Catalan nouns

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Catalan nouns are inflected for gender (masculine or feminine), and number (singular or plural). There is no case inflection. Articles and adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

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Usually, masculine nouns are unmarked, feminine nouns carry the suffix -a; and the plural is marked with the suffix -s, which makes the feminine ending turn into -e-. Thus, the most common declension paradigm for Catalan names is the one that follows:

Example:
declension of gat "cat"
masculinefeminine
singulargatgata
pluralgatsgates

Gender inflection

The grammatical gender of a Catalan noun does not necessarily correspond with the real-life object's biological sex (or lack thereof). Nouns denoting a person, such as home "man" or dona "woman", generally agree with the natural gender of what is described. However, Catalan assigns gender to nouns without natural gender in arbitrary fashion. For example, the word tamboret ("stool") is masculine, while the word cadira ("chair") is feminine.

Living beings with distinct masculine and feminine forms

Living beings of the same species usually are designed by two nouns: one of masculine grammatical gender for biologically male individuals, and one of feminine grammatical gender for biologically female individuals. Both names, masculine and feminine, are usually only differentiated by their ending; sometimes the second is derived from the first or vice versa. Rarely, both come from different roots. [1]

Formation of the feminine form from the masculine

  • Most times the feminine form is created by appending the suffix -a to the unmarked masculine form. [1]
Noi → noia. Avi → àvia.
"Boy - girl." "Grandfather - grandmother."
  • If the masculine form ends in -t, -p, -f, -s, the addition of the feminine suffix -a may cause these consonants to become voiced to -d-, -b-, -v-, -s-; or not. There are no rules to deduce the change. [1]
becomes voicedremains unvoiced
changemasculinefeminineglossmasculinefemininegloss
⟨-t⟩ → ⟨-d-⟩
/t/ → /ð/
nebotneboda"nephew - niece"tneta"grandson - granddaughter"
⟨-p⟩ → ⟨-b-⟩
/p/ → /β/
lloplloba"wolf"
⟨-f⟩ → ⟨-v-⟩
/f/ → /v~β/
serfserva"serf"
⟨-s⟩ → ⟨-s-⟩
/s/ → /z/
espòsesposa"husband - wife"gosgossa"dog - bitch"
  • If the masculine form ends in a stressed vowel, the feminine is created by appending the suffix -na. [1]
Germà → germana
"Brother - sister."
  • Sometimes the feminine form is created by appending the suffix -essa to the unmarked masculine form. [1]
Sacerdot → sacerdotessa.
"Priest - priestess."

Formation of the masculine form from the feminine

  • Sometimes the masculine form is created from the feminine by changing the suffix a for -ot. [2]
Bruixot ← bruixa.
"Wizard - witch."

Living beings with indistinct masculine and feminine forms

El rossinyol. El rossinyol mascle. El rossinyol femella.
" The nightingale." "The male nightingale." "The female nightingale"

Objects, abstract concepts

La virilitat (f).
"The manliness."
El televisor (m) - la televisió (f). L'argent (m) - la plata (f)
"The TV." "The silver."

Homophonous words with different genders

El clau (m) - la clau (f)
"The nail - the key."

Number inflection

Like all the Western Romance languages, the formation of the plural involves the addition of the suffix -s to the singular. However, the stem may undergo some changes. The number inflection of adjectives follows the same rules. [3]

Pare → pares. Avi → avis.
"Father - fathers." "Grandfather - grandfathers."
Casa → cases (f). Problema → problemes (m).
"House - houses." "Problem - problems"
soundtransformationsingular
(stem underlined)
plural
(stem underlined)
IPA
transcription
gloss
/ɣ/⟨g⟩ → ⟨gu⟩fargafargues/ˈfarɣə(s)/"forge(s)"
/k/⟨c⟩ → ⟨qu⟩ocaoques/ˈɔkə(s)/"goose - geese"
/ɣw/⟨gu⟩ → ⟨gü⟩llenguallenes/ˈʎeŋɡwə(s)/"tongue(s)"
/kw/⟨qu⟩ → ⟨qü⟩pasquapases/ˈpaskwə(s)/"Easter(s)"
/s/⟨ç⟩ → ⟨c⟩plaçaplaces/ˈpɫasə(s)/"square(s)"
/ʒ/⟨j⟩ → ⟨g⟩plujapluges/ˈpɫuʒə(s)/"rain(s)"
/ddʒ/platjaplatges/ˈpɫaddʒə(s)/"beach(es)"
Pa → pans (m). Capità → capitans (m). Acció → accions (f).
"Bread - breads." "Captain - captains." "Action - actions."
Sofà → sofàs. Bambú → bambús.
"Sofa - sofas." "Bamboo - bamboos."
Home → homes or hòmens. Orfe → orfes or òrfens
"Man - men." "Orphan - orphans."
Gas → gasos/ˈgas - ˈgazus/. Braç → braços/ˈbɾas - ˈbɾasus/.
"Gas - gases." "Arm - arms."
    • Most polysyllabic masculine words ending in -às, -ís, ús.
Fracàs → fracassos. Pastís → pastissos. Barnús → barnussos
"Failure - failures." "Cake - cakes." "Bathrobe - bathrobes"
    • Most masculine words ending in -os, -ós, òs.
Gos → gossos. Arròs → arrossos. Ós → óssos.
"Dog - dogs." "Rice - rices." "Bear - bears."
Llapis → llapis. Òmnibus - òmnibus
"Pencil - pencils." "Omnibus - omnibuses."
Pols → pols.Calç → calçs /ˈkaɫs/.
"Dust - dusts." "Lime - limes."
Reflex → reflexos/rəˈflɛksus/. Índex → índexs/ˈindəks/.
"Reflection - reflections." "Index - indexes."
Calaix → calaixos.
"Drawer - drawers."
Faig → faigs/ˈfatʃ/. Passeig → Passeigs /pəˈsɛtʃ/.
Faig → fajos/ˈfatʃ - ˈfaʒus/. Passeig → Passetjos. /pəˈsɛtʃ - pəˈsɛddʒus/.
"Beech - beeches." "Promenade - promenades."
Bosc → boscs or boscos. Gust → gusts or gustos. Pretext → pretexts or pretextos
"Forest - forests." "Taste - tastes." "Pretext - pretexts."
Host → hosts.
"Hueste - huestes."

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fabra 1933, p. 29.
  2. 1 2 3 Fabra 1933, p. 30.
  3. Fabra 1933, p. 38.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Fabra 1933, p. 31.
  5. 1 2 3 Fabra 1933, p. 32.
  6. Fabra 1933, p. 32-33.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fabra 1933, p. 33.

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