Classical Arithide declension

Owing to the language's inflectionary nature, Classical Arithide nouns, pronouns and certain of its adjectives must be declined (i.e. inflected) to provide grammatical meaning. A group of words that decline in the same way is known as a "declension class". There are 8 declension classes for nouns and the same for adjectives; pronouns are generally irregular.

Declension classes

Nouns in Classical Arithide are classed into different declensions based on their semantic meaning. This lexically based categorisation means that each declension class represents a broad group of nouns that share a certain characteristic. Traditional grammatical analysis takes the number of declension classes in Classical Arithide to be six, but the sub-classes that are sometimes sufficiently distinct from their ostensible parent class render the number about double. Factoring in overlapping and coincident declensions, modern grammarians generally accept the existence of 8 discrete groups, numbered declension classes I to VIII respectively. Only 7 classes were lexical: classes I to IV were productive classes due to their nature—they are still productive in Modern Arithide—and the separate but largely coincident declensions of the nouns thence derived were categorised under an eighth class.

Nouns of the first declension end in -os, and are associated lexically with abstractions: actions (vagos, "act of going"), states (stantos, "weight"), qualities (fugirnos, "dangerousness"), among others (sonos, "daily life"). The second declension ends in -as and is associated with places: kitaras "hall". The third (-ir) and fourth (-rir) both indicate a negative denotation or connotation associated with the noun, and were treated traditionally as variants of one declension, but separately nowadays because of the differences in their declension; they are also the only declensions where disyllabic nouns are stressed on the last syllable; vokir "evil", kirir "faux pas". The fifth declension consists of nouns ending in either -er or -a, and the association here is with people, society and culture: ither "person", medier "wife", steima "measurement". The sixth declension consists solely of the agentive derivatives of verbs, and hence all end in -on, e.g. forion "miner". The seventh is made up of nouns ending in -i, but no apparent lexical connection has been found that sufficiently encompasses the nouns in the category. The eighth, and last, declension class comprises the derived nouns, ending in any of -os, -as or -ir, and is the most regular declension class due to its character: it is the only class in which no irregularity is observed in any individual noun.

Grammatical cases

Fully declining a noun requires expressing its 11 cases:

• Nominative, which marks the subject of a verb; the nominative is the case in which a noun or pronoun is cited in the dictionary, hence it is also known as the citation case
• Topical, which marks the topic of a sentence
• Accusative, which marks the object of a verb
• Genitive, which marks possession by
• Dative, which marks motion towards, and by extension benefaction to etc.
• Locative, which marks location (with places) or indicates shift of grammatical focus (with objects and people)
• Ablative, which marks motion away or existence apart, and by extension is used with prepositions such as parō "about, regarding" or etel "by (agentive)"
• Instrumental, which marks instruments, and by extension accompaniment, using the preposition etel "with"
• Vocative, which marks direct address
• Connective, which is an open-ended stem form to which certain affixes or other nouns are appended, e.g. salumos "heaven" + innos "top" > saluminnum "in heaven" (lit. "on heaven"; innos is in the locative) and allas "city" + dolō "around" (from dolos "surroundings") > alladolō "around the city" ¹

• Essive, which marks existence as

¹

Alladolō (connective + prep.) must be distinguished from the similar dolō allior (prep. + ablative); while both might be translated as "around the city", the former refers to the areas outside and surrounding a certain city, while the latter refers to places all around within the city: alladolō siethē sena "there are flowers around the city" vs. dolō allior siethē sena "there are flowers all about the city".

Of these, the connective and essive cases in all nouns are identical, resulting in 10 effective cases.

First declension -os

Nouns of and adjectives in the first declension take the following endings:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-os	-ēs
TOP	-ou	-ōi
ACC	-o	-ē
GEN	-en, -ne1	-enē(s)2
DAT	-ae	-ei
LOC	-ira	-erē
ABL	-ōn	-ēn
INS	-itis	-itēs
VOC	-ō	-ē
CON/ESS	-	-er, -er-

¹ The former -en is used with consonant-stem words (e.g. sōmos, sōm-), while the latter with vowel-stem words (e.g. thiftios, thifti-).

² The final -s is optional, but tends to be used in more formal speech, and all writing (except in imitations of speech or transcriptions).

Sample declensions with the nouns sōmos and thiftios are given below:

CASE	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.
NOM	sōmos	sōmēs	thiftios	thiftiēs
TOP	sōmou	sōmōi	thiftiou	thiftiōi
ACC	sōmo	sōmē	thiftio	thiftiē
GEN	sōmen	sōmenē(s)	thiftine	thiftinē(s)
DAT	sōmae	sōmei	thiftiae	thiftiei
LOC	sōmira	sōmerē	thiftira	thiftirē
ABL	sōmōn	sōmēn	thiftiōn	thiftiēn
INS	sōmitis	sōmitēs	thiftitis	thiftitēs
VOC	sōmō	sōmē	thiftiō	thiftiē
CON/ESS	sōm-	sōmer, sōmer-	thifti-	thiftier, thiftier-

Second declension -as

Second declension nouns take the following endings:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-as	-ae
TOP	-ai	-ēi
ACC	-a	-ē
GEN	-an	-anē(s)1
DAT	-is2	-ēs
LOC	-um	-ām
ABL	-ior3	-ēri
INS	-atis	-etēs
VOC	-ā	-ē
CON/ESS	-a, -a-	-ē, -ē-

¹ The final -s is optional, but tends to be used in more formal speech, and all writing (except in imitations of speech or transcriptions).

² With -i- stem words, the coagulation of the -i- in the noun stem and that in the ending gives rise to a resultant long ī.

³ In this case the -i- in the case ending is elided.

Unlike the first declension, nouns of the second declension do not distinguish endings between consonant- and vowel-stem words. An example conjugation is provided with sivias "town" below.

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	sivias	siviae
TOP	siviai	siviēi
ACC	sivia	siviē
GEN	sivian	sivianē(s)
DAT	sivīs1	siviēs
LOC	sivium	siviām
ABL	sivior2	siviēri
INS	siviatis	sivietēs
VOC	siviā	siviē
CON/ESS	sivia, sivia-	siviē, siviē-

¹ The long ī derives from the coagulation of the -i- in the noun stem and that in the ending.

² In this case the -i- in the case ending is elided.

Third declension -ir

The important distinction between nouns that end in the simpler -ir and more complex -rir endings (declensions III and IV respectively) must be maintained for purposes of proper declension. Third declension nouns form their stems differently (in many cases with the retention of the -ir ending), and take endings that vary markedly from those of the fourth declension.

The endings for the third declension are:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-ir	-idēs
TOP	-u, -irou1	-idōi
ACC	-i, -u1	-idē
GEN	-uris	-idis
DAT	-irae	-idei
LOC	-irum	-idēm
ABL	-irōn	-idēn
INS	-iritis	-iditēs
VOC	-ū	-idē
CON/ESS	-ir, -ir-	-id, -id-

¹ The first and second forms of the topical and accusative case endings are mutually exclusive alternatives; the distribution is relatively even among the surviving texts.

An example noun is vokir, declined as follows:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	vokir	vokidēs
TOP	voku, vokirou	vokidōi
ACC	voki, voku	vokidē
GEN	vokuris	vokidis
DAT	vokirae	vokidei
LOC	vokirum	vokidēm
ABL	vokirōn	vokidēn
INS	vokiritis	vokiditēs
VOC	vokū	vokidē
CON/ESS	vokir, vokir-	vokid, vokid-

Fourth declension -rir

In the fourth declension, nouns decline like so:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-ir	-idēs
TOP	-u, -udou1	-idōi
ACC	-i, -u1	-idē
GEN	-in(i)2	-idinē(s)2
DAT	-is	-idis
LOC	-um	-idēm
ABL	-ior	-ēri
INS	-utis	-iditēs
VOC	-ū	-idē
CON/ESS	-ud, -	-id, -id-

¹ The first and second forms of the topical and accusative case endings are mutually exclusive alternatives; the distribution is relatively even among the surviving texts.

² The final -i of the genitive singular is optional.

³ The final -s of the genitive plural is usually optional, but required in formal situations.

Kirir is declined as follows:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	kirir	kiridēs
TOP	kiru, kirudou	kiridōi
ACC	kiri, kiru	kiridē
GEN	kirin(i)	kiridinē(s)
DAT	kiris	kiridis
LOC	kirum	kiridēm
ABL	kirior	kirēri
INS	kirutis	kiriditēs
VOC	kirū	kiridē
CON/ESS	kirud, kir-	kirid, kirid-

Fifth declension -er and -a

The two groups of nouns in the fifth declension decline in generally the same way, albeit with minor differences.

CASE	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.
NOM	-er	-eis	-a	-eis
TOP	-ai	-ōi, -ēi	-ai	-ōi, -ēi
ACC	-or	-ei	-or	-ei
GEN	-us	-itus, -isus1	-us	-ētus, -ēsus1
DAT	-ae	-ēs	-ae	-ēs
LOC	-era	-ērē	-era	-ērē
ABL	-ōn	-ēn	-ōn	-ēn
INS	-etis	-itēs	-etis	-ētēs
VOC	-ā	-ī	-ā	-ē
CON/ESS	-e, -e-	-i, -i-	-a, -	-ē, -ē-

¹ Either form is perfectly acceptable.

Theler and steima are declined as examples below:

CASE	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.
NOM	theler	theleis	steima	steimeis
TOP	thelai	thelōi, thelēi	steimai	steimōi, steimēi
ACC	thelor	thelei	steimor	steimei
GEN	thelus	thelitus, thelisus	steimus	steimētus, steimēsus
DAT	thelae	thelēs	steimae	steimēs
LOC	thelera	thelērē	steimera	steimērē
ABL	thelōn	thelēn	steimōn	steimēn
INS	theletis	thelitēs	steimetis	steimētēs
VOC	thelā	thelī	steimā	steimē
CON/ESS	thele, thele-	theli, theli-	steima, steim-	steimē, steimē-

Sixth declension -on

The sixth declension is the only class of nouns that has variant stems: in the plural, the -on (which is actually part of the stem; the class marker is a null morpheme) fronts to become -ēn-.

Sixth declension nouns decline as per the table below:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-on	-ēn(s/es)1
TOP	-ona	-ēna
ACC	-onē	-ēnē
GEN	-onus	-ēnus
DAT	-onae	-ēnēs
LOC	-onra	-ēnerē
ABL	-onōn	-ēnēn
INS	-onetis	-ēnetēs
VOC	-onā	-ēnā
CON/ESS	-on, -on-	-ēn, -ēn-

¹ The forms agnēns and agnēnes are successively older forms of the plural, and were declining in use even early on in the classical language, giving way to agnēn.

Thus agnon has a declension of:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	agnon	agnēn(s/es)
TOP	agnona	agnēna
ACC	agnonē	agnēnē
GEN	agnonus	agnēnus
DAT	agnonae	agnēnēs
LOC	agnonra	agnēnerē
ABL	agnonōn	agnēnēn
INS	agnonetis	agnēnetēs
VOC	agnonā	agnēnā
CON/ESS	agnon, agnon-	agnēn, agnēn-

Seventh declension -i

The seventh declension takes the following endings:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	-i	-īs
TOP	-us	-utē
ACC	-ēs	-ētē
GEN	-is	-itē
DAT	-e	-erei
LOC	-ira	-ērē
ABL	-igōn	-egēn
INS	-itis	-ētēs
VOC	-i	-ē
CON/ESS	-i, -i-	-ē, -ē-

Below is the example declension for vosi:

CASE	sg.	pl.
NOM	vosi	vosīs
TOP	vosus	vosutē
ACC	vosēs	vosētē
GEN	vosis	vositē
DAT	vose	voserei
LOC	vosira	vosērē
ABL	vosigōn	vosegēn
INS	vositis	vosētēs
VOC	vosi	vosē
CON/ESS	vosi, vosi-	vosē, vosē-

Eighth declension -os, -as, -ir

The derived nouns of the eighth declension take endings as follows:

CASE	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.
NOM	-os	-ēs	-as	-ae	-ir	-rēs
TOP	-orou	-erōi	-arai	-aerōi	-rou	-rōi
ACC	-oro	-erē	-ara	-aerē	-ro	-rē
GEN	-oris	-erēs	-aris	-aerēs	-ris	-rēris
DAT	-orae	-erei	-arae	-aerei	-rae	-rei
LOC	-orum	-erum	-arum	-aerum	-rum	-rērum
ABL	-orōn	-erēn	-arōn	-aerēn	-rōn	-rēn
INS	-osis	-esēs	-asis	-aesis	-sis	-sēs
VOC	-orā	-erā	-arā	-aerē	-rā	-rērā
CON/ESS	-ōr, -or-	-ēr, -er-	-ār, -ar-	-aes, -aer-	-ir, -r-	-ēr, -ēr-

Vagos, lydas and syndir are declined as examples below:

CASE	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.
NOM	vagos	vagēs	lydas	lydae	syndir	syndrēs
TOP	vagorou	vagerōi	lydarai	lydaerōi	syndrou	syndrōi
ACC	vagoro	vagerē	lydara	lydaerē	syndro	syndrē
GEN	vagoris	vagerēs	lydaris	lydaerēs	syndris	syndrēris
DAT	vagorae	vagerei	lydarae	lydaerei	syndrae	syndrei
LOC	vagorum	vagerum	lydarum	lydaerum	syndrum	syndrērum
ABL	vagorōn	vagerēn	lydarōn	lydaerēn	syndrōn	syndrēn
INS	vagosis	vagesēs	lydasis	lydaesis	syndsis1	syndsēs1
VOC	vagorā	vagerā	lydarā	lydaerē	syndrā	syndrērā
CON/ESS	vagōr, vagor-	vagēr, vager-	lydār, lydar-	lydaes, lydaer-	syndir, syndr-	syndēr, syndēr-

¹ The combination of the -d- in the stem and the s- in the ending give the resultant pronunciation of -z-.

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