{"id":170,"date":"2011-05-30T01:46:19","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T06:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/talossan.org\/?page_id=170"},"modified":"2011-05-30T01:46:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T06:46:19","slug":"pluralisation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.talossan.org\/?page_id=170","title":{"rendered":"Pluralisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Talossan as in English, different words are pluralised using different rules. The grammatical term for a group of words pluralised using the same rule is a “declension”. Talossan has five declensions. The majority of nouns are “first declension”, but the declensions are listed here in reverse order, from fifth to first. Essentially, to determine the plural form of a noun, you should check to see if the noun fits in each declension by considering them in this reverse (fifth to first) order.<\/p>\n

The Fifth Declension:\u00a0-schti<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nouns ending in\u00a0-sc<\/strong>,\u00a0-scu<\/strong>, or\u00a0-x<\/strong> (but not with\u00a0-tx<\/strong>, which is a first declension ending), are pluralised by changing this ending to\u00a0-schti<\/strong>. For example,\u00a0pesc <\/em>(= fish) becomes\u00a0peschti <\/em>(= fishes),\u00a0lux <\/em>(= light) becomes\u00a0luschti <\/em>(= lights),\u00a0servesc <\/em>(= servant) becomes serveschti <\/em>(= servants), and\u00a0peint\u00fcscu <\/em>(= painting) becomes\u00a0peint\u00fcschti <\/em>(= paintings).<\/p>\n

The Fourth Declension:\u00a0-ici<\/strong> and\u00a0-\u00edci<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nouns ending in\u00a0-ic<\/strong> or\u00a0-\u00edc<\/strong> are pluralised by the addition of the letter\u00a0-i<\/strong>. For example,\u00a0pic <\/em>(= peak) becomes\u00a0pici<\/em> (= peaks), and\u00a0am\u00edc <\/em>(= friend [male or of unimportant gender]) becomes\u00a0am\u00edci <\/em>(= friends [in general, or including at least one male]).<\/p>\n

Notice that the pronunciation of the letter\u00a0c<\/strong> is modified from the k-like pronunciation to the ch-like pronunciation by the addition of the new final letter\u00a0i<\/strong>. That is, the Talossan word\u00a0pic <\/em>sounds like the equivalent English word “peak” but\u00a0pici <\/em>sounds like “peachy”.<\/p>\n

If the letter\u00a0i<\/strong> is part of a diphthong, however, this declension is often not used, and thus you can see both\u00a0posteici <\/em>and the first-declension form\u00a0posteics <\/em>(= back doors).<\/p>\n

The Third Declension:\u00a0-ilor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nouns ending in the stressed or unstressed letter\u00a0\u00e4<\/strong>, followed by any one or two consonants and finally the letter\u00a0s<\/strong> are pluralised by the addition of the suffix\u00a0-ilor<\/strong>. For example,\u00a0p\u00e4ts <\/em>(= country) becomes\u00a0p\u00e4tsilor <\/em>(= countries),\u00a0n\u00e4ps <\/em>(= turnip) becomes\u00a0n\u00e4psilor <\/em>(= turnips),\u00a0fr\u00e4cs <\/em>(= dress coat) becomes\u00a0fr\u00e4csilor <\/em>(= dress coats),\u00a0schl\u00e4ns <\/em>(= heat lightning) pluralises to\u00a0schl\u00e4nsilor<\/em>,\u00a0\u00e4cts <\/em>(= act of a play) becomes\u00a0\u00e4ctsilor <\/em>(= acts of a play), and\u00a0p\u00e4rts <\/em>(= part) becomes\u00a0p\u00e4rtsilor <\/em>(= parts).<\/p>\n

The Second Declension:\u00a0-eux<\/strong> and\u00a0-\u00e9ux<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nouns ending in\u00a0-eu<\/strong> or\u00a0-\u00e9u<\/strong> are pluralised by the addition of the letter\u00a0x<\/strong>. For example,\u00a0legeu <\/em>(= law) becomes\u00a0legeux <\/em>(= laws) and z\u00e9u <\/em>(= god) becomes\u00a0z\u00e9ux <\/em>(= gods).<\/p>\n

Recall that this final letter\u00a0x<\/strong> in this ending is pronounced as the “sh” in English “ship”.<\/p>\n

The First Declension:\u00a0-s<\/strong>,\u00a0-ns<\/strong>,\u00a0-aes<\/strong>,\u00a0-is<\/strong>, and\u00a0-en<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Most Talossan nouns fall into the first declension, and these (in the main) are pluralised by becoming a word that ends in\u00a0-s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Just as in English there are sometimes modifications that are made to a word being pluralised before an\u00a0-s<\/strong> is added to form the plural (for example, “box” requires\u00a0-es<\/strong>, and “cherry” requires the removal of the final letter\u00a0-y<\/strong> before adding\u00a0-ies<\/strong>), this is also true in Talossan. That is, some words modify slightly before taking the\u00a0-s<\/strong> plural form.<\/p>\n