Latonic/Nouns

Latonic Nouns

Genders in Latonic

Latonic has three genders, just the original Latin language: male, female, neuter
Just like in Latin, these can be distinguish by the final letter of the noun, also known as it's exit:

• Male nouns end on -o, in the plural they end on -i
• Female nouns end on -a, in the plural they end on -é (which becomes -e when unstressed)
• Neuter nouns end on -u, in the plural on -a

The definite article (like English the) is il before a male noun, la before a female noun and le before a neuter noun. In the following word begins with a vowel all of these may be shortened to l'
In the plural, male nouns have the article i, female nouns have the article lé, and neuter ones have the acrtivle la. These are never shortened.

Cases in Latonic

Latonic has the same cases like German:

• The nominative which is the most basic case and is used for the subject and the predicate
• The genitive is used to indicate possession and association, archaically also cause and origin, though these nowadays use the preposition de
• The dative is used for the indirect object, after relative prepositions when they indicate state (it is on the table) and after some prepositions which always have the dative.
• The accusative is used for the direct object, for time indications without a preposition, after relative prepositions when they indicate movement (I am putting it on the table) and after some prepositions which always have the accusative.

Additionally, there is also a vocative which only applies to some nouns and may also be replaced by the nominative, making it quite neglectable.

The Accusative

The accusative is quite simple to form:

• Male singular nouns get the article le instead of il
• Female plural nouns get the article la instead of lé
• The nouns themselves remain unchanged

An overview:

	Male S	Male P	Female S	Female P	Neuter S	Neuter P
N	il gamo	i gami	la gama	lé game	le domu	la doma
A	le gamo	i gami	la gama	la game	le domu	la doma

The Dative

The dative is slightly more complicated to form:

• Male and neuter nouns get the article lo in the singular
• Neuter nouns get the same exits as male nouns (-o, -i)
• All nouns get li as their plural article
• Female nouns remain unchanged (apart from rule three)

An overview:

	Male S	Male P	Female S	Female P	Neuter S	Neuter P
N	il gamo	i gami	la gama	lé game	le domu	la doma
A	le gamo	i gami	la gama	la game	le domu	la doma
D	lo gamo	li gami	la gama	li game	lo domo	li domi

The Genitive

The dative is easier to form and quiet easy to recognize:

• In the singular form, both the article and the noun are copied from the nominative plural, except that neuter nouns have the exit -i, and the the male nouns have the article li
• In the plural, the noun is copied from the dative singular with -r struck behind it (a remain from Latin -orum and -arum)
• The plural has the same article as the singular

An overview:

	Male S	Male P	Female S	Female P	Neuter S	Neuter P
N	il gamo	i gami	la gama	lé game	le domu	la doma
A	le gamo	i gami	la gama	la game	le domu	la doma
D	lo gamo	li gami	la gama	li game	lo domo	li domi
G	li gami	li gamor	lé game	lé gamar	la domi	la domor

The indefinite article

The indefinite article (a, an) is copied from the definite, replacing l- with un-, however il and le simply become un

	Male S	Female S	Neuter S
N	un gamo	una gama	un domu
A	un gamo	una gama	un domu
D	uno gamo	una gama	uno domo
G	uni gami	une game	una domi

The second conjugation

The stem

Nouns are divided into two categories or conjugations. Nouns of the first conjugation are the ones we just discussed. Their property is that they can be distinguished by the typical exits -o, -a, -u which allows one to immideately determine their gender.
Words of the second conjugation can end on any of these three regardless of their genders, and they can also end on anything else, more often than not a consonant. Their conjugation is different from the first conjugation, and they have a special stem.
Let's start with the stem. Most nouns are conjugated by taking the root (gam- for gamo and gama, dom- for domu, etc.) and adding exits to it. In addition to a root, nouns of the second class have a stem, which looks like the root but may have differences and irregularities to it. While most forms simply use the root with an exit, others may use the stem without an exit.
For example, the root homin- means "man". It is a male word with a regular plural: homini means "men". But it's singular is formed with the stem which is homo. Therefore you must learn that the translation of man is homo, homini.

Conjugation

• Articles are identical to the first conjugation
• Accusative and Nominative singular for any gender uses the stem instead of conjugation
• The dative singular for male and neuter nouns uses the exit -e instead of -o

Therefore:

	Male S	Male P	Female S	Female P	Neuter S	Neuter P
N	l' (il) homo	i homini	la ris	lé réie	le corpu	la corpera
A	l' (le) homo	i homini	la ris	la réie	le corpu	la corpera
D	l' (lo) homine	li homini	la réa	li réie	lo corpere	li corperi
G	li homini	li hominor	lé réie	lé réar	la corperi	la corperor

Vocabulary

These words all mean the same they do in Latin, with exception of gamo/ -a which means child and is derived from French gamin.
il gamo - the child, boy
la gama - the girl
le domu - the house, home
l'homo, li homini (m) - the man, human
la ris, lé réie, la réa - the thing
le corpu, la corpera - the body