Classical Arithide grammar

The grammar of Classical Arithide differs from that of the modern tongue in several significant respects, most notably in that the classical language was inflecting to a significantly greater degree. These differences were occasionally brought about by sound shifts that eliminated extant distinctions between, for example, certain noun cases, but also in part by semantic drift.

Due to the existence of multiple inflections and complex rules governing the overlay of inflection over inflection, classical grammar is considered the most difficult of all, with 10 cases each of 8 possible declension classes just for nouns alone, and a plethora of different conjugations for every verb.

Nouns

Nouns in Classical Arithide were divided into 8 lexically-based declension classes. Each noun was declined in nine traditional cases, namely the nominative, topical, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, ablative, instrumental and vocative, as well as what is termed the "connective", used in, among others, compound forming.

First declensions: -os

The first declension, in general, denotes abstractions, e.g. bonos "form", enos "state", sonos "daily life" or lydos "food". All nouns in this declension end in -os. The first declension is further subdivided into two classes, declension 1A and declension 1B, based on etymology.

Declension 1A

The nouns in this declension class comprise basic words, i.e. words which are not derived from another part of speech, such as bonos and enos, mentioned above. The -os ending in these words are inherent, and it is not possible to back-form another word by removing it. They form their stems by removing the -os.

Declension 1B

This second class is made up of derivations, usually of verbs, such as lydos from lydei "to eat"; of adjectives, such as histos "holiness" from histim "holy". In some cases the nouns may themselves be derivations of other nouns, such as stantoros "importance", a figurative extension of the abstract noun stantos "weight", or from sōkor "horn" the word sōkros, which refers to a military formation shaped like a horn. In these words, the -os ending is alienable, and the stem is formed by trilling the s: all stems end in -or-.

Second declensions: -as

The second declensions A and B, which denote locations and which take -as as their ending, parallel the first. Examples from each class include kitaras "hall" (declension 2A), and lydas "cafeteria" (declension 2B).

Third declensions: -ir and -rir

The third declensions are unique in that they are lexically subjective: the -ir ending denotes a morally unacceptable or abhorrent concept, such as vokir "crime", syndir "sin" and kirir "faux pas". The distinction between the A and B classes here, however, unlike the previous two pairs, arises from the historical lenition of the ending from -ido to -ir, which complicated declension with nouns ending in -rir, and precipitated the development of a parallel declension for nouns ending therein, namely declension 3B.

Fourth declension: -er

The fourth declension was once restricted to nouns that indicated people, such as iter "person" or zier "citizen". However, it was gradually broadened to encompass nouns denoting, in the words of the unattributed Classical grammar Dīmotēs Doplen "Laws of the Language", qualities, actions and states pertinent to the human sensory experience, such as fygirner "dangerousness" from fygirere "dangerous".

Fifth declension: -i

The fifth declension constitutes only a small fraction of Classical Arithide nouns, and the lexical basis of this declension class has not yet been formally codified.

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