Navigation:
Grammatical Concept: Nominal Pluralization
In Asaxi, nouns are inflected for number. While the singular form is the default (unmarked), the plural form is created through specific morphological changes to the tail of the word.
The universal marker for plurality in Asaxi is the vowel -a.
Rules
1. Vowel Replacement (The -o Rule) For the majority of Asaxi nouns, which end in -o, pluralization is achieved by replacing the final -o with -a.
- Pattern:
...Co→...Ca - Example:
shěso(Book) → shěsa (Books).
2. The -ma Suffix (A-Ending Nouns) For nouns ending in -a or -á, the suffix -ma is added.
- Pattern:
...a→...ama - Example:
shá(Person) → sháma (People).
3. Simple Suffix (Consonants & Diphthongs) For nouns ending in a standard consonant or diphthong (excluding syllabic nasals), the marker -a is simply appended.
- Pattern:
...C→...Ca - Example:
dă(Elephant) → dăa (Elephants).
4. The Syllabic Resolution For nouns ending in a syllabic consonant (-mm, -nn), the final repeated consonant is dropped, and -a is added.
- Pattern:
...mm→...ma. - Example:
kamm(Building) → kama (Buildings).
5. Other Pure Vowels (The -w- Bridge) For nouns ending in a pure vowel other than -o, -a, or -á (e.g., -i), a semi-vowel bridge -w- is inserted.
- Pattern:
...V→...Vwa - Example:
gavi(Green) → gaviwa (Greens).
6. Reduplicated Diphthongs (Reduction) If a noun ends in a reduplicated syllable containing a diphthong (e.g., -å), the second diphthong is replaced by the plural marker -a.
- Logic:
C1V1+C1V1→C1V1+C1+a. - Example: båbå (Muscle) → båba (Muscles).
Syntactic Structure
Pluralization occurs at the word level. It does not alter the word order of the sentence. The plural noun occupies the exact same slot as the singular noun.
Example Comparison:
Singular: shěsokam gonýj xiŕa. (The library is big.) Plural: Shěsokama gonýj xiŕa. (The libraries are big.)
Summary Table
| Ending Type | Singular | Plural | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (-o) | apo | apa | Replace o with a |
| A-Vowels (-a) | shá | sháma | Add ma |
| Consonant | shěsokam | shěsokama | Add a |
| Syllabic (-mm) | kamm | kama | Resolve to CV |
| Reduplicated Diphthong | båbå | båba | Replace 2nd V with a |
| Other Vowel (-i) | gavi | gaviwa | Add wa |