6.2 The three endings up close
6 · Adjectives — describing things · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
The plural is the easy one: always -e, no exceptions worth worrying about. The masculine (-a) and feminine (-ta) are where a little shape-shifting happens, because adding -ta sometimes reshapes the middle of the word. You don't need rules for this — you pick it up per adjective — but here's a spread so the variety looks normal rather than alarming:
| meaning | masculine (-a) | feminine (-ta) | plural (-e) |
|---|---|---|---|
| black | kuma | kumta | kume |
| small | sura | surta | sure |
| big | gura | gurta | gure |
| new | khata | khatta | khate |
| tall / high | rama | ramta | rame |
| white | khvara | khvarta | khvare |
| open | ptukha | ptukhta | ptukhe |
| cool | paykha | pakhta | paykhe |
| old | sava | sota | save |
| alive | khaya | kheta | khaye |
The last three show the reshaping: paykha "cool" loses its y in the feminine (pakhta), sava "old" swings to sota, khaya "alive" to kheta. Notice the plural stays regular (paykhe, save, khaye) even when the feminine is irregular — so if in doubt, the plural -e is your safe, predictable form.
(Khan sorts every adjective into fifteen vowel-skeleton patterns — CaCa, CuCa, CCuCa, and so on. That's historical bookkeeping with no speaking payoff; skipped. You never need an adjective's "pattern" to use it — just its three living forms.)
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