Gender
Nouns in Quertílian have a grammatical gender, which, often, agrees with the natural gender, but not always. The gender is determined with the ending of the noun:
Gender | Endings |
|---|---|
masculine | consonant (except n), -u |
feminine | vowel (except u), -n |
Plural
The plural is formed by the following suffixes:
-íra for nouns ending in a consonant except r. If the previous vowel was long, it gets shortened: albit cake > albitíra cakes, míemíd beer > míemidíra beers
-ra for nouns ending in an -i (the i turns long) or -í: marqhi (school) > marqhíra, ebimwi shop > ebimwíra shops
-rn for a noun ending in a vowel except i, í: a (forces) > arn (forces), elraqu'a (fish) > elraqu'arn (fishes)
-a for a noun ending in -r, if the previous vowel was short, it turns long: elwi'ér (player) > elwi'éra (players), mar (number) > mára (numbers)
Apart from the plural formation, quertílian nouns do not inflect.
Counted plural
The counted plural is used if the noun is complemented by a cardinal numeral. It is formed with the following suffixes:
-ent for nouns which form plural with -íra: ai albitent má two cakes, ai míemident fin six beers
-rent for nouns which form plural with -ra or -rn: ai marqhírent biw five schools, ai ebimwírent nieq-fias 460 shops
-ent for nouns which form plural with -a ai elwi'érent má two players, ai márent tis ten numbers
The lenghtening and shortening rules apply the same as in standard plural.