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Nouns

Nouns form the foundation of Arcadia's grammar, classified based on their characteristics and usage.

Specificity-Based Classification

Arcadia distinguishes nouns by their degree of specificity:

  • Proper nouns → Refer to a unique entity (Arcadia, Maria).
  • Common nouns → Describe a general concept (tree, apple).

Gender and Optional Prefixes

Arcadia is not a gendered language, though gender prefixes may be used for clarity. These prefixes are optional and serve only as contextual markers, not as grammatical necessities. More details on gender handling are available in the gender guide.

Grammatical Classes

Arcadia classifies nouns into five grammatical classes, which serve a structural role with minimal semantic influence:

  • Solid: -i ending
  • Liquid: -e ending
  • Gas: -a ending
  • Plasma: -o ending
  • Exotic: -u ending

Grammatical Number System

Arcadia recognizes countability distinctions, influencing noun behaviour in pluralization and measurement:

  • Countable nouns → Can be enumerated (three apples, half an hour).
  • Uncountable nouns → Cannot be individually counted (water, love).

Further, there are five grammatical numbers.

Case System

Arcadia employs eleven grammatical cases, defining each noun's role within a sentence. Details on their functions and interactions can be found in the case guide.

Noun Formation and Derivation

Arcadia features a system for generating new nouns from existing ones, allowing structured expansion of vocabulary. The full set of derivational rules is available in the noun generation guide.