Ad. neuter-nouns grammar.
Only nouns for inanimate objects may be neuter. Words for animals (but perhaps not plants) and for people whose gender is unspecified are declined as common-nouns instead of neuters (SD/426).
Neuter nouns do not end in the long vowels -ê, -î, -ô, -û, and do not have a long î or û in their final syllable (SD/427), though monosyllables seem to be an exception to the second rule: see pûh “breath” and rûkh “shout” (SD/426). These vowels are considered markers of femininity or masculinity (SD/435), and are therefore not applicable to neuter (or common) nouns. There is one attested exception to this rule, Nimriyê “Elvish” (SD/414), but the -iyê in this case seems to be a suffix. Most neuter nouns have a short vowel in their last syllable (that is, they are a strong-noun). If they have a long vowel in the last syllable, it is usually â, such as batân “road” or akhâs “chasm”. In the case of a final long vowel, it must be -â, such as pâ “hand”.
| Examples (neut) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *aban | “?world” | ||||||||
| abâr | “strength, endurance, fidelity” | ||||||||
| adûni | “the West” | ||||||||
| agan | “death” | ||||||||
| ?aglar | “glory” | ||||||||
| akhâs | “chasm” | ||||||||
| *aphana | “?bliss” | ||||||||
| *azga | “war” | ||||||||
| azra | “sea” | ||||||||
| #balak | “ship” | ||||||||
| batân | “road, path, way” | ||||||||
| #bawab | “wind” | ||||||||
| bêth | “expression, saying, word” | ||||||||
| dâira | “Earth” | ||||||||
| dâur | “gloom” | ||||||||
| dolgu | “dark, (evil) night” | ||||||||
| gimil | “(all) stars; ?silver” | ||||||||
| gimli | “star (in the sky)” | ||||||||
| hazad | “seven” | ||||||||
| huzun | “ear” | ||||||||
| igmil | “star-shaped figure” | ||||||||
| inzil | “flower, lily” | ||||||||
| kadar | “city” | ||||||||
| khibil | “spring” | ||||||||
| #kulbu | “root” | ||||||||
| kulub | “roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits” | ||||||||
| lômi | “(pleasant) night” | ||||||||
| minal | “the heavens, sky” | ||||||||
| #nâlu | “shadow” | ||||||||
| #narak | “eagle” | ||||||||
| nîlu | “moon” | ||||||||
| Nimriyê | “Nimrian Tongue, *Elvish” | ||||||||
| pâ | “hand” | ||||||||
| pharaz | “gold” | ||||||||
| pûh | “breath” | ||||||||
| rôth | “foam, white crest of waves” | ||||||||
| rûkh | “shout” | ||||||||
| sâibêth | “assent” | ||||||||
| *sakal | “shore” | ||||||||
| satta | “two” | ||||||||
| sûla | “trump” | ||||||||
| sulum | “mast” | ||||||||
| târik | “pillar, that which supports” | ||||||||
| thâni | “land” | ||||||||
| ugru | “shadow” | ||||||||
| ûri | “sun” | ||||||||
| #urud | “mountain” | ||||||||
| *yô | “gift” | ||||||||
| zadan | “house” | ||||||||
| *zagar | “?sword” | ||||||||
| zâir | “longing, yearning” | ||||||||
| zâyan | “land” | ||||||||
| zidar | “poise” | ||||||||
| *zimra | “jewel” | ||||||||
| *zôr | “?fire, ?foam” | ||||||||
References ✧ SD/426-427
Element In