Lesson 6
Plural Formation (II)
We continue illustrating the behaviour of nouns in forming plurals. There a
re not many nouns which belong to the following sections (given here as Rules)
but we shall see examples in each group. In all of them, there is a change in
either the middle or the last consonant.
Rule 6.1
Some nouns become plural by adding ti to the singular, with or without any consonant change.
Singular Plural Meaning
gun'na gur'nti pot
werena werenti threshing ground*
l'ng'n l'ng'nti house
Rule 6.2
Many nouns that end in b or a syllable of b (ba, bi) drop the b or the syllable and add f, or f'f. Compare this with aba, af (water ditch, or well) in Rule 5.2.
Singular Plural Meaning
wereba weref river
gib gif'f shield
qumba qumf'f nose
der'b derf'f road, way
atuba tuf churn
ar'b arf'f grave
Areb Aref blind
bamba bamfi (bi), a kind of tree
Rule 6.3
Changes in middle or last consonant.
Singular Plural Meaning
Awed Awes foolish
leKen leken wound
e'Kr e'kl father
shab'r shaf't leather rope
Rule 6.4
Some nouns reduplicate the last syllable to form plurals. This
applies especially to the parts of the body.
Singular Plural Meaning
an an'n grandfather
gesh gesh'sh face
I'l Il'l eye
qaf qaf'f bark
seg seg'g plateau
j'l jl'l intestine
luk lukuk leg
f'k f'k'k joints
nash nash'sh bone
ungui ungug(k) breast
kes kes's shoulder
s'r sr'r, sl'l root, veins
sanqi sanq'q liver
bskwi bskukw kidney
Irregulars. There are also irregular nouns whose plurals do not have any
relationship with the form of the singular noun.
Singular Plural Meaning
l'wi wes cow
adam kew person
Most adjectives also follow the pattern of Rule 5.1 in forming plurals, as in bel'nga, bel'ng (some, part).
In Lessons 5 and 6, we have tried to illustrate how nouns form the plural.
Before looking on sentence patterns, we shall turn to a different topic in
Lesson 7, Greetings.
* (Awdi in tgrinya, wedna in tgre)
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