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phollúgní
iPhollúgni (or, to give it its full name, iPhollúgni Útsi, which means 'Our Language) is a head-marking language, prefixing the verb with subject and object markers which agree with the subject and object of the sentence.
It does not have masculine and feminine genders, but instead has a collection of other categories:
- inanimate objects
- animate objects
- people
- collectives
- abstract concepts
The category of a noun determines the correct head-marking prefix, and also determines the appropriate plural form of both the noun and the head-marker.
pronouns
| Phollúgní | English |
|---|---|
| úts | I, me |
| phús | you (poss. corruption of phí úts) |
| réf | he, him |
| ráf | she, her |
| ríf | it |
| útsí | we, us (corruption of útsúri) |
| phúsúri | you (pl.) |
| lúi | they (possibly etym. connected with plural suffix -úri) |
| rífúri | they, them (m/f not distinguished). Dialect alternative. |
verb header-markers
These are prefixed to the verb, in subject - object order.
Subject:
| Sing. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| rá- | ría- | inanimate |
| gá- | grí- | abstract |
| tsú- | tsi- | collective |
| sca- | sci- | animate |
| rú- | ri- | personal |
Object:
| Sing. | Pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| -ná- | -ní- | inanimate |
| -ngá- | -ngrí- | abstract |
| -nsú- | -nsi- | collective |
| -ntá- | -ntí- | animate |
| -nrú- | -nrí- | personal |
The markers agree in gender and plurality with the nouns. In the event of ambiguity (both nouns are of the same gender and plurality), subject and object nouns must be in the same order.