Noun is a nominal independent POS. It is strongly correlated with the concept.
Nouns can be differentiated by three parameters: gender, animacy and the type of declension.
Animacy determines whether the object is animate (we are able to ask “Who is it?” to the object) and inanimate (we are able to ask “What is it?” to the object).
Gender determines whether the object is masculine, feminine or undefined (we cannot say it is one of the previous genders). Hence, there are three genders: masculine (with masculine properties), feminine (with feminine properties) and neutral (with undefined properties).
Despite English, Novoslovnica make us always show word gender explicitly of both animacies. We can say “it” to the object if we aren’t coupled with it in English. In Novoslovnica (as in every Slavic language) we should use the predefined gender when we speak about some concept (noun). Using wrong genders shows your ignorance and language nescience.
Type of declension is a parameter of declension function. Declension is a function of word alteration. It has two input parameters – the word itself and the type of declension that includes the terms of animacy, gender and some morphological features (such as word endings) in it. The output is a list of forms that the noun can be changed into. Novoslovnica supports 27-cell output list with (3 numbers) * (9 cases) elements in it. Further you can see tables of different declension types. These tables cover all use cases of declension function.
First declension type comprises two subtypes.
- Ia type stands for masculine and feminine nouns with -a ending. Note, that masculine declension differs from feminine one in the single case.
- Ib type stands for masculine and feminine nouns with -ä ending. Note, that masculine declension differs from feminine one in the single case.
| Ia type | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -a | -ě | -y | |||
| Genitive | -y | -oŭ | - | |||
| Partitive | -y | -oŭ | - | |||
| Accusative | -u | -ova | -ě | - | -y | |
| Dative | -ě | -oma (masc. -ovï) | -am | |||
| Instrumental | -oǐ | -ama | -ami | |||
| Prepositional | -ě | -ověh | -ěh | |||
| Locative | -ji | -oŭ | -ah | |||
| Vocative | -o | -ove | -ïe | |||
| Ib type | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -ä | -ě | -ï | |||
| Genitive | -ï | -öŭ | -j | |||
| Partitive | -ï | -öŭ | -j | |||
| Accusative | -ü | -ëva | -ě | -j | -ï | |
| Dative | -ě | -ëma (masc. -ëvï) | -äm | |||
| Instrumental | -ëǐ | -äma | -ämi | |||
| Prepositional | -ě | -ëvěh | -ěh | |||
| Locative | -ji | -öŭ | -äh | |||
| Vocative | -ö | -ëve | -ïe | |||
Second declension type has four subtypes.
- IIa type stands for masculine nouns with null ending.
- IIb type stands for masculine nouns with soft null ending.
- IIc type stands for neutral nouns with -o ending.
- IId type stands for neutral nouns with -ë ending.
| IIa Type | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | - | -a | -y | |||
| Genitive | -a | -oŭ | -ov | |||
| Partitive | -u | -oŭ | -ov | |||
| Accusative | - | -ova | -a | -ov | -y | |
| Dative | -u | -ovï | -am | |||
| Instrumental | -om | -ama | -ami | |||
| Prepositional | -ě | -ověh | -ěh | |||
| Locative | -u | -oŭ | -ah | |||
| Vocative | -e | -ove | -ïe | |||
| IIb | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -j | -ä | -ï | |||
| Genitive | -ä | -öŭ | -ëǐ | |||
| Partitive | -ü | -öŭ | -ëǐ | |||
| Accusative | -ä | -ëva | -ëǐ | -ï | ||
| Dative | -ü | -ëvï | -äm | |||
| Instrumental | -ëm | -äma | -ämi | |||
| Prepositional | -ě | -ëvěh | -ěh | |||
| Locative | -ü | -öŭ | -äh | |||
| Vocative | -ü | -ëve | -ïe | |||
| IIc | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inanimate | Inanimate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -o | -[ěs]-a | -[ěs]-y |
| Genitive | -a | -[ěs]-oŭ | -[ěs] |
| Partitive | -u | -[ěs]-oŭ | -[ěs] |
| Accusative | -o | -[ěs]-a | -[ěs]-y |
| Dative | -u | -[ěs]-ovï | -[ěs]-am |
| Instrumental | -om | -[ěs]-ama | -[ěs]-ami |
| Prepositional | -ě | -[ěs]-ověh | -[ěs]-ěh |
| Locative | -u | -[ěs]-oų | -[ěs]-ah |
| Vocative | -e | -[ěs]-ove | -[ěs]-ïe |
| IId | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inanimate | Inanimate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -ë | -ä | -ï |
| Genitive | -ä | -öŭ | -ëǐ |
| Partitive | -ü | -öŭ | -ëǐ |
| Accusative | -ë | -ä | -ï |
| Dative | -ü | -ëvï | -äm |
| Instrumental | -ëm | -äma | -ämi |
| Prepositional | -ě | -ëvěh | -ěh |
| Locative | -ü | -öŭ | -äh |
| Vocative | -ü | -ëve | -ïe |
Third declension type has two subtypes.
- IIIa type stands for feminine nouns with soft null ending.
- IIIb type stands for neutral nouns with -ę ending.
| IIIa Type | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -j | -[er]-ě | -ě | -[er]-ï | -ï | |
| Genitive | -[er]-ï | -ï | -[er]-öŭ | -öŭ | -[er]-ëǐ | -ëǐ |
| Partitive | -[er]-ï | -ï | -[er]-öŭ | -öŭ | -[er]-ëǐ | -ëǐ |
| Accusative | -[er]-j | -j | -[er]-ëva | -ëva | -[er]-ëǐ | -ï |
| Dative | -[er]-ï | -ï | -[er]-ëma | -ëma | -[er]-äm | -äm |
| Instrumental | -[er]-ïü | -ïü | -[er]-äma | -äma | -[er]-ämi | -ämi |
| Prepositional | -[er]-ě | -ě | -[er]-ëvěh | -ëvěh | -[er]-ěh | -ěh |
| Locative | -[er]-ji | -ji | -[er]-öŭ | -öŭ | -[er]-äh | -äh |
| Vocative | -i | -[er]-ëve | ëve | -[er]-ïe | -ïe | |
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | Animate | Inanimate | |
| Nominative | -ę | -ęt-a | -en-a | -ęt-y | -en-y | |
| Genitive | -ęt-ï | -en-ï | -ęt-oŭ | -en-oŭ | -ęt | -en |
| Partitive | -ęt-ï | -en-ï | -ęt-oŭ | -en-oŭ | -ęt | -en |
| Accusative | -ęt-o | -ę | -ęt-ova | -en-a | -ęt | -en-y |
| Dative | -ęt-ï | -en-ï | -ęt-ovï | -en-ovï | -ęt-am | -en-am |
| Instrumental | -ęt-ëm | -en-ëm | -ęt-ama | -en-ama | -ęt-ami | -en-ami |
| Prepositional | -ęt-ě | -en-ě | -ęt-ověh | -en-ověh | -ęt-ěh | -en-ěh |
| Locative | -ęt-ji | -en-ji | -ęt-oŭ | -en-oŭ | -ęt-ah | -en-ah |
| Vocative | -ų | -ęt-ove | -en-ove | -ęt-ïe | -ïe | |
This number of cases covers more than 99 percent of words in Novoslovnica’s lexicon.