Old Naumes

Old Naumes vocabulary

Old Naumes affixes

Old Naumes names

Old Naumes monster names

Old Naumes (Nāmenasa re "Naumes's language") is a synraspian language which was spoken by the Naumes people in Namenazea, a northern region of Mocaczea from the 31st to the 38th centuries AN. It is also the ancestor of the Naumes language, being the direct ancestor of Middle Naumes which then split into Naumes and Svatolian. The language name Nāmenasa re ("Naumes's language") is a reference to Naumes, the founder of the Naumes people and their cultural icon. His name in Old Naumes was Nāmenas which was from the Old Sumrë name Naarmölnatš ("the hope man, the reason man") which is from naar ("the man") (definite form of nyr "man") and mölnatš ("hope, reason" - from the double verb compound mölen "to point, to focus" and natšen "to speak out loud, to announce").

=Phonology=

Consonants
In writing /Cx/ clusters and aspirated plosives are not distinguished, with both being spelt as . So  can be either /dx/ or /dʱ/.

Allophony

 * 1) When after another vowel, /u uː/ become [ʊ].
 * 2) When a root ends in a vowel and takes a suffix beginning in a vowel then the vowel of the stem will be dropped and the first vowel of the suffix will lengthen:
 * nēggā ("game") + -e ("plural suffix") > nēggē ("games")
 * 1) When /x/ follows a plosive it becomes aspiration on the plosive. When it follows a fricative it merges into a long version of that fricative.
 * 2) When a root ending in /x/ takes on a suffix beginning in a consonant the [x] is dropped.
 * 3) The clusters /ts/, /tj/ and /ds/, /dj/ merge into /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, even across morpheme boundaries. An exception is with the topicalising clitic d- which does not change before /s/ or /j/.

Prosody
Old Naumes has a phonemic pitch accent where a word has a high pitch on the penultimate syllable with a low pitch on the preceding syllable. The pitch pattern is a shifting one as certain conditions can cause the pitch to fall on different syllables than the root word. An example of this in nouns is compounding as this increases the number of syllables for the pitch to fall on.


 * okhil /ók͡xil/ ("knife") > okhile /òk͡xíle/ ("knives")
 * udia /ùdía/ ("bread") > udiaŕau /udìáɾa͡u/ ("bread-")

An exception to the high pitch falling on the penultimate syllable is collective nouns (and any singulative nouns derived from them) which may place the high pitch on any syllable: kíakhim, ū́nsalam.

The high pitch is marked with an acute accent with the preceding low pitch being unmarked as the next syllable having an acute accent is enough to indicate that the previous syllable has a low pitch. Monosyllabic words do not use the acute accent as it is obvious that the high pitch will fall on the only syllable.

If a monosyllabic word has a long vowel then it can be analysed as two adjacent same vowels but with the pitch pattern [V̀V́] such as in sāh /sáːx/ [sàáx] ("arm").

Other exceptions include names of divine entities as Old Naumes would derive these from the Old Sumrë definite forms, and as such in these words the high pitch always falls on the final syllable with no preceding low pitch:
 * Padahumvā́l /padaxumváːl/ ("the third innermost world in Skawetchimism")
 * Pijavā́l /pijaváːl/ ("innermost world in Skawechimism")

Phonological History
kʰ gʱ > k͡x g͡ɣ

ɫ > x

ə̆ > a

Fʰ > Fː

m̥ n̥ ɲ̊ {l̥ r̥} > p t c ɬ

Vː>V/C[-voice]_C[-voice]

t d >ɾ/V_V

v dʑ> w ɻ/V_V

C[+plosive] > C[+plosive][+long]/C_!C=C[+postaspiration]

{p pʰ} {b bʰ} tʰ dʰ k g > p͡f b͡v t͡s d͡z k͡x g͡ɣ/V_V

V>Vː/{D F[+voice]}_

C[-voice]>C[+voice]/C[+voice]_, V_ !C=affricate

D>T/_#

C[+plosive] > ʔ/_#

r>l/V_

ʊ ɔʊ > ʏ œʏ/_{t tʰ dʰ s sʰ ɲ ç j}

w j > u i/C_

V[+front][+round] >V[-round]/_#

m n ɲ ŋ > b d ɟ g/V_V

C[+plosive] > C[+plosive][+labial]/V[+round]_

e eː ø øː o oː ɔ ɔː ɛ ɛː œ œː ʌ ʌː > ɛ ɛː œ œː ɔ ɔː a aː a aː a aː a aː/_{x ʔ l n}, _...a

e eː ø øː o oː ɔ ɔː ɛ ɛː {œ œː ʌ ʌː} > i iː y yː u uː o oː e eː ø øː/_{ɟ p b k g}, _...{i u}

ø øː œ œː ʌ ʌː > e eː ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː/_#

V[-round] > V[+round]/C[+labial]_

ʏ ʏː > y yː

y yː ø øː œ œː œy > i iː e eː ɛ ɛː ɛi

r l > ∅/_C! C=F

ɛ ɛː > a aː

t͡ɕ d͡ʑ > s z

ɔ ɔː > o oː

ʰC > ʔC

C>∅/_C[+long] ! C=syllabic, c ɬ

ʌ {ʌː ɔʊ} > a aː

ɜ ɜː > a aː

{pː bː} {tː dː}> m n/#_

kː gː > x/#_

{r̩ l̩} n̩ m̩ s̩ v̩ > uj un um us uv

ç h > x

ʰr ʰl > gr gl

ʝ > d͡ʒ

=Noun Phrase=

Gender
There are four genders which are buzzard, deer, animate and inanimate. The buzzard and deer noun genders have nothing to do with their namesakes as evidenced by the fact the noun haban ("deer") is a buzzard noun. The way to tell which gender a noun belongs to is very simple. If a common noun ends in a vowel then it is in the deer gender, if it ends in a consonant then it is on the buzzard gender. Nouns that belong to other declensions have animate/inanimate genders which are assigned semantically. Animate/inanimate nouns can be derived from common nouns using derivational suffixes which tended to preserve the animate/inanimate case endings of Proto-Sumric albeit each suffix does it in its own irregular way. Even when these suffixes are applied to new words they will go in the animate/inanimate gender, with the exact gender being assigned semantically based on whether the noun is alive or not. The suffix -(g)g(h)eo ("cover of, surrounding") is a prime example of this:


 * silal ("eye") deer noun → sulaggeo ("eyelid") inanimate noun.
 * bāwa ("hillfoot") deer noun → bāwagheo ("flower that grows by hillfoots") animate noun.

This means that Old Naumes has both purely grammatical genders (buzzard and deer) plus purely semantic genders (animate and inanimate).

Common Nouns

 * 1) The complimentary vocative case causes the preceding consonant to geminate, or the epenthesis of /x/ when on a deer noun.
 * 2) Buzzard nouns in the prolative lost the final consonant of the stem.
 * māwaŕal ("buzzard") > māwaŕabbin ("buzzard-")
 * 1) When a buzzard nouns ends in a voiced plosive or fricative, the first vowel of the suffix lengthens.

Certain case endings can trigger a change in the final vowel of the stem. The column marked as 1 in the table is when the suffix contains /a/ in its first syllable and the culumn marked as 2 is when the suffix contains /i u/ in its first syllable.


 * māwaŕar ("buzzard") > māwaŕelioḥ ("in the buzzard")

Subgroups of Common Nouns
Of the common nouns there are several subgroupings which have arose thanks to Old Naumes sound changes. They are as follows.

Subgroup 1
This group contains buzzard nouns that end in a vowel followed by a nasal stop. When these nouns take on a suffix beginning in a vowel the stop denasalises (m n ñ > b d ǵ).

Subgroup 2
This group is the same as Subgroup 1 except that the denasalised stop labialises. This is due to it coming after a historic rounded vowel (which may or may not be rounded in Old Naumes).

Subgroup 3
Nouns in this group end in a vowel followed by a glottal stop which alternates with /ɾ/ when a suffix with a vowel is attached. When the suffix begins in a consonant the glottal stop becomes /t/.

Subgroup 4
Nouns in this group end in a vowel followed by a glottal stop which alternates with /p͡f/ when a suffix with a vowel is attached. When the suffix begins in a consonant the glottal stop becomes /p/.

Subgroup 5
Nouns in this group end in a vowel followed by a glottal stop which alternates with /b͡v/ when a suffix with a vowel is attached. When the suffix begins in a consonant the glottal stop becomes /b/.

Subgroup 6
Nouns in this group end in a vowel followed by a glottal stop which alternates with /k͡x/ when a suffix with a vowel is attached. When the suffix begins in a consonant the glottal stop becomes /k/.

Subgroup 7
Nouns in this group end in a vowel followed by a glottal stop which alternates with /g͡ɣ/ when a suffix with a vowel is attached. When the suffix begins in a consonant the glottal stop becomes /g/.

Subgroup 8
This group contains deer nouns that ended in /VlCV/ in Old Sumrë. In the nominative singular they usually end in /a(ː)uCo/ (where C is an affricate) while the in the nominative plural and accusative/genitive cases they contain /aːCːVː/. All nouns in this group have been reanalysed based upon the noun daugho ("drum"). For example Old Sumrë bĕlba ("habit, custom") would have given bābbā with the plural bābbē but instead its remoddled forms are baubvo and bābbwē.

Subgroup 9
This group contains buzzard nouns that end in /u/.

Zero-grade nouns
Zero-grade nouns are a set of nouns which contain uj, un, um, us, uv in them. These come from the Old Sumrë syllabic consonants ŕ~ɫ, ń, ḿ, ś, v́ which experienced the insertion of an epenthetic vowel whenever a suffix was attached and in so causing a set of vowel changes throughout the paradigm. Even though there are patterns to zero-grade nouns they can yet inflect quite irregularly. In Old Naumes these nouns behave as follows:

Buzzard Zero-grade nouns
Buzzard gender zero-grade nouns have uj, un, um, us, uv in the final syllable. In the buzzard gender, the vowel of the suffix is reduplicated before the consonant causing some alternation which are as follows:
 * uj > Vl (possibly even Vu or Vh if the historic Vl came before a plosive followed by a back vowel or is only a back vowel followed)
 * un > Vn
 * um > Vm
 * us > Vs
 * uv > Vv

If uj, un, um, us, uv occur before a plosive then the epenthetic form with lose the consonant. If epenthetic /e/ occurs before /l/ then it becomes /a/. If there are two adjacent syllables with historic syllabic consonants then both will be affected. In the accusative and dative cases the epenthetic vowels are a and e respectively.


 * vujdd ("melody") > vādde ("melodies")
 * muj ("cricket") > malau ("cricket-")
 * dujus ("heron") > dīriezez ("herom-")

Deer Zero-grade nouns
Deer zero-grade nouns always end in a vowel. In deer zero-grade nouns the vowel of a suffix is only reduplicated if the suffix begins in a vowel and so replaces the final vowel of the stem when attached.
 * pujddna ("hedgehog") > pānnē ("hedgehogs")
 * budwumio ("minnow") > boŕūbiō ("minnow-")
 * nujgu ("stalk") > nujguza ("stalk-")

Geo-nouns
Geo nouns are nouns that have been derived from verbs with the suffix -Geo. Nouns formed this way have their own case paradigm. Since -Geo noun endings only differ from buzzard/deer endings. in th enominative,accusative,genitive and dative cases this table will exclude the locative cases. Geo nouns can be either animate or inanimate. Since the causes that created each noun class happened before Old Sumrë gained its locative cases only the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative forms differ in each declension, with the locative causes being identical for every declension.
 * After V = the form when after a vowel
 * After C = the form when the stem ends in a consonant (which is then lost)

B-nouns
B-nouns are animate nouns that have been derived from adjectives with the suffix -aḥ.

O-nouns
O-nouns are inanimate nouns that have been derived with the suffixes -o or -bbo/-bvo.

An inanimate noun may also end in i or a in which case the vowel o of the suffix is replaced by those vowels: rozali ("wing") > rozalin ("wings").

H-nouns
In H-nouns there are two subgroups of nouns which depend on whether the Old Sumrë form ended in a cluster or not.

Y-nouns
In Y-nouns there are two subgroups of nouns which depend on whether the Old Sumrë form ended in a cluster or not. In some forms the consonant which was lost before the geminate gg resurfaces.

Null-nouns
Null nouns are so named for in the accusative and genitive cases the final VC is lost. If an animate noun has a geminate plosive before the final VC then it becomes an aspirated singleton in the plural.

D-nouns
D-nouns all end in vowels. Nouns derived with the suffix -al are D-noun also. When inflected nouns ending in -al lose the l.

R-nouns
R-nouns experience an alternation from Vz, Vf, Vv, Vḥ to Vl, or Vh in the dative case. Both animate and inanimate R-nouns nouns conjugate the same.

Paucal number
Old Naumes has a third, less productive number which is the paucal number to denote some or several of something. Not all nouns can take the paucal number nor can all cases be inflected in the paucal. The paucal is used alongside the numbers 2-10 and only for count nouns denoting tangible things and only when used with the four core cases (nominative, accusative, genitive and dative). When no number is used alongside a paucal noun it is assumed to be dual. Also all paucal nouns take on either the animate gender or inanimate gender (with the gender being assigned semantically).

There are two types of paucal which are "paucal 1" and "paucal 2". Paucal 1 refers to nouns that often occur in groups or in pairs (such as herding animals, people and trees) while paucal 2 refers to nouns that often occur alone (such as solitary animals or relative concepts like mother and father".

The paucal can cause stem changes to the noun. Paucal 2 in particular causes the following changes to the final consonant of the stem:

If the noun ends in a glottal stop then in the paucal the older non-glottal plosive will resurface. It is not predictable as to what plosive will resurface. If the plosive was /t/ or /d/ then the paucal form is /s/ and /z/.

If the nouns ends in a geminate consonant then no change is made.

Some nouns don't follow this pattern due to sound changes from Proto-Sumric > Old Sumrë. If the Proto-Sumric ancestor ended in [ʂ ʐ] then the Old Naumes paucal form will have [ɕ ʑ] unless the Proto-Sumric form ended in [ʂC ʐC] in which case [nː] is the Old Naumes form. If the Old Naumes word ends in [Cr Vl m] then the Old Naumes paucal may have [nː] or [nɕ].


 * haggāl ("pigeon") > haggānśi
 * māwaŕal ("buzzard") > māwaŕanni
 * abbāḥ ("hand") > abbāsi
 * bādd ("blade") > bāddi
 * awah ("insect") > awakki
 * laggāo ("sleeve") > laggāoźi
 * pim ("orca") > pinśi
 * prokka ("sweetheart") > prokkahi

Collective and Singulative nouns
Nouns can also take on collective forms to refer to a general instance of a noun. This is formed by reduplicating the final CVC sequence of the noun as a suffix. Collective nouns do not shift the pitch to the new penultimate syllable so the high pitch is marked on collective nouns with an acute accent.
 * uzwun ("cave lion") > uzwunwun
 * rakhaḥ ("tree") > rakhaḥkhaḥ

Since the reduplicated suffix must be CVC, if the noun ends in VCV or C.CV then an epenthetic nasal of the same PoA as the previous consonant (velars take the nasal /n/) is inserted at the end of the suffix.
 * alaŕi ("flame") > alaŕiŕin
 * sapfa ("flower") > sapfapfam
 * eji ("finger") > ejijiñ

Nouns that end in V.VC will reduplicate the final VC and an epenthetic nasal of the same PoA as the previous consonant (velars take the nasal /n/) is inserted at the beginning of the suffix.
 * fuan ("beluga whale") > fuannan

Nouns that end in CVV will only reduplicate the first CV and then insert an epenthetic nasal at the end.
 * laggāo ("sleeve") > laggāoggān

Non-reduplicating collectives
There are, of course, nouns which are inherently collective. These nouns usually refer to liquids ("water, saliva, blood"), liquid-like solids ("mud, sand"), gases or gas-like (gas-like here being defined as what the speakers view as being like gas or air) substances ("air, steam, clouds"), solids which can have smaller chunks carved or sliced from ("meat, ice, wax, fat, wood") or insects which live in colonies. These nouns can have singulative nouns derived with the suffix -(a)nc (with /a/ only being included when the root ends in a consonant). Non-reduplicating nouns are an exception to the rule that high pitch always falls on the penultimate syllable, as in non-reduplicating collectives and their derived singulatives, the high pitch can fall anywhere and it won't shift even if suffixes are added. As such the high pitch bearing syllable will always be written with an acute accent in non-reduplicating collectives and their derived singulatives, except when the noun is mono-syllabic.
 * láwa ("water") > láwanc ("drop of water")
 * wa ("blood") > wanc ("drop of blood")
 * klaḥ ("ice") > kláḥanc ("block of ice")
 * dāgha ("sand") > dāghanc ("grain of sand")
 * wūghu ("wasp nest") > wūghunc ("wasp")

There are a handful of inherently collective nouns which don't refer to the above criteria, instead these nouns can mean anything. They descend from Proto-Sumric reduplicating-collective nouns whose singular stems fell out of use (The singular stems fell out of use in Late Proto-Sumric, this is evidenced by how they survived in Proto-Sumric's other daughter Hajec as singular nouns. Compare the below examples with their cognates in Hajec which show no sign of reduplication: diipios, xis, oupuu, ki, uotiox, xex, oįs, akn, ioxn, tiaksus, nikpos), leaving only the collective form to survive into Old Sumrë. Thanks to the sound changes which have occurred between Proto-Sumric and Old Sumrë, these nouns may not look like reduplicated stems anymore.
 * dūipfíol ("bolases, several bolasses") > dūipfíolanc ("bolas")
 * húnhil ("snow goggles") > húnhulanc ("a pair of snow goggles")
 * ū́piuñ ("several hawks, the hawk species") > ū́piuǵanc ("hawk")
 * kíakhim ("several oak trees, the species of oak") > kíakhibanc ("oak tree")
 * ūŕíogn ("ferns, the species of fern") > ūŕíognanc ("fern")
 * hághaughadam ("boar species") > hághaughadabanc ("boar")
 * ū́nsalam ("several bulbs") > ū́nsalabanc ("bulb")
 * áknūdum ("several finches") > áknūdubanc ("finch")
 * iúgnam ("several guests") > iúgnabanc ("guest")
 * níppoppoz ("several newts") > níppoppazānc ("newt")

Topicalisation
Topic marking in Old Naumes is one area where there is a distinction between how men and women speak. Topicalisation as used by men is called strong topicalisation and topicalisation as used by women is called weak topicalisation. The various roles of nouns that are topicalised are known as shades. Adjectives that follow the copula may also be topicalised in the same manner as nouns. The closest translation to Old Naumes's topicalisation into English is the definite article "the".

Shade 1
Shade 1 emphasizes the subject's role as subject.

d-ialun mab-al bil-au

TOP-wolf hunt-3S.BUZZ sloth-ACC

"The wolf hunts the sloth"

d-atte ñakh-az udia-ŕau

TOP-rat eat.3S.BUZZ.PST bread-ACC

"The rat ate the bread"

da-dakkeazale kūdw-ean kad-aḥ

TOP-stag-PL graze-3P valley-INE

"The stags graze in the valley"

Shade 2
Shade 2 strong topicalisation emphasizes the object's (direct or indirect) role as the patient. Note that a strong topicalised object is placed in the nominative case. It is marked as follows:

jalun mab-al miri*

wolf hunt-3S.BUZZ TOP/sloth

"A wolf hunts the sloth"

* l- + biri

Shade 3
Shade3 strong topicalisation emphasizes the object’s role and is marked in the same way as a shade 2 strong topicalised noun phrase.

jol-ānu tiwale-lau malikhade*

give-1S.FUT rose-ACC TOP-girl

"I will give a rose to the girl"

* l- + balikhade

Shade 1
Shade 1 emphasizes the subject's role as the agent. It is marked as follows:

l-ialun mab-al bil-au

TOP-wolf hunt-3S.BUZZ sloth-ACC

"the wolf hunt's the sloth"

l-atte ñakh-az udia-ŕau

TOP-rat eat-3S.BUZZ.PST bread-ACC

"the rat ate the bread"

Shade 2
This is marked by fronting the object to the beginning of the sentence.

bilau jalun mab-al

TOP.sloth wolf hunt-3S.BUZZ

"a wolf hunted the sloth"

udia-ŕau atte ñakh-az

TOP.bread-ACC rat eat-3S.BUZZ.PST

"A rat ate the bread"

Shade 3
This is marked by shifting the indirect object to the front of the sentence.

okhi-bbīn nodwagh-ā

TOP.knife-PRO cut-1S

"I cut with the knife"

Nouns derived from the Old Sumrë non-specific
Old Naumes's ancestor Old Sumrë had a way of marking nouns, called the non-specific, to denote hypothetical objects or objects that don't exist yet. This was done with the attaching of the prefix ü- plus umlaut although some forms could be quite irregular. The non-specific fell out of use in Old Naumes but some non-specific forms lexicalised into their own roots, usually obtaining abstract meanings or referring to earlier stages of things. Since Old Sumrë ü became Old Naumes i all such nouns begin in i. Here are some examples of such nouns.
 * ibiŕu ("baby grouse") < OS ümüdu, the non-specific of bĕdi ("grouse" - cf ON bāŕi)
 * ihggāl ("pigeon chick") < OS ühngar, the non-specific of hangar ("pigeon" - cf ON haggāl)
 * ipujn ("potato") < OS üprn, the non-specifc of pron ("crisp" - cf ON pron)
 * iŕāgha ("fir tree sapling") < OS ütyyga, the non-specific of tӑӑga ("fir tree" - cf ON tāgha)

Many flower species have two names with one name deriving from the non-specific to refer to the flower before it has blossomed.
 * panhanzapfa ("marigold") - ipfanhanzapfa ("unblossomed marigold")

Adjective Phrase
Old Naumes adjectives must agree to the noun they modify in gender, case and number. Adjectives agreeing with the buzzard and deer genders do this by taking on the same endings as the nouns. The animate/inanimate genders act differently as will be described below. Note that adjectives have no distinct paucal form, when agreeing to a paucal noun the adjective takes the plural form. Adjectives always follow the noun.

Agreeing with Buzzard nouns
If the adjective ends in a consonant then no change is needed and can be inflected as is:
 * alan ("big") > māwaŕal alan ("big buzzard")
 * nin ("green") > māwaŕal nin ("green buzzard")

When the final consonant of the adjective is n, m, ñ the consonant becomes d, b, ǵ when taking on a suffix beginning in a vowel:
 * alan ("big") > alade ("big-")
 * ralam ("long") > ralabe ("long-")

If the adjective ends in a vowel then it is suffixed with -m which becomes -b- when another suffix beginning in a vowel is attached:
 * sā ("holy, sacred") > sām ("holy-") > sābe ("holy-")
 * magia ("strong") > magiam ("strong-") > magiabe ("strong-")

Agreeing with Deer nouns
If the adjective ends in a vowel then no change is needed:
 * salā ("old") > na salā ("old person") > ne salē ("old people")

If the adjective ends in a consonant then the suffix -a is added. If the consonant was m, n, ñ then it becomes b, d, ǵ:
 * sam ("broken") > saba ("broken-") > sabē ("broken-")

Subgroups
Like how buzzard nouns that end in glottal stops experience consonant alternation when inflected, adjectives ending in glottal stops do the same. The various subgroups are:

When the glottal stop becomes pf between vowels or p before a consonant When the glottal stop becomes bv between vowels or b before a consonant When the glottal stop becomes ŕ between vowels or t before a consonant When the glottal stop becomes kh between vowels or k before a consonant When the glottal stop becomes gh between vowels or g before a consonant
 * suaoḥ ("funny") > suaobva ("funny-"), suaobve ("funny-")
 * isruḥ ("beautiful") > isruŕe ("beautiful-")
 * padiḥ ("(of deals and negotiations) good, worthwhile, sweet, desirable") > padikhe

Personal Pronouns
Singular Pronouns

Plural Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns
Old Naumes possessive pronouns only agree in the four main cases (nominative, accusative, genitive & dative").

Numbers
The number system in Old Naumes is very typical of Sumro-Letaeric languages, with the order being determined by animacy and agreement determined by the use of adjectives. The way that numbers agree with the head noun can be irregular due to the inflection descending directly from those in Proto-Sumro-Naukl and not experiencing analogy like nouns did.

Order
A number may follow or precede its noun. If the noun is semantically (or grammatically if it is an animate noun) animate then the number follows. If the noun is inanimate then the number goes before the noun:


 * Animate: rākhal do ("one bear")
 * Inanimate: dō sapfa ("one flower")

Agreement
Numbers do not agree with the buzzard or deer genders, instead they agree only with animate or inanimate. If a noun has the buzzard or deer gender then the number will agree to the semantic animacy of the noun (i.e if the noun represents a living sentient being). In terms of agreeing with number, the number 1 agrees with no number for obvious reasons. The numbers 2-3 agree with the paucal numbers and the numbers 3-10 agree with the plural. It is important to note that numbers higher than 10 do not agree whatsoever with the noun.

Numbers only agree with the four traditional cases (nominative, accusative, genitive and dative). For any other case the nominative form of the noun is used. Numbers also only agree with the nouns case if an adjective is modifying the noun, if there is no adjective then the numbers takes the nominative case:


 * rākhala do (bear- one-) "one bear's"
 * rākhala aranama dō (bear- big- one-) "one big bear's"
 * rākhabbin aranabbin do (bear- big- one-) "by one big bear"

Number 1

The number one agrees only with the singular number and takes the following forms:


 * Animate nom: do
 * Inanimate nom, inanimate/animate acc, inanimate/animate gen: dō
 * Animate dat: dōm
 * Inanimate dat: dōaḥ

Numbers 2-3

The numbers 2 and 3 agree only with the paucal numbers and take the following forms:

aḥ ("two")

pal ("three")


 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: aḥ, pal
 * Animate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.sg: aha, pala
 * Animate dat.sg: aho, palo
 * Inanimate dat.sg: ahaḥ, palaḥ
 * Animate nom.pau1/2: akwri, panši
 * Inanimate nom.pau1/2: okwi, pali
 * Animate/inanimate acc.pau1, animate gen.pau2, animate gen.pau1: okwria, panšia
 * Inanimate gen.pau1, inanimate gen.pau2: okwia, palia
 * Animate dat.pau1, inanimate dat.pau1: okwrio, panšio
 * Animate acc.pau2: okwrū, panrū
 * Inanimate acc.pau2: okwū, panū
 * Animate dat.pau2: okwriaḥ, panšiaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pau2: okwiaḥ, paluiḥ

Number 4
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: ku
 * Animate nom.pl: kue
 * Inanimate nom.pl, inanimate gen.pl: kūa
 * Animate/inanimate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.pl: kū
 * Animte accc.pl: kūn
 * Inanimate acc.pl: kudwu
 * Animate gen.sg: kua
 * Animate dat.sg: kuo
 * Innimate.dat, animate.dat.sg: kuaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: kuaŕa

Number 5
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: buiḥ
 * Animate nom.pl: bette
 * Inanimate nom.pl, inanimate gen.sg/pl, animate/inanimate acc.sg: batta
 * Animate acc.pl: battam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: battadu
 * Animate gen.sg: batta
 * Animate dat.sg: botto
 * Ianimate dat.sg, animate/inanimate dat.pl: battaḥ

Number 6
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: ban
 * Animate nom.pl: bade
 * Inanimate nom.pl: badō
 * Animate/inanimate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.pl, animate/inanimate gen.sg: bada
 * Inanimate acc.pl: badam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: bannu
 * Inanimate gen.pl: badā
 * Animate dat.sg: bado
 * Inanimate dat.sg, animate dat.pl: banaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: badaŕa

Number 7
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: hutti
 * Animate nom.sg: huttie
 * Inanimate nom.pl: huttī
 * Animate/inanimate acc/sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.pl: huttia
 * Animate gen.sg: huytia
 * Animate acc.pl: huttiam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: huttidu
 * Inanimate gen.pl: huttiā
 * Animate dat.sg: huttio
 * Inanimate dat.sg, animate dat.pl: huttiaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: huttiaŕa

Number 8
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: bībīḥ
 * Animate nom.pl: bībīŕe
 * Ianimate nom.pl: bībīŕō
 * Animate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.pl, inanimate acc.sg, animate gen.sg: bībīŕa
 * Animate acc.pl: bībīŕam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: bībīdnu
 * Inanimate gen.pl: bībīŕā
 * Animate dat.sg: bībīŕo
 * Inanimate dat.sg, animate dat.pl: bībīŕaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: bībīŕaŕa

Number 9
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: pīŕiḥ
 * Animate nom.pl: pīŕikhe
 * Inanimate nom.pl: pīŕikhō
 * Animate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate/inanimate gen.pl, animate gen.sg: pīŕia
 * Inanimate acc.sg: pīŕikha
 * Animate acc.pl: pīŕiam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: pīŕiknu
 * Animate dat.sg: pīŕio
 * Inanimate dat.sg, animate dat.pl: pīŕiaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: pīŕiaŕa

Number 10
 * Animate/inanimate nom.sg: pighim
 * Animate nom.pl: pighibe
 * Inanimate nom.pl: pighibō
 * Animate/inanimate acc.sg, inanimate gen.sg, animate gen.pl, animate gen.sg: pighiba
 * Animate acc.pl: pighibam
 * Inanimate acc.pl: pighimnu
 * Inanimate gen.pl: pighibā
 * Animate dat.sg: pighibo
 * Inanimate dat.sg, animate dat.pl: pighibaḥ
 * Inanimate dat.pl: pighibaŕa

Numbers 11-19 The Numbers 11-19 are totally uninflectable and are as follows:
 * 11 dopfiḥ
 * 12 opfiḥ
 * 13 poppiḥ
 * 14 kupfiḥ
 * 15 buipfiḥ
 * 16 moppiḥ
 * 17 huppiḥ
 * 18 bībīpfiḥ
 * 19 pīŕipfiḥ

The numbers cause the noun to take the delative plural and they always go before the noun:
 * Tubal huppiḥ gwazabjabe (herald- seventeen badger-) "there are 17 badgers"

Numbers 20+ The numbers 20-100 are also don't agree with nouns and also trigger the delative plural case. The numbers 20-100 are as follows:
 * 20 uíkk
 * 30 padíkk
 * 40 kuíkk
 * 50 bujíkk
 * 60 madíkk
 * 70 huttíkk
 * 80 bībīkhíkk
 * 90 pīŕikhíkk
 * 100 pighibíkk

To form numbers such as 25 or 74, the smaller number is placed before the larger number, with the larger number taking the comitative suffix -es:
 * buiḥ uíkkaz (five twenty-) "25"
 * ku huttíkkaz (four seventy-) "74"

To form numbers such as 200 or 300, the number pighibíkk ("100") is made plural as pighibíkke and modified by another number (which may follow or come before). The words for "1000" or "2000" are simply made in this manner by saying "10 100s" or "20 1000s" up until "10,000" which is "100 100s":
 * pighibíkke ok, ok pighibíkke (hundred- two) "200"
 * pighibíkke skumti, skumti pighibíkke (hundred- seven) "700"
 * pighibíkke pighim (hundred- ten) "1000"

For more specific numbers like "438" or "694" the smaller number is placed before or after the larger number, with the last number taking the conjunctive clitic -aḥk ("and"):
 * pighibíkke ku bībīḥ peníkkezaḥ (hundred- four eight thirty-) "438"
 * pighibíkke ban ku pīŕikhíkkezaḥ (hundred- six four ninety-) "694"

Subordinate clauses
Old Naumes has made an alternate use of the adverb joc ("while") as a subordinator for noun phrases. It causes the following verb to take on the supine form in the comitative case (a holdover of how it causes verbs to be supine in adverbs of duration - it's original function), as such these verbs cannot take on any TAM information which is rather just implied by context. Objects of these supine verbs take the dative case.

rakhaḥ joc k-abun-az salā

tree SUBR SUP-be-COM old

"tree that is/was/will be old"

bāŕaḥ joc k-vāzvāḥ-az bāttad-ōm

fisherman SUBR SUP-hate-COM jellyfish-DAT.PL

"fisherman who hates/hated/will hate jellyfish"

bāwa joc kpaḥ-az nāc-ōm

hillfoot SUBR SUP-smell-COM lynx-DAT.PL

"hillfoot where a lynx was/is/will be smelled"

=Verb Phrase=

Conjugation
Verbal morphology in Old Naumes is quite less complex than its Old Sumrë ancestor due to how it merged many of the other verb classes became conjugated as common nouns. For example zero-grade nouns with their finicky vowel and consonant changes instead became analysed as common verbs based upon their infinitive forms. So Old Sumrë pelten, paaltaa, kpɫt ("to stray, I stray, straying" - from the verb stem pɫt-) became Old Naumes padan, padā, kpaḥ via analogy. The only verb classes to not merge with common verbs were Eas-verbs and Two-verbs. All verbs are negated by placing the negative particle hirmu after the verb (from Old Sumrë skürmu "not one, not a man").

Common Verbs
Changes in the common verbs since Old Sumrë include the merger of the 3rd person singular for the buzzard/animate and deer/inanimate genders in the past and near future due to some forms becoming identical to other persons in the paradigm. The Old Sumrë tenses of "last night, yesterday" and "immediate future" were lost.

Affixes are attached after removing the infitive suffix -an.

Some of the affixes are identical and so rely on context to tell which person is being used for Old Naumes was still obligatorily pro-drop.


 * 1) Like nouns there is a set of vowel changes that happen when the suffix begins in /a/ although for verbs it is simpler. When a verb has the vowels /e o/ in its final syllable then any suffixes beginning with /a/ cause both vowels to become /a/.
 * 2) sadokhan ("to invade, to raid, to lead an attack against") > sadakhā ("I invade")
 * 3) When the verb ends in a voiceless consonant, the 1S past suffix -āz becomes -az.
 * 4) sakhan ("to forget") > sakhaz ("I forgot" or "it forgot")

Eas-verbs
-Eas verbs are verbs that have been derived from nouns and adjectives with the derivation suffix -āz (-eas in Old Sumrë) to denote an action that results in the root noun/adjective. In these verbs -āz functions as an infinitive.

Two-verbs
Two-verbs are verbs that have been derived with the suffix -tuo (-two in Old Sumrë) from any other word form any part of speech.

Copula
The third person singular buzzard/animate is used in existential constructions alongside the indefinite pronoun huj:

huj abanz klaḥ mubvānral

INDEF 3S.BUZZ ice mountain-SUPER

"There is ice on the mountain"

Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood is formed with the suffix -pfoz which has a few allomorphs. The form -pfoz is used when the preceding syllable ends in a vowel and -ppoz is used if it ends in a consonant (which is then lost). The suffix attaches after the person suffixes.

sadakh-a-ppoz

invade-1S-SUB

"Were I invading"

nalokhau haz-ija-pfoz

TOP/sword-ACC sword_swing-2P.FUT-SUB

"Were you to swing the sword"

Imperative mood
The imperative is marked with the suffix -ia on the verb stem. If the verb ends in the affricates pf, bv, kh, gh then it causes these to become the plosives p, b, k, g. If the verb ends in ŕ, t, d then it becomes c in the imperative with the suffix being only -a. If the verb stem ends in a vowel then the suffix is -ija.
 * hazan ("to swing a sword") > hazia
 * gzdhaiŕan ("to ignore") > gzdhaica
 * maghālan ("to show") > maghālia
 * bāzian ("to be similar") > bāzija

Interrogative mood
The Old Naumes interrogative is formed via infixation of a nasal after the vowel in the first syllable although there are many allophones thanks to sound changes.
 * 1) If there is a fricative or w, jafter the first vowel then the infix m, n or ñ'' is inserted (depending on the PoA of the fricative):
 * 2) hazā ("I swing a sword") > hanzā? ("do I swing a sword?")
 * 3) slawā ("I remember") > slamwā? ("do I remember?")
 * 4) If there is the plosives p, b, k, g after the first vowel then the plosive simply geminates:
 * 5) If there is the affricates pf, bv, kh, gh then these become geminate plosives:
 * 6) maghālā ("I show") > maggālā? ("do I show?")
 * 7) If there is the plosives t, d or the tap ŕ then these become n:
 * 8) sadakhā ("I invade") > sannakhā? ("do I invade?")
 * 9) thiaŕā ("I go hungry") > thiannā? ("do I go hungry?")

Some verbs have an irregular interrogative, usually due to the Old Sumrë form having a preaspirated plosive:
 * hohtan ("to know") > hahtā ("I know") > hattā? ("do I know?")

Divine mood
The suffix -akk is used on a verb after any endings to denote that the subject is sacred or is doing something sacred.

d-sāda slamw-au-pfo-tti-akk

TOP-god remember-3S.DEER-SUB-PASS-DIV

"Would the god be remembered?"

Passive Voice
The passive voice is marked with a suffix which attaches after any person suffix and the subjunctive if it is used. After vowels it is -ŕi and after consonants it is -tti which causes the consonant to drop.

sadakh-a-ppo-tti

invade-1S-SUB-PASS

"Were I being invaded"

Supine
The supine is a verbal noun used to describe motion and indicates purpose and intention, or as a predicate of another verb.It can also be used to derive abstract nouns or nouns relating to an action.

When a verb stem ends in a plosive or affricate or ŕ, it become the glottal stop ḥ in the supine:
 * gzdhaiŕan ("to ignore") > kiazdhaiḥ
 * nodwaghan ("to cut") > knodwaḥ

There are some irregular supines which are harder to identify although they do follow a pattern:
 * 1) Some verbs beginning in h take the supine ksak(h) - because the Old Sumrë form began in /sk/ or /sg/
 * 2) hohtan ("to know") > ksakhoht
 * 3) Some verbs beginning in m take the supine ksap(f) or ksab(v) - because the Old Sumrë form began in /sp/ or /sb/
 * 4) mupfan ("to dazzle, to inspire awe and wonder") > ksapfuḥ
 * 5) Some verbs beginning in n take the supine ksaŕ  - because the Old Sumrë form began in /st/ or /sd/
 * 6) nān ("to protect") > ksaŕo

Adjective Participle
Adjective participles are derived from verbs with the suffixes -han (for agreeing with buzzard noun), -hodwa (for agreeing with deer nouns), -hadwoz (for agreeing with animate nouns) and -habbō (for agreeing with inanimate nouns). If the verb ends in an affricate then it becomes a plosive (unless if is a velar affricate in which case the initial /x/ of the suffix is dropped).
 * sāwakhan ("to dig") > sāwakhan, sāwakhodwa, sāwakhadwoz, sāwakhabbō

d-okhil nodwag-han-mu abanz sam

TOP/knife cut-PART-NEG be.3S.BUZZ broken

"The non-cutting knife is broken"

Past Participle
Past participles are derived from verbs with the suffxis -iḥ (buzzard), -ikha (deer), -ikhoz (animate) and -ibbō (inanimate nouns).
 * sāwakhan ("to dig") > sāwakhiḥ, sāwakhikha, sāwakhikhoz, sāwakhibbō. The negative forms are -ikmu, -ikhabu, -ikhozmu, -ibbōbwu.

d-okhil nodwagh-ikmu adanz sam

TOP-knife cut-PP.NEG be.3S.BUZZ broken

"The uncut knife is broken"

Verbs of manner vs verbs of motion
In Old Naumes there is a morphological distinction between verbs of manner and verbs of motion. There are various prefixes that derive verbs of motion from verbs of manner.

Some verbs which begin in m, n, h experience a shift of these consonants to pp/bb, tt/dd, kk/gg when the motion prefixes are attached. This is due to a sound change which nasalised word initial geminate plosives and so the application of prefixes to affected verbs blocked this change. However telling which verbs beginning in m, n, h experience this shift can't be determined by looking at the infitive form, rather the supine forms give some hints. Verbs beginning in m which experience this shift have supines beginning in kC{p,b}, kCV{p,b}. Verbs beginning in n which experience this shift have supines beginning in kCVŕ, KC{t,d}. Verbs beginning in h which experience this shift have supines beginning in kC{k,g}, kCV{pf,bv}.

All prefixes except id- cause word initial plosives p, b, {t,d,} k, g to become pf, bv, ŕ, kh, gh. Any word initial fricatives become voiced. Word initial r becomes l.

vla- "direct motion towards" When the subject of the verb is moving directly towards the reference point, the prefix vla- is used on the verb.:

id- "onto, into, at" (iŕ- when the verb begins in a vowel, i- when the verb begins in a plosive which is then geminated) When the subject if moving to the surface of the reference point, say by climbing, the prefix id- is used. The exact meaning of the prefix is determined by which case the noun is inflected for. If the noun is in the superessive case then the prefix means "onto, upon". But if the noun is in the illative case then the prefix means "into, in, inside").

wa- "away from, out of" When the subject is moving away from the reference point, the prefix is we-.

uspa- "from out under" When the subject is moving from out under the reference point, the prefix is uspa- and the noun is placed in the delative case.

hi- "from behind" When the subject is moving from behind the reference point, the prefix is hi- and the noun is placed in the delative case.

Subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses in verb phrases are made with the subordinator bradzāḥ.

slaw-ā bradzāḥ nodwagh-āz

remember-1S SUB dig-1S.PST

"I remember that I dug"

haht-ā bradzāḥ pradudwr-alaz pranha-za

know-1.SG SUB eat_outside-2.SG.PST pork_rind-COM.SG

"I know that you ate a pork rind outside"

=Conjunctions=
 * -aḥ, -kha (“and” - NP, AP)

Attaches as an enclitic to the noun or adjective phrase. When the phrase ends in a vowel the clitic takes the allomoprh -kha.


 * aḥ (“and” - VP, AdP)


 * nanzaz (“in turn”)


 * rakhazaz (“following, according to”)


 * źpraghā (“because”)


 * sekhal (“because”)


 * āl (“except”)


 * gō (“or”)


 * han (“if”)


 * maḥ (“but”)


 * joc (“while”)


 * sodwazaḥ (“therefore”)


 * tiwa (“despite”)


 * ili (“instead, rather”)

Adverb of duration
To state an adverb of duration such as "for X amount of time" you take the noun denoting the time such as "day, hour, year" and place it in the comitative case.

mawoz adda-ze kuadw-akk

mammoth day-COM.PL grazre-3.SG.BUZZ/PST

"the mammoth grazed for days" To state that an action was occurring while another action was taking place, the supine form of the verb is placed in the comitative case to form an adverb. This is equivalent to "while" in English. Due to being in the supine, no TAM information can be given for the supine verb, but context plus the tense of the main verb fills in any possibly ambiguity. Before the supine verb the conjunction joc ("while") is placed.

sou joc k-rub-az fub-az

wind while SUP-walk-COM blow-3.SG.DEER.PST

"the wind blew while (I) walk(ed)"

If the action represented by the supine verb has a patient, then this is expressed by having the object be placed in the dative case as a form of inalienable possession where the object is possessing the supine verb. So a sentence like "while I feed the dog" literally translates as "with dog's feeding". The subject of the supine verb is shown by placing the noun plus a copula before the supine verb and after joc, or just a copula if the subject is a dropped pronoun. Note that the agent of the supine verb is only included when a patient is.

palā joc abaz kpaḥ sapfōm

sit-1S while be.1S SUP-smell flower-DAT.PL

"I sit while I smell flowers"

Hortative mood
The hortative mood is used to mark encouragement. When negative this acts as a light imperative. This is marked with the adverb taz.


 * vlazubal taz mubvadaḥ! (-travel- mountain- ("you should travel to the mountain!")
 * vlazubal tazmu mubvadaḥ (-travel- \mountain- ("you shouldn't travel to the mountain")

=Krintham's Poem=

Krintham's poem is a short prosaic text written by the shaman Krintham. It has become used as a popular text to translate among the Sumro-Letaeric languages to compare the different languages side by side.

se addaza isruŕeza

this day-COM beautiful-DEER-COM

"on this beautiful day"

nale sāzekha palākk habwau ralabau

man-PL woman-PL-CONJ hew-3PL.PST path-ACC long-ACC

"Men and women have hewn a long path"

akhiddō lalil suban māŕalabbīda makhubbīda

so_that can-1PL.INCL travel-INF 1PL.INCL.POSS.PRO world-PRO

"So that we can travel through our world"

bīñaza nāuŕi ablaza sādabvīdē salābvīdē

hopefully protect-3SG.PL-PASS COND god-PRO.DEER.PL old-PRO.DEER.PL

"may it be protected by the old gods"

bīñaza azil pejilaḥaḥ brighālāppoz naggizau lamalal

hopefully sun moon shine-3PL-SUBJ light-ACC 3SG.BUZZ.SUPER

"may the sun and moon shine light over it"

subale nōm jac krumaz

foot-PL person-DAT.PL while SUP-walk-COM

"as peoples' feet walk"