Basic Noun Grammar
This page details the basic systems underlying noun grammar. Nouns in Alabama are fairly simple: They can take four different cases which tell us the role the noun has in the sentence. In Alabama the four cases are:
- Nominative (nom.), used for marking subjects of verbs
- Oblique (obl.), used for marking direct objects, indirect objects, and other elements of discourse, including prepositional objects.
- Topic (top.), used for marking the topic of a phrase. This also can be used for copular expressions.
- Locative (loc.), used exclusively to mark where something is.
| Case | Marker |
|---|---|
| nom. | -k |
| obl. | -n |
| loc. | -fa |
| top. | -ya |
Locative Case
This case is irregular, in that it may only surface as -fa before the topic marker. Everywhere else, it is realized as -fon
Dallaskafon aɬiinalo.
I'm going to Dallas.
-fa can mean either 'to', 'from', 'in', or 'on', depending on context!
ischobafon aɬɬayaɬicholati yahmifookama.
She always goes to church at this time.
The "Plural" marker -ha
Most nouns can be either singular or plural when they are by themself. But some nouns, especially those referring to people, can take a special plural suffix -ha
tayyiha wiihayok Ava holban hoimalostitolo.
All the ladies like Ava's drawing.