Nouns

Most nouns have one form that never changes. There is no singular or plural, no gender, no cases, and there are no definite or indefinite articles like “the” or “an”.
So for example, the word àya can mean “a child”, “the child”, “children”, or “the children” depending on context.

Prefixed Nouns and Combining Forms

Some nouns have two forms: an independent form and a combining form. These are usually nouns from Bantu languages, Yoruba, Igbo, or Akan.

The independent form has a vowel prefix, usualy i/ì-, o/ò-, or a/à-. To make the combining form, you remove this prefix. This combining form is used as a suffix on verbs or on other nouns.

For example: òma “eye” has the combining form –ma, which is found in the compounds fanma “face” and kema “to gaze at”.
Itu, “ear”, has the combining form –tu, which is found in the compounds ozintu “ear ring” and betu “to be deaf”.

Here are some general guidelines for which suffix is used. (There are exceptions to these rules.)

i–, ì–: Places, abstract concepts, actions
o–, ò–: Inanimate objects, small things
a–, à–: People, animals, plants

Note that there are also many nouns that begin with vowels that are not separable prefixes.

Word Order in Noun Phrases

This is the general word order of noun phrases:

determiner — noun (head) — modifier

In Lio Sabalè, adjectives and modifier-nouns come after the head noun, not before:

Determiners
Determiners are pronouns that specify a certain noun. They come before the noun. The determiner si, which means “some” or “several”, can be used to indicate plurality.

Modifiers
Modifiers are similar to adjectives, but Lio Sabalè does not have a special part of speech called adjectives. Modifiers can be nouns, possessive pronouns, or relative clauses that are formed from verbs.

The particle “ì”
This particle is an optional possessive particle. It can be translated as “of”, and the word order is the same as the English preposition “of”.

Relational Nouns

Instead of prepositions, Lio Sabalè has nouns that refer to relative location, such as nun “the inside of”, jàn “the top of”.

fùla nun sàndugu
[hat] [inside] [box]
“the hat in the box”

Fùla de nun sàndugu.
[hat] [be.at] [inside] [box]
“The hat is in the box.”

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are formed with the head noun first and the modifiers coming after. This is the opposite of English.

kewu “net” + gungi “mosquito” → kewugungi “mosquito net”
ìle “house” + àboa “animal” → ìleboa “barn”
lègen “pot, basin” + jò “to wash” → lègenjò “wash basin, sink”

There are many nouns that are used as prefixes to make nouns from other nouns.

Reduplication

Reduplication is the repetition of a word in part or in whole. In Lio Sabalè it is an important grammatical process.

There are two types of reduplication for nouns: full reduplication and partial reduplication.

Full reduplication
This is the repetition of the whole word. It indicates a kind of non-exhaustive plural, translatable as “some [noun]s”. It doesn’t refer to all examples of a thing in existence, just to some grouping.
For nouns with vowel prefixes, the vowel prefix is not doubled.

ila “leaf” → ilaila “leaves, foliage, greenery”

Partial reduplication
This makes qualitative verbs and adjectives. The first syllable of the noun is doubled, and it takes a low tone.

For nouns with vowel prefixes, the vowel prefix is not doubled. For nouns that start with vowels that are not prefixes, the vowel and the first consonant are doubled.
ila “leaf” → ìlila “green”
iɲa “chilli pepper” → ìɲiɲa “spicy”

Derived nouns

There are many prefixes and suffixes for making nouns out of verbs or out of other nouns. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some common prefixes:

Activity: ì–
The general activity of a verb. Like -ing in English.

Agent: à–
The person who does the verb. Like -er in English. This carries a sense of permanence, and is used for professions.

Abstract: Ci–, Cu–
This makes abstract nouns from qualitative verbs, translating English suffixes like “-th”, “-t”, “-ness”.
This prefix is a form of partial reduplication. It takes the first consonant of the verb, and then inserts the vowel u before o or u, and i otherwise. The tone is the same as the first syllable of the verb.

witi “to be swift” → wiwiti “speed”
jìmu “to be alone” → jìjìmu “solitude”
kàwi “to be strong” → kìkàwi “strength”
gàran “to be heavy” → gìgàran “weight”

loa “to be long” → luloa “length”
muri “to be dark” → mumuri “darkness”
sufu “to feel comfortable” → susufu “comfort, ease”

Means: mì–
Something that is used for an action.

nò “to sit down” → mìnò “seat”
sanci “to comb” → mìsanci “comb”
sila “to sew” → mìsila “sewing needle”
lelen “to play a woodwind instrument” → mìlelen “flute, pipe”

Possessor: ol–, oli–
Someone who possesses or controls something. This can also refer to someone who makes or sells something.
It is ol– before a vowel, and oli– before a consonant.

kasì “rags” → olikasì “someone who wears rags”
bààkuli “popsickle, paleta” → olibààkuli “popsickle seller, paletero”

Offspring or small object: ci–
It can refer to a small unit or piece of something.
jo “joining, pairing” → cijo “mate, one of a pair”
limu “to count” → cilimu “number, figure”

It can also refer to the fruit of a certain plant.
lo “rice” → cilo “uncooked rice grains”

It can refer to the product or result of something.
kììpi “to transplant” → cikììpi “sapling”

Place or collection: li–
This refers to a place or item where something can be found. It is not very productive.
It also refers to the plants that grow a certain fruit.

hun “paper” → lihun “book”
lo “rice” → lilo “rice plant, paddy”

Abstract thing: ko–
The word ko on itself means “thing” or “word”. This forms nouns that have the connotation of a social situation or social act.

Single instance: sì–
This refers to a single time or instance of a verb’s action.

sika “to teach” → sìsika “lesson”
cume “to emerge” → sìcume “sunrise”
gami “to faint” → sìgami “a swooning fit”
kai “to eat” → sìkai “a meal”

Quality of a noun: ìtà–
Refers to the quality or essence of a noun; “ness”, “hood”, “ship”, “ity”. Contrast with -ra, which can only be used on verbs.

kajangi “enemy” → ìtàkajangi “enmity”

This prefix can also be placed on numbers, and means “equivalent amount”, with an unspoken unit of measurement, such as currency: ìtàdèlima “twenty-five (dollars) worth of it”.

Object: in–
(Before vowels it is in– with a regular n, not a syllable-final n.)
Makes nouns from verbs. Refers to a thing that is acted upon, or something that is somehow related to the action of the verb.
Makes nouns from other nouns, meaning an object that is somehow related to the meaning of the noun.

Negative: ai–, ay–
This makes negative nouns from verbs, meaning “the state of not doing or being”. It also makes nouns from other nouns, meaning “the state of lacking”. It can be used as an adjective.

mò “do die” → aimò “immortal”; “immortality”
nican “home” → ainican “homelessness”; “homeless”

Negative possessor: olai–, olay–
Someone who does not do something, does not have something, or is not a certain way.

mò “to die” → olaimò “an immortal person”; “immortal”
can “home” → olaican “a homeless person”; “homeless”

Reciprocity: ka–
Someone with whom one performs an action. Also, someone with whom one shares something.

bon, a root relating to friendship → kabon “friend”
jangi “war” → kajangi “enemy”
luba “peer group, age group” → kaluba “peer”
ɲù “flat, apartment” → kaɲùcun “flatmate”

Character: wu– + partial reduplication
Can be prefixed to qualitative verbs, dynamic verbs, or nouns. “A person characterized by”. Carries diminutive, endearing, or pejorative meaning. Can be used as an “excessive agent” prefix.

mota “to be fat” → wumomota “fatty”
sùn “to sleep” → wusùsùn “sleepy-head”
non “to drink”→ wunonon “drunkard”
mogosuwa “brain” → wumomogo “brainiac, nerd”

Temporary agent marker: ǹde–
Someone who does something at a certain moment, but not in general.

Patient marker: ǹju–
Someone who undergoes an action or experiences a situation with negative effects.

Person: lu–
This is just the word for “person”, but it has several uses as a prefix:

A resident of a place, e.g. aliskandari “Alexandria” → lualiskandari “an Alexandrian”.
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Area: tà–
The land, country, or place of. The root noun can be an ethnonym or something else.

Names of Countries, Peoples, and Languages

Names of countries are written with a capital letter. They are usually close to how they sound in the official language of the country.

Conwà “China”, from Mandarin zhōnghuá.
Sìpan “Spain”, compare España
Lòsi “Russia”, from Russian Rossíja
Mèèribi “Morocco”, from Berber lmeɣrib and Arabic almaghribiyah.
Nsumbijì “Mozambique”, from Swahili Msumbiji.

Names of countries come from a root that either refers to an ethnic group or to a geographical location.

To form a country name from an ethnic group, one uses the prefix tà.

Yengo “English, Anglo” → Tàyengo “England”

To form the name of the people of a country, one uses the noun lu “person” or nde “people”.

Tàyengo “England” → lu Tàyengo “an English person”, nde Tàyengo “the English”

The names of languages generally come from the ethnic group who originally spoke the language, not the country where it is the official language. So for example, the Spanish language is called lio Kasiti, not lio Sìpan; and the Malay language is called lio Màlai, not lio Tàmàlai.

Sex and gender

Nearly all words are neutral. To specify gender, one must use suffixes.

For humans, the suffixes are -nan for men and boys, and -minè for women and girls.

lu “person” → lunan “man”, luminè “woman”

For animals, the basic suffixes are -ga for males and -me for females, although for animal husbandry there are some more specific suffixes.

gai “chicken” → gaiga “rooster”, gaime “hen”
màri “horse” → màriga “stallion”, màrime “mare”
tarun “deer” → tarunga “buck, stag, hart”, tarunme “doe, hind”
sinba “lion” → sinbaga “male lion”, sinbame “lioness”