminable without context:
   • illai
     
   • podtekes
     
   • mokal'vin (mokalvavin)
     
   • siní
     
   • tshekepes
     
   • klegenhei
     
   • zíberemes
     
   • theles
     
   • sinovin