Hen Linge Grammar
Hen Linge is a mostly fusional language with some analytic characteristics. Nouns decline for number, and verbs conjugate for tense, and agree with their subjects in person and number.
Nouns
Nouns decline for two numbers, singular and plural. There are five noun classes, which are simply termed class 1-5:
- Class 1 is the default noun class in Hen Linge, so most count nouns belong to class 1. Regular class 1 plural nouns co-occur with the suffix -yn.
- Class 2 nouns are mostly animate. Regular class 2 plural nouns co-occur with the suffix -ath.
- Class 3 nouns are mostly inanimate. Regular class 3 plural nouns co-occur with the suffix -ana.
- Class 4 nouns are those whose plurals are interpreted as collective. Regular class 4 plural nouns co-occur with the suffix -a.
- Class 5 nouns are mass nouns, and, as such, have no number morphology associated with them.
Verbs
Verbs conjugate for tense, and agree with their subjects in person and number. There are two morphological tenses, present and past. The language also makes use of auxilliary verbs to create a periphrastic middle past tense construction. Verbs are categorized as dynamic, unaccusative, and stative, and these verb types differ in how the middle past is formed: eif is used for dynamic vebs, while es is used for unaccusative and stative verbs. There are also participle forms for the present and past tense, as well as an infinitive.