Nouns in Vrkhazhian

Vrkhazhian nouns are called yanāza (singular yanas). They are declined for case, gender, and number. Vrkhazhian can be said to have two main noun classes or genders: animate and inanimate. Within the animate gender, there are three subgenders: the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter. Animate nouns are inflected for six cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, genitive, and equative) while inanimate nouns are inflected for only four (absolutive, ergative/instrumental, genitive, equative). Lastly, all nouns regardless of gender are inflected for two grammatical numbers (singular and plural). The assignment of gender to nouns is mostly non-arbitrary and determined by common, though not exhaustive, sets of criteria.

Nouns that are often feminine:

• female humans, spirits, and deities
• female domesticated animals
• collective nouns involving people in general (i.e people belonging to countries, caravans)

Nouns that are often masculine:

• male humans, spirits, and deities
• male domesticated animals
• collective nouns involving people specifically in a military or aggressive context (i.e armies and violent mobs)

Nouns that are often neuter:

• children and young domesticated animals
• wild animals
• seemingly animate things like rivers, oceans, wind, and fire
• body parts associated with movement such as arms, legs, eyes, and mouth
• certain organs such as the heart

Nouns that are often inanimate:

• still-moving things like trees, mountains, and buildings
• abstract concepts, including actions and states
• etc.

Noun inflection

Vrkhazhian nouns are declined for six cases. Cases are the forms and suffixes that nouns take when they occur in certain parts of a sentence. The seven cases are thus:

• The nominative (NOM) case indicates the subject (doer) of a verb ("Henry runs to the store", "Henry sees Sam").
• The vocative (VOC) case indicates a direct addressee ("Hey, you", "Father, what do you see?").
• The accusative (ACC) case indicates the primary object (receiver/target) of a transitive verb ("Henry sees Sam", "Henry gave Sam a pencil").
• The ergative (ERG) case indicates the instrument by which a verb is done or the secondary object of a ditransitive verb ("Henry gave Sam a pencil", "I wrote with a pen"). It also marks inanimate-gendered agents of transitive verbs.
• The genitive (GEN) case indicates that another noun is modified by the noun marked with this case and the marked noun having various roles such as possessor, origin, or source ("Sam's dog", "Men of Rome").
• The equative (EQU) case indicates that another noun is likened to or equivalent to the noun marked with this case ("As a boy, I used to run a lot", "He fights like a coward", "a hawk-like grin").

strong masculine noun rēbim (man, husband) Singular Plural Nominative rēb-im rēb-īya Vocative rēb-i Accusative rēb-is rēb-īza Ergative rēb-in rēb-īna Genitive rēb-iḫ rēb-īya Equative rēb-īli

strong feminine noun lumbum (woman, wife) Singular Plural Nominative lumb-um lumb-ūwa Vocative lumb-u Accusative lumb-us lumb-ūsa Ergative lumb-un lumb-ūna Genitive lumb-uḫ lumb-ūwa Equative lumb-ūli

strong neuter noun ˀilgam (fish) Singular Plural Nominative ˀilg-am ˀilg-āya Vocative ˀilg-a Accusative ˀilg-as ˀilg-āsa Ergative ˀilg-an ˀilg-āna Genitive ˀilg-aḫ ˀilg-āya Equative ˀilg-āli

strong inanimate noun ˀarśas (vessel) Singular Plural Nominative ˀarś-as ˀarś-āya Vocative Accusative Ergative ˀarś-an ˀarś-āna Genitive ˀarś-aḫ ˀarś-āya Equative ˀarś-āli

weak masculine noun san̮îm (brother) Singular Plural Nominative san̮-îm san̮-îya Vocative san̮-î Accusative san̮-îs san̮-îsa Ergative san̮-în san̮-îna Genitive san̮-îḫ san̮-îya Equative san̮-îli

weak feminine noun san̮ûm (sister) Singular Plural Nominative san̮-ûm san̮-ûwa Vocative san̮-û Accusative san̮-ûs san̮-ûsa Ergative san̮-ûn san̮-ûna Genitive san̮-ûḫ san̮-ûwa Equative san̮-ûli

weak neuter noun mazâm (sea, saltwater) Singular Plural Nominative maz-âm maz-âya Vocative maz-â Accusative maz-âs maz-âsa Ergative maz-ân maz-âna Genitive maz-âḫ maz-âya Equative maz-âli

weak inanimate noun kapâs (drinkable water) Singular Plural Nominative kap-âs kap-âya Vocative Accusative Ergative kap-ân kap-âna Genitive kap-âḫ kap-âya Equative kap-âli

Noun states

Nouns are also considered to be placed into what are called "noun states". In Vrkhazhian, there are only two states: the absolute state, or status absolutus, and the construct state, or status constructus. The latter form of the noun is marked by the removal of the case endings. The construct state is used when a noun is modified by another noun or a preposition phrase. This is also the form the noun takes when possessive suffixes are attached or when nouns are the argument of a nominal predicate ("He is a king"). Nouns that that are not placed in the construct state are considered to be in the absolute state, which is the default state of all nouns.

strong masculine noun rēbim (man, husband) Singular Plural Nominative rēb rēb-ī Oblique Genitive rēb-i Equative rēb-īli

strong feminine noun lumbum (woman, wife) Singular Plural Nominative lumub lumb-ū Oblique Genitive lumb-u Equative lumb-ūli

strong neuter noun ˀilgam (fish) Singular Plural Nominative ˀilig ˀilg-ā Oblique Genitive ˀilg-a Equative ˀilg-āli

strong inanimate noun ˀarśas (vessel) Singular Plural Nominative ˀaraś ˀarś-ā Oblique Genitive ˀarś-a Equative ˀarś-āli

weak masculine noun san̮îm (brother) Singular Plural Nominative san̮a san̮-î Oblique Genitive Equative san̮-îli

weak feminine noun san̮ûm (sister) Singular Plural Nominative san̮a san̮-û Oblique Genitive Equative san̮-ûli

weak neuter noun mazâm (sea, saltwater) Singular Plural Nominative mazi maz-â Oblique Genitive Equative maz-âli

weak inanimate noun kapâs (drinkable water) Singular Plural Nominative kapi kap-â Oblique Genitive Equative kap-âli

Noun derivation

Vrkhazhian nouns are mostly derived from verbs and there are numerous ways to derive nouns from them: