5.0 The map — what's in this chapter
5 · Nouns — naming things, and making them plural · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
| topic | the one thing to remember | sample | see |
|---|---|---|---|
| The two endings | most nouns end in -a (usually "he") or -ta (always "she") | beta "house," bakhta "woman" | The two singular endings |
| Gender | -ta = feminine; -a = usually masculine, but a batch of everyday -a words are secretly feminine | ida "hand" is feminine | Gender |
| What -ta does | turns a male word female, or picks one out of a bunch, or makes a "little" version | kalba "dog" → kalebta "bitch" | What -ta does |
| Plurals | several possible endings; not predictable — learn each noun's plural with the noun | beta → bate "houses" | Plurals |
| "X of Y" | glue the ending -et onto the first noun | betet malka "the house of the king" | Joining two nouns |
| Compounds | a few frozen two-word nouns, often "son/daughter/house of…" | bar-nasha "person" | Compound nouns |
The heavy section is plurals. Everything else is quick.
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