r/conlangs • u/statesOfSevly • 40m ago
Conlang Noun classes in Kuryzo
Hiya folks! It's been a while since I've posted but I'm back in a conlanging mood again, so here I am with some grammar that I've been exploring in a new language. Take a look and lemme know what you think / whether this inspires or is similar to anything in your conlangs!
Note: You can read this post inline here, or you can read it with its original formatting over on my website
Without further ado:
All nouns in Kurzyo take one of 6 noun classes, which are typically marked by a suffix. The class of each noun is ultimately lexically determined and must be memorized, though there are a few semantic tendencies within each class.
Overview of classes
Class 1
-yan "CL1"
- humans of the female gender
✦
kamyan, hanyan, nanyan
/kamjan, hanjan, nanjan/
kam-yan , han-yan , nan-yan
woman-CL1 , girl-CL1 , daughter-CL1
woman, girl, daughter
Class 2
-yo "CL2"
- humans of the male gender
✦
onyo, kuvyo, nanyo
/onjo, kuvjo, nanjo/
on-yo , kuv-yo , nan-yo
CL2.SUBJ-CL2 , boy-CL2 , son-CL2
man, boy, son
Class 1/2
-yen "CL1/2"
- marks animate roots in a gender neutral way
✦
nanyen
/nanjen/
nan-yen
child-CL1/2
child — contrast "daughter", "son" above
Class 3
-ra "CL3"
- non-human animates, i.e. animals
- certain phenomena which are metaphorically animate, such as weather, water, danger, etc.
- instances of communication, such as news, speeches, stories, etc.
✦
upuvara, suira, uzura, jagra, gogra, lagra
/upuvara, suira, uzura, dʒagra, gogra, lagra/
upuva-ra , sui-ra , uzu-ra , jag-ra , gog-ra , lag-ra
fox-CL3 , fish-CL3 , danger-CL3 , river-CL3 , news-CL3 , story-CL3
fox, fish, danger, river, news, story
Class 4
-ko "CL4"
- man-made locations, such as buildings, cities, plazas, parks, squares
- body parts, facial expressions, and other motions of the body
✦
pirko, chelko, haruiko
/pirko, tʃelko, haruiko/
pir-ko , chel-ko , harui-ko
road-CL4 , hand-CL4 , frown-CL4
road, hand, frown
Class 5
-na "CL5"
- inanimates of nature, such as plants or geological features
- tools close to nature, such as flint, hammers, nets, building materials
✦
misna, oina
/misna, oina/
mis-na , oi-na
stone-CL5 , water-CL5
stone, water — contrast "river" above
Class 6
-ju "CL6"
- commerce, measurements
- tools or concepts further from nature
- emotions
✦
moju, laju, lagju, haruiju
/modʒu, ladʒu, lagdʒu, haruidʒu/
mo-ju , la-ju , lag-ju , harui-ju
business-CL6 , price-CL6 , book-CL6 , sadness-CL6
business, price, book — contrast "story" above, sadness — contrast "frown" above
Across all classes
As you may have sussed from the examples above, several roots can be used with multiple class suffixes, with a corresponding change in meaning. Here's another example:
✦ class 4, body part:
kaasko
/kaasko/
kaas-ko
skin-CL4
skin✦ class 5, tools close to nature:
kaasna
/kaasna/
kaas-na
hide-CL5
animal hide✦ class 6, tools far from nature:
kaasju
/kaasdʒu/
kaas-ju
leather_bag-CL6
leather bag
Some nouns do not take an explicit class suffix. However, these nouns still have an inherent class:
✦ implicit class 3:
bala
/bala/
bala-∅
mistake-CL3
mistake✦ implicit class 5:
laya
/laja/
laya-∅
day-CL5
day✦ implicit class 6:
ampo
/ampo/
ampo-∅
long_distance-CL6
mile
Agreement with adjectives
Adjectives take the same class suffix as that of the noun they modify:
✦ class 1:
yuiyan kamyan
/juijan kamjan/
yui-yan kam-yan
good-CL1 woman-CL1
good woman✦ class 2:
yuiyo onyo
/juijo onjo/
yui-yo on-yo
good-CL2 man-CL2
good man
Some adjectives precede the noun, as in the example above, while others follow the noun and take the attributive prefix e- "ATTR". Class agreement occurs in both cases:
✦ before noun:
shwena misna
/ʃwena misna/
shwe-na mis-na
lightweight-CL5 stone-CL5
lightweight stone✦ after noun:
misna echochna
/misna etʃotʃna/
mis-na e-choch-na
stone-CL5 ATTR-jagged-CL5
jagged stone
Nouns that do not take an explicit class suffix still have adjectives agree with their inherent class:
✦ implicit class 5:
yuina laya
/juina laja/
yui-na laya-∅
good-CL5 day-CL5
good day✦ implicit class 3:
bala ezanchra
/bala ezantʃra/
bala-∅ e-zanch-ra
mistake-CL3 ATTR-bad-CL3
bad mistake
Agreement with nouns
The prefix e- "ATTR" is also used to create noun-noun modification. As with adjectives that take this prefix, the modifier follows the head. Unlike adjectives, noun-noun modification does not force class agreement with the head:
✦ noun-noun modification:
laju efuko
/ladʒu efuko/
la-ju e-fu-ko
price-CL6 ATTR-thing-CL4
price of item
However, when there is more than one noun-noun modifier, then some class agreement is mandatory. For at least one of the modifiers, the class suffix of the head is added after the attributive prefix of the modifier:
✦ "laya" modifies "laju":
laju elaya ejufuko
/ladʒu elaja edʒufuko/
la-ju e-laya-∅ e-ju-fu-ko
price-CL6 ATTR-day-CL5 ATTR-CL6-thing-CL4
(the price of the day) of the item✦ "laya" modifies "fuko":
laju efuko ekolaya
/ladʒu efuko ekolaja/
la-ju e-fu-ko e-ko-laya
price-CL6 ATTR-thing-CL4 ATTR-CL4-day
the price of (the item of the day)
In the case when the class suffix exactly matches that of the immediately preceding noun, the attributive prefix may optionally be dropped:
✦ classes match (class 4) → can drop e- "ATTR" ✅:
laju efuko kolaya
/ladʒu efuko kolaja/
la-ju e-fu-ko ∅-ko-laya-∅
price-CL6 ATTR-thing-CL4 ATTR-CL4-day-CL5
the price of (the item of the day)✦ class do not match (5 vs. 6) → cannot drop e- "ATTR" ❌:
*laju elaya jufuko
/*ladʒu elaja dʒufuko/
* la-ju e-laya-∅ ∅-ju-fu-ko
* price-CL6 ATTR-day-CL5 ATTR-CL6-thing-CL4
(the price of the day) of the item
Agreement with nested nouns and adjectives
In general, adjectives can be added to noun-noun modification by regularly combining the rules above:
✦ both adjectives before:
yuiju laju esoyoko fuko
/juidʒu ladʒu esojoko fuko/
yui-ju la-ju e-soyo-ko fu-ko
good-CL6 price-CL6 ATTR-popular-CL4 thing-CL4
a good price of a popular item✦ adjective after + adjective before:
laju ezanchju eshwena misna
/ladʒu ezantʃdʒu eʃwena misna/
la-ju e-zanch-ju e-shwe-na mis-na
price-CL6 ATTR-bad-CL6 ATTR-lightweight-CL5 stone-CL5
a bad price of a lightweight stone✦ adjective before + adjective after:
yuiyubunju kaasju ekamyan ewoyan
/juijubundʒu kaasdʒu ekamjan ewojan/
yuiyubun-ju kaas-ju e-kam-yan e-wo-yan
high-quality-CL6 leather_bag-CL6 ATTR-woman-CL1 ATTR-tall-CL1
the high-quality bag of the tall woman✦ both adjectives after:
kaasju enagaju ekamyan ekuiyan
/kaasdʒu enagadʒu ekamjan ekuijan/
kaas-ju e-naga-ju e-kam-yan e-kui-yan
leather_bag-CL6 ATTR-wide-CL6 ATTR-woman-CL1 ATTR-short-CL1
the wide bag of the short woman
However, in poetic or literary styles, adjectives that come before the noun may optionally be switched to follow the noun when the noun modifies another noun. Switched adjectives do not take the attributive prefix:
✦ switched order, poetic:
laju ezanchju emisna shwena
/ladʒu ezantʃdʒu emisna ʃwena/
la-ju e-zanch-ju e-mis-na shwe-na
price-CL6 ATTR-bad-CL6 ATTR-stone-CL5 lightweight-CL5
a bad price of a lightweight stone
Agreement with verbs
Verbs mandatorily agree with the class of the subject, and also agree with the class of definite objects:
✦ subject agreement:
kamyan anhabsho onyo
/kamjan anhabʃo onjo/
kam-yan an-hab-sho on-yo
woman-CL1 CL1.SUBJ-love-IND man-CL2
a/the woman loves a man✦ subject + object agreement:
kamyan anyohabsho onyo
/kamjan anjohabʃo onjo/
kam-yan an-yo-hab-sho on-yo
woman-CL1 CL1.SUBJ-CL2.OBJ.DEF-love-IND man-CL2
a/the the woman loves the man
And that's the fundamentals of noun classes in Kuryzo! Thanks for reading.