Singular and Plural Nouns
There are several ways that nouns have singular and plural forms. Some add the suffix -ë (as in rum/rumë ‘club/clubs’). Some change the vowel (as in bëël/bel ‘grain/grains’, jɔk/jïöök ‘back/backs’). Some change the final consonant (as in yak/yau ‘famine/famines’). Some change the tone (as in lɛ̈ï (Low)/lɛ̈ï (High) ‘animal/animals’). Some do a combination of these changes (as in kɛ̈r/käärë ‘net/nets’), or are completely changed (as in yaŋ/ɣɔ̈k ‘cow’). And some do none of these changes (as in läŋ/läŋ ‘prayer/prayers’). Also, some nouns (as nhiaal ‘sky’) are singular and do not have a plural form. Other nouns (as cak ‘milk’) are plural and do not have a singular form.
Singular | Plural | |||||
Noun | n | rum | rumë | club, stick | ||
bëël | [bè̤è̤l] | bel | [bél] | grain, dura | ||
jɔk | [ɟɔ́k] | jïöök | [ɟⁱò̤ò̤k] | back (of something) | ||
yak | [yàk] | yau | [yàᵘ] | famine | ||
lɛ̈ï | [lɛ̤̀ⁱ] | lɛ̈ï | [lɛ̤́ⁱ] | animal | ||
kɛ̈r | [kɛ̤́r] | käärë | [kà̤á̤rê̤] | net for fishing | ||
yàŋ | [yàŋ] | ɣɔ̈k | [ɦɔ̤̀k] | cow | ||
läŋ | [là̤ŋ] | läŋ | [là̤ŋ] | prayer | ||
Noun singular | n.sg | nhiaal | —- | sky | ||
Noun plural | n.pl | —- | cak | milk |