Iltârer Nouns

Number

The Iltârer noun system distinguishes three numbers: singular, plural, and collective. The collective is distinguished from the plural by inclusively containing all real and possible elements of the class; it often has a certain Platonic or archetypal connotation, much as seen in the English word humanity, which is not only signifies all human beings, but also the collection of qualities that constitute human identity.

Case

There are three cases, known as absolutive, causative, and referential.

Absolutive Case

The absolutive case is often used for a direct object, the subject of an intransitive verb, and for abstract nouns and nouns representing inanimate objects, regardless of whether they appear as subject or object. The uses of the absolutive case are best understood in contrast with the uses of the causative case, which are easier to characterize.

Causative Case

The causative case is used to convey the immediate source of an action or process (the Aristotelian concept of efficient cause matches closely). Subjects of transitive verbs are often, but not aways, in the causative case. Objects of transitive verbs may sometimes take the causative case also, if the sense demands it. The choice of case is not purely a syntactical matter, but can be used to convey the speaker's interpretation of events. Consider these three sentences (refer to list of abbreviations if needed):

Tattane	Cinsirâ	a	Ilin.
V-vol.viv.2	N-caus.sing.	PP-2.caus.	N-abs.sing.

Cinsir fights Ilin. The implication is that Cinsir is the instigator, the one who initiates the fighting.

Tattane	Cinsir	â	Ilinen.
V-vol.viv.2	N-abs.sing.	PP-2.abs.	N-caus.sing.

Cinsir fights Ilin. Now Ilin is the instigator, even though Cinsir remains the subject of the sentence.

Tattin	Cinsir	ehte	Ilin.
V-spo.viv.2	N-abs.sing.	PP-3.abs.sing	N-abs.sing.

Cinsir fights Ilin. This describes the scene in a detached way, as an outbreak of violence, with the parties being treated almost as inaminate objects.

Although it might be tempting to translate the second sentence using a passive verb, and the third one using an intransitive verb, this is not quite accurate. All three Itârer sentences tell us that Cinsir is in fact fighting; he is acting, not merely receiving action. The agent case is one of several mechanisms through which Iltârer addresses subtleties of different perspectives on events.

Referential Case

The referential case is one of the great workhorses of the language. It can be regarded as a genitive of extremely broad application, or as a mechanism for producing adjectives from nouns. It is also the usual case for objects of prepositions. Without a preposition, a noun in the referential case can modify another noun, a verb, or a whole clause or sentence.

In Northern Iltârer, referential nouns have essentially replaced a system of adjectives that existed in Proto-Iltârer. A few of these "true adjectives" remain in use, mostly number-words and adjectives derived from adverbs. Concrete, collective nouns are preferred for referential use, leading to a preponderance of metaphorical expression in the language. For example, although there is an abstract noun siphphêña meaning "loyalty", and one might indeed use it in the referential case and say sentan siphphêña "a person of loyalty". However, the traditional idiomatic expression of this concept is sentan pîtasenler "a person of houses" because the collective pîtasenel "houses" carries strong connotations of community, interdependence, and the ethics appropriate to a settled people. Although such expressions mystify inexperienced translators, they are ubiquitous in the language. One should not imagine, though, that these metaphorical meanings are so conventionalized as to lose the force of metaphor. In fact, there is a constant tension between conventionality and innovation, with the result that the precise meaning of referential nouns is one of the most rapidly evolving features of Northern Iltârer. Reading texts from as few as four or five generations before one's own time requires special instruction, even though the vocabulary and grammar have scarcely changed.

Classes

There are four classes of nouns, distinguished by their ending in the simple singular. In Old Iltârer, these were grammatical genders (although without any strong male/female associations), and adjectives agreed with nouns in gender. When the adjective system was largely supplanted by the use of the referential case in Nortern Iltârer, the inflection of the remaining adjectives was simplified and gender markings were lost. The four classes thus function as declensions rather than grammatical genders.

There is a generic class, with no distinctive ending, encompassing a great range of nouns of different sorts. The -a class consists mostly of abstract nouns. The -r class includes about two-thirds of all proper nouns, and a small assortment of others. The -l class has a preponderance of concrete nouns for objects found in nature, but includes many nouns of other sorts as well.

Inflection

Number and case are indicated by inflectional endings, which are different for each class of noun. The regular inflectional scheme is shown here, with the inflections for true adjectives also given for completeness.

	-l class	-r class	-a class	generic	adjectives
Singular
absolutive	-l	-r	-a	-	-e
causative	-le	-râ	-an	-en	-e
referential	-lith	-rath	-a	-er	-er
Plural
absolutive	-li	-ri	-as	-es	-et
causative	-lil	-ril	-asat	-eth	-et
referential	-lin	-rir	-al	-el	-etel
Collective
absolutive	-sil	-risil	-añi	-enel	-eñe
causative	-sile	-risî	-añin	-enlen	-eñe
referential	-silithin	-rith	-aña	-enler	-eñer

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