Thesome

Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ] is a constructed language. It is similiar to Ancient Greek in terms of phonology and Finnish in terms of morphology. - THIS PAGE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Phonology

Vowels

Phonemes

/a e i o u y/ <a e i o u y>

Allophony

All vowels have a lax counterpart: /a/ - [ɐ], /e/ - [ɛ], /i/ - [ɪ], /o/ - [ɔ], /u/ - [ʊ] and /y/ - [ʏ]. Lax vowels appear instead of the tense ones

1. always in closed syllables; e.g. emnathon ["ɛm.nɐ.tʰɔn]
2. in the syllable following a stressed vowel; e.g. Thesome["tʰe.zɔ.mɛ]
3. in the last syllable of a word; e.g. deromi ["de.ɾɔ.mɪ]

Word final [ɛ] may be realised as [ə] in fast speech: Thesome /"tʰe.zɔ.mə/

When the penultimate syllable is stressed, the vowel is usually pronounced longer; contrast deromi ["de.ɾɔ.mɪ] with derthi ["dɛ:ɾ.tʰɪ]

Diphthongs

Phonemes

/aɪ eɪ ɔɪ aʊ/ <ai ei eu/oi au>

/ɔɪ/ is written <eu> in the first syllable of a word, <oi> anywhere else; probably a sound change that has occurred in an earlier stage but that has been undone.

Glide Insertion

When another vowel follows a diphthong,

1. in formal speech diphthongs ending in /ɪ/ add a /j/-glide before the next vowel whereas after /aʊ/ a /w/ is added.
2. in colloquial speech diphthongs become (long) monophthongs with a glide onset on the following syllable.

E.g. andromeía: 1. [ɐn.dɾo."meɪ.jɐ] 2. [ɐn.dɾo."me:.jɐ] and Sauos: 1. [saʊ.wɔs] 2. [sa:.wɔs]

Consonants

Phonemes

Plosives: /p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ g/ < p ph b t th d k kh g>

Fricatives: /f s x h/ <f s ch h>

Nasals: /m n/ <m n>

Liquid: /ɾ l/ <r l>

Allophony

The voiced stops /b d/ may be softened to [v ð] between vowels: eudein ["ɔɪ.ðeɪn]

/k kʰ g/ are usually pronounced [c cʰ ɟ] before the vowels /e i y/.

/s/ becomes [z] in the onset cluster sm- (pronounced [zm]) and between vowels: contrast thesomi ["tʰe.zɔ.mɪ] with thesthi ["tʰɛ:s.tʰɪ]

Nasals, if preceding plosives, assimilate to the latter's point of articulation (with the exception of compounds).

Stress

Stress usually falls on the antepenultimate syllable. If stress falls on any other syllable, it is marked with an acute accent (which is placed on the second part of a diphthong). If the penultimate syllable is stressed, it is pronounced longer than usual. E.g. mnathygata [mna."tʰy.gɐ.tɐ] mnathygataí [mna.tʰy.ga."taɪ] mnathygatánen [mna.tʰy.ga."ta:.nɛn]

Syllables

Onset

Any single consonant

Plosive + Liquid: pr-, phr-, br-, pl-, phl-, bl- etc.

/f/ or /x/ + Voiceless Plosive (except Bilabials): ft-, fth-, cht-, chth- etc.

/s/ + /m/ or Voiceless Plosive: sm-, sp-, sph-, st- etc.

/p/ or /k/ + /t/: pt-, kt-

/m/ + /n/: mn-

Nucleus

Any vowel or diphthong.

Coda

Except for the word's final syllable, any consonant except /h/ is allowed. Word finally, only /ɾ/, /l/, /n/, /s/ and /t/ are used.

Morphophonology

Vowels and Diphthongs

Also have a look at allophony of simple vowels and glide-insertion after diphthongs, which were discussed before (under section 1.1 and 1.2).

The diphthong /eɪ/ changes in formal speech commonly if preceeded or followed by a syllable with the same nucleus /eI/ (except when there are no consonant between the two nuclei). Whether the first or second diphthong changes, depends on the stress:

• When the second diphthong is not stressed, its /eɪ/ changes /i/.
• When the second diphthong is stressed, the preceding diphthong changes to /e/.

These changes aren't usually written.

2nd /ei/	unstressed	stressed
Thesome	smeidein	smeideí
Pronunciation	zmeɪdɪn	zmedeɪ
Meaning	I fear	he fears

Consonants

Especially /tʰ/ is prone to many changes.

/tʰ/ > [s] / C_ (C=voiceless stop), e.g. hekthi > heksi

/ntʰ/, /mtʰ/ > [s], e.g. famthi > fasi, helenthi > helesi

/tʰ/ > ø / CC_, e.g. lapsthi > lapsi

/tʰ/ > [s] / _#, e.g. eude:thi > eudeith > eudeis

/m/ > [n] / _#, e.g. eude:mi > eudeim > eudein

F > ø / _s (F=fricative/sonorant), e.g. lalsme > lasme, thessme > thesme, kerofsme > kerosme

/h/ > [ɪ] / e_V, e.g. ehelenthe:mi > eieleseín, ehekthe:thi > eiekseís

/l/ > ø / r_, e.g. farlje > fairle > faire

ø > o / C_m (unless the previous syllable contains /o/, e.g. lalmi > lalomi, but kerofmi > kerofmi

Morphology

Verbal Morphology

Personal Endings

With verbs, Thesome distinguishes four persons, three tenses, four numbers and two genera verbi.

Persons

• 1st person: the speaker(s): I, we
• 2nd person: the adressee(s): you
• 3rd person: other(s): he, she, they
• NC (Noun Compound): used when the subject is a noun

Tenses

• Present: reports things that happen now
• Past: reports things that happened in the past
• Future: reports things that will happen in the future

Numbers

• Singular: denoting singularity
• Paucal: denoting only a part of a previous mentioned group
• Dual: denoting duality
• Plural: denoting many or all

Genera Verbi

• Active
• Passive

Thesome verbs are usually grouped in three Classes, which themselves have Subcategories depending on the last sound of the verbal stem. To the first Class belong verbs whose stem ends in the vowel e (e.g. eude- to see, smeide- to fear), to the second Class verbs whose stem ends in a diphthong (e.g. tleu- to drink), a consonant (e.g. helen- to sing or kerof- to write) or a consonant cluster (e.g. laps- to sleep) and to the third Class belongs the irregular verb ei- to be.

Here follows the Set of Endings in the Active voice:

Endings	Singular	Paucal	Dual	Plural
1st	-mi	-sme	-smet	-men
2nd	-thi	-sthe	-sthet	-then
3rd	-eí	-seí	-set	-eíen
NC	-én

The Passive endings:

Vocalic Endings	Singular	Paucal	Dual	Plural	Consonant Endings	Singular	Paucal	Dual	Plural
1st	-emai	-efme	-emne	-emnai	1st	-?	-?	-?	-?
2nd	-ethai	-efthe	-etne	-etnai	2nd	-?	-?	-?	-?
3rd	-eíai	-efeí	-eneí	-enaí	3rd	-?	-?	-?	-?
NC	-aí				NC	-aí

Present Tense

Class I

Class I verbs (thus verbs, whose stem ends in the vowel e) attach most endings without modifications. Exceptions are endings that start with a vowel (3rd Person Singular -eí, 3rd Person Plural eíen and NC -én) - here, the stem-final vowel e is deleted before the Endings are attached. Another complication is that - due to soundchanges - the first and second Person Singular endings are -in and -is, thus forming a diphthong with the stem-final vowel e (the developement can be described as follows: eudein < eudeim < eudemi; similarly eudeis < eudeith < eudethi).

Active	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	eudein	I see	eudesme	some of us see	eudesmet	we two see	eudemen	we see
2nd	eudeis	you see	eudesthe	some of you see	eudesthet	you two see	eudethen	you see
3rd	eudeí	he sees	eudeseí	some of them see	eudeset	they two see	eudeíen	they see
NC	eudén				X see(s)
Passive	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	eudemai	I am seen	eudefme	some of us are seen	eudemne	we two are seen	eudemnai	we are seen
2nd	eudethai	you are seen	eudefthe	some of you are seen	eudetne	you two are seen	eudetnai	you are seen
3rd	eudeíai	he is seen	eudefeí	some of them are seen	eudeneí	they two are seen	eudenaí	they are seen
NC	eudaí				X is/are seen

Attention should also be drawn to the fact, that the pronunciation changes a little bit if the paenultimate syllable of the verbalstem contains the diphthong ei (see also the section Morphonology). E.g. smeide- to fear > smeidein /zmeɪdɪn/ I fear, smeideis /zmeɪdɪs/ you fear, smeideí /zmedeɪ/ s/he fears and smeideíen /zmedeɪen/ they fear.

Consonant Endings

Consonant Endings are attached to the verb's stem; they trigger, however, modifications, depending on the last sound of the verbal stem.

Liquid Stems

Liquid Stems are stems ending in -l, -r, and -s, e.g. lal- speak, der- stay and thes- lie.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	lalomi	I speak	lasme	some of us speak	lasmet	we two speak	lalomen	we speak
2nd	lalthi	you speak	lasthe	some of you speak	lasthet	you two speak	lalthen	you speak
3rd	laleí	he speaks	laseí	some of them speak	laset	they two speak	laleíen	they speak
NC	lalén				X speak(s)

Modifications:

1. They insert a vowel -o- in 1SG and 1PL. (lal-o-mi, der-o-mi, thes-o-mi)
2. They lose their final consonant when appended with the Paucal- and Dual-endings. (la-sme, de-sme, the-sme).

Stop Stems

Stop Stems are stems ending in -p, -t, and -k, e.g. hek- strike.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	hekomi	I strike	hekosme	some of us strike	hekosmet	we two strike	hekomen	we strike
2nd	heksi	you strike	hekosthe	some of you strike	hekosthet	you two strike	heksen	you strike
3rd	hekeí	he strikes	hekseí	some of them strike	hekset	they two strike	hekeíen	they strike
NC	hekén				X strike(s)

Modifications:

1. They insert a vowel -o- in all first persons and in 2PC/DU. (hek-o-mi, hek-o-sme, hek-o-men, hek-o-sthe)
2. The aspirated voiceless stop /tʰ/ in 2SG and 2PL becomes /s/. (hek-si)

Nasal Stems

Nasal Stems are stems ending in -m and -n, e.g. fam- say and helen- sing.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	fami	I say	fasme	some of us say	fasmet	we two say	famen	we say
2nd	fasi	you say	fasthe	some of you say	fasthet	you two say	fathen	you say
3rd	fameí	he says	faseí	some of them say	faset	they two say	fameíen	they say
NC	famén				X say(s)

Modifications:

1. The final consonant is lost in all forms except 3SG, 3PL and NC.
2. The aspirated voiceless stop /tʰ/ in 2SG becomes /s/ (but not in 2PL). (fa-si vs. fa-then)

Stop-S Stems

Stop-S Stems are stems ending in an unvoiced stop followed by an /s/, e.g. laps- sleep and kleits- to be captive.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	laposmi	I sleep	laposme	some of us sleep	laposmet	we two sleep	laposmen	we sleep
2nd	lapsi	you sleep	laposthe	some of you sleep	laposthet	you two sleep	lapsen	you sleep
3rd	lapseí	he sleeps	laposeí	some of them sleep	laposet	they two sleep	lapseíen	they sleep
NC	lapsén				X sleep(s)

Modifications:

1. In 1SG and 1PL, an <o> intrudes between the stop and the /s/ of the stem. (laposmi I sleep).
2. In all Paucal and Dual forms, the /s/ of the stem is lost and replaced by an <o>. (laposthe some of you sleep)
3. In 2SG and 2PL, the /tʰ/ of the personal ending is lost. (lapsi you sleep)

Irregular

Ei- be is an irregular verb.

Consonant Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	eimi	I am	esme	some of us are	esmet	we two are	eimen	we are
2nd	eis	you are	esthe	some of you are	esthet	you two are	eithen	you are
3rd	ei	he is	eseí	some of them are	eset	they two are	eíen	they are
NC	en				X is

Past Tense

The Past Stem

The Past Stem is formed via a circumfix consisting of an augment and a dental suffix, which will be dealt with seperately in this section.

The Augment is - like in Ancient Greek - a vowel, e- which is prefixed to the stem. This leads to no difficulties with verbal stems beginning with a consonant (except h-) and verbal stems beginning with the vowel i- (thus forming the diphthong ei-).

• der- > eder-
• lal- > elal-
• thes- > ethes-
• ir- > eir-

When the stem begins with the vowels a-, e- and o-, the augment becomes an infix i- (thus forming the diphthongs ai-, ei- and eu-).

• ar- > air-
• echt- > eicht-
• op- > eup-

Verbal stems beginning with eu- replace the diphthong with y-, those beginning with h- replace the consonant with ei-.

• eumath- > ymath-
• helen- > eielen-

Verbal stems beginning with any other diphthong than eu- (ai-, ei- or au-) and those beginning with the vowels u- or y- do not use the augment.

• eib- > eib-
• uk- > uk-

The Dental Suffix is with the verbal stems that use the vocalic endings in present tense always -eth.

• met- > emeteth-
• eud- > ydeth-

With the verbal stems using the consonantal endings in the present tense, the dental suffix usually corresponds to the ending of the 2SG without the final vowel -i.

• lal- > elalth- (2SG: lalthi)
• thes- > ethesth- (2SG: thesthi)
• hek- > eieks- (2SG: heksi)
• helen- > eieles- (2SG: helesi)
• laps- > elaps- (2SG: lapsi)
• eib- > eib- (2SG: eibi)

One additional change in the past stem of verbal stems that occurs quite frequently (however, not always) is the change of an a to an e if in the syllable before the past tense dental suffix and followed by s (which may be part of the verbal stem or the past tense dental suffix itself).

• gelas- > egelesth-
• fam- > efes-

Some interesting tidbits that arise from these rules:

• Thes- lie and thas- hear share the same past stem ethesth-.
• Eibeí (from eib- stand) means both he stands and he stood.
• Ukseí (from uk- free) means both some of them free and he freed.

Endings in the Past Tense

The Endings in the Past Tense are the Vocalic Endings of the Present Tense with the exception of the NC-ending, which - in Past Tense - is -és rather than Present Tense -én. Also note, that in Singular Number, it is always the Ending that is stressed.

Two Example Conjugations: ydeth- (from eud- see) and elalth- (from lal- speak).

Vocalic Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	ydetheín	I saw	ydethesme	some of us saw	ydethesmet	we two saw	ydethemen	we saw
2nd	ydetheís	you saw	ydethesthe	some of you saw	ydethesthet	you two saw	ydethethen	you saw
3rd	ydetheí	he saw	ydetheseí	some of them saw	ydetheset	they two saw	ydetheíen	they saw
NC	ydethés				X saw
Vocalic Endings	Singular		Paucal		Dual		Plural
1st	elaltheín	I spoke	elalthesme	some of us spoke	elalthesmet	we two spoke	elalthemen	we spoke
2nd	elaltheís	you spoke	elalthesthe	some of you spoke	elalthesthet	you two spoke	elalthethen	you spoke
3rd	elaltheí	he spoke	elaltheseí	some of them spoke	elaltheset	they two spoke	elaltheíen	they spoke
NC	elalthés				X spoke

Participles

Participle Present Active: Formed with the Suffix -ein, declined like masculine or feminine -is nouns from the stem -en-

e.g: eud- see => eudein seeing, lal- speak => lalein speaking eudein seeing => eudenes of the seeing (one), lalein speaking => lalenes of the speaking (one)

Nominal Morphology

With nouns, Thesome distinguishes three (biological) sexes, five numbers and eight cases.

Sexes

• Masculine: Used for male persons and male animals (when the latter's sex is being stressed), e.g. yleíon man, mesos boy and eutlephon stallion.
• Feminine: Used for female persons and female animals (when the latter's sex is being stressed), e.g. androme woman, meitle girl and aitlephis mare.
• Neuter: Used for animals (when their sex is unstressed), plants and objects (both concrete and abstract), e.g. tlephon horse.

Numbers

• Singular: denoting singularity
• Paucal: denoting only a part of a previous mentioned group
• Dual: denoting duality
• Plural: denoting many
• Collective: denoting all

Cases

• Nominative: citation form; used for predicats, appositions and direct adress
• Subjective: used as the subject of a verb
• Accusative: used for direct objects
• Genitive: used as posessors
• Benefactive: used for the noun that gains profit from the action
• Instrumental: used for instruments
• Allative: used to express motion towards the noun
• Ablative: used to express motion away from the noun

The Stem that receives the case-affixes usually corresponds to the Accusative Singluar without the ending -en.

Masculine Declension

Masculine Nouns commonly end in the Nominative in a consonant (far king, stem far-; mol male slave, stem mol-), in -on (yleíon man, stem yleí-) or -os (mesos boy, stem mes-).

Here follows the declension of far king. The affixes are used here with a hyphen in order to let them be seen easier; in ordinary texts, no hyphen is used.

	Singular	Paucal	Dual	Plural	Collective
Nominative	far	te-far	far-oi	far-ir	il-far-mai
Subjective	far-un	te-far-un	far-y	far-eirun	il-far-mai
Accusative	far-en	ten-far	far-yn	far-irmen	il-far-main
Genitive	far-es	tes-far-es	far-ys	far-irthes	il-far-mais
Benefactive	far-é	te-far-é	far-ý	far-eiré	il-far-main
Instrumental	far-énen	ten-far-énen	far-ýnen	far-eirén	il-far-mánen
Allative	far-emna	ten-far-en	far-yna	far-irman	il-far-main
Ablative	far-eksa	tes-far-es	far-ysa	far-irkan	il-far-mais

Singular

The SUBJ.SG. has two allomorphs: -un and -us; -us is only used in two cases:

1. with nouns ending in -on in NOM.SG., e.g. yleíon > yleíus
2. with nouns ending in -l in NOM.SG., e.g. mol > molus

Paucal

Nouns beginning with e- contract tee- to tei-, thus: emnathon > NOM.PC. teimnas (< te-emnath), SUBJ.PC. teimnathus, ACC.PC. tenemnas.

Nouns beginning with any other vowel use tei- as prefix, thus: yleíon > NOM.PC teiyleí (< te-yleí), ACC.PC. tenyleí

As can be seen above, the -on/-os ending of the NOM.SG. is lost, too, leading the the change of final -th > -s (teimnas from teimnath).

Feminine Declension

Feminine Nouns commonly end in the Nominative in -e (meitle girl), -a (mnathygata mother) or -is (ptosis wife). Each of these three types has a slightly different declension in the singular, but they share endings in all other numbers.

	Singular (-e)	Singular (-is)	Singular (-a)	Paucal	Dual	Plural	Collective
Nominative	meitle	ptosis	mnathygata		meitl-et	meitl-eía	il-meitl-ai
Subjective	meitl-é	ptos-un	mnathygat-aí		meitl-et	meitl-eíai	il-meitl-ai
Accusative	meitl-en	ptos-en	mnathygat-an		meitl-etse	meitl-echna	il-meitl-ain
Genitive	meitl-es	ptos-es	mnathygat-as		meitl-eptós	meitl-echtha	il-meitl-ais
Benefactive	meitl-eí	ptos-é	mnathygat-aí		meitl-epté	meitl-eíen	il-meitl-ain
Instrumental	meitl-énen	ptos-énen	mnathygat-ánen		meitl-epténen	meitl-eíena	il-meitl-ánen
Allative	meitl-emna	ptos-emna	mnathygat-amna		meitl-etna	meitl-enai	il-meitl-ain
Ablative	meitl-eksa	ptos-eksa	mnathygat-aksa		meitl-etsa	meitl-esai	il-meitl-ais

Neuter Declension

Neuter Nouns commonly end in the Nominative in -on (keron stone), -os (taknos lesson) or -is (ktesis hand), thus uniting both typically masculine endings (-on and -os) with typically feminine (-is).

Here follows the declension of pheresis school. The affixes are used here with a hyphen in order to let them be seen easier; in ordinary texts, no hyphen is used.

	Singular	Paucal	Dual	Plural	Collective
Nominative	pheres-is	a-pheres-a		pheres-ia	il-pheres-iai
Subjective	pheres-is	a-pheres-a		pheres-ia	il-pheres-iai
Accusative	pheres-en	a-pheres-an		pheres-ias	il-pheres-iain
Genitive	pheres-es	a-pheres-as		pheres-iatos	il-pheres-iais
Benefactive	pheres-é	a-pheres-ié			il-pheres-iain
Instrumental	pheres-énen	a-pheres-iánen			il-pheres-iánen
Allative	pheres-emna	a-pheres-iana			il-pheres-iain
Ablative	pheres-eksa	a-pheres-iasa			il-pheres-iais

Adjectives

There are three big classes of adjectives: those ending in -is, those ending in -ys and the rest (consonant adjectives).

-is adjectives

Here belong adjectives ending in -is, e.g. ftelmis red or hyklis little.

-ys adjectives

Here belong adjectives ending in -ys in the unmarked form, e.g. ektys black.

Consonant adjectives

Here belong adjectives ending a consonant, but not in one of the combinations mentioned above, e.g. glas beautiful or nen yellow

When used as predicates, the adjectives take endings according to the sex of the subject.

	Neuter	Male	Feminine
-is	ftelmis	ftelmis	ftelmis
-ys	ektys	ektyon	ektis
CONS	glas	glason	glasis

Numerals

	Cardinalia		Ordinalia		Multiplicative		Partitive
Arabic	Thesome	English	Thesome	English	Thesome	English	Thesome	English
1	urun	one	eute	first	uruseít	once	???	whole
2	at	two	aitse	second	atseít	twice	???	half
3	tair	three	tairthe	third	tartheít	thrice	???	third
4	leir	four	leirthe	fourth	lertheít	four times	???	quarter
5	peben	five	pebeise	fifth	pebeseít	five times	???	fifth part
6	laian	six	laiaise	sixth	laiaseít	six times	???	sixth part
7	meil	seven	meilthe	seventh	meltheít	seven times	???	seventh part
8	hebat	eight	hebaitse	eighth	hebatseít	eight times	???	eighth part
9	nefteír	nine	nefteírthe	ninth	neftertheít	nine times	???	ninth part
10	theichte	ten	theichtite	tenth	???	ten times	???	tenth part

Syntax

Subject and Predicate

Every sentence normally consists of a Subject and a Predicate.

The Subject may be

• a noun, usually in Subjective case: Meitlé helenén. The girl sings.
• a personal ending on the verb: Heleneí. She sings.

The Predicate may be

• a verb: Mesun helenén. The boy sings.
• a noun, usually in Nominative case: Alafnon mesun. The boy is Alafnon.
• an adjective: Glason mesun. The boy is handsome.

Agreement

One feature is the absence of agreement between a noun used as subject and verbal predicates: the noun stands in subjective case and the verb in the noun-compound form.

Meitlé helenén.	The girl sings.	Mesun helenén.	The boy sings.
Meitlet helenén.	The two girls sing.	Mesy helenén.	The two boys sing.
Ilmeitlai helenén.	All girls sing.	Ilmesmai helenén.	All boys sing.

When the predicate is an adjective, however, it agrees with the subject in number and sex.

Glasis meitlé.	The girl is beautiful.	Glason mesun.	The boy is handsome.	Glas leison.	The house is beautiful.
Glaset meitlet.	The two girls are beautiful.	Glasoi mesy.	The two boys are handsome.
Glaseía meitleíai.	The girls are beautiful			Glasia leisia.	The houses are beautiful.
Ilglasai ilmeitlai.	All girls are beautiful.	Ilglasmai ilmesmai.	All boys are handsome.	Ilglasia illeisia.	All houses are beautiful.

Cases

Nominative

The Nominative is used as predicate in "to be" sentences: Mesos Alafnus. Alafnon is a boy.

It is used for direct adress (Vocative): Mesos! Boy!

It may be used in Passive sentences as Agent, when the Agent does not gain profit from the action: Mesos eudemai. I am seen by the boy.

Subjective

The Subjective is used as Subject in "to be" sentences: Mesos Alafnus. Alafnon is a boy.

It is used as Subject in combination with the NC-verbal form: Alafnus Helenen eudén. Alafnon sees Helena.

It is used for the Patient in Passive sentences: Alafnon Helené eudaí. Helena is seen by Alafnon.

Numbers

Singular

The Singular is used for single entities that are usually specified (and thus correspond roughly to Singular nouns with the English definite article the).

Mesen eudein. I see one/the boy. Leisemna parthomi. I go into one/the house.

Paucal

The Paucal is usually used to indicate a rather small group, although this is, of course, a very rough guideline; it somewhat corresponds to the English indefinite marker some.

Aleisan eudein. I see some houses. vs. Leisias eudein. I see many houses.

The Paucal is also used to indicate only a part of the previously mentioned group:

Teknias ydetheín meus ateknan ehkylastheín. I saw (many) lessons but I only learned some (of them).

It is also used in the Nominative Case as Predicate to indicate unspecifiedness or the belonging to a larger group or class.

Contrast: Aleisa pheresis. The school is a building. vs. Leison pheresis. The school is the building.

Dual

The Dual is usually used to denote two entities. Mesyn eudein. I see two boys. Meitletse eudein. I see two girls.

The Nominative Dual is used as Predicative when two Singular Subjectives are present: Mesoi Alafnus Hektorunta. Alafnon and Hektor are (two) boys.

When two people of a previous mentioned bigger group are to be expressed, usually the paucal and the numeral at two are used. Ilmesmain eudein meus tenmes at kalosmi. I see all the boys but I know (only) two of the boys.