copyright © 2026 Dennis Paul Himes
Nouns and adjectives have two genders, five cases, and three numbers. Adjectives agree in all these features with the nouns they modify, and, except for numbers and demonstratives, usually (but not always) follow the nouns they modify. There are no articles.
Any adjective can be a noun as well, meaning "<adjective> thing", or "<adjective> one".
The genders are inanimate and animate. Each noun is one or the other of these. Each adjective has forms for both genders.
The cases are nominative, used for subjects and direct address, accusative, used for direct objects, genitive, used for possession, similitive, used for similarity, and instrumental, used for tools and methods. Prepositions can take any case but the nominative. Some prepositions can take different cases, with differences in meaning.
The numbers are singular, plural, and nullar. Nullar is used to mean "no [whatever]".
There are three declensions. Here are the paradigms for each. The entries in the paradigms are suffixes, always attached to a stem which ends in a consonant.
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | -o | -u | -ost | -ust | -odi | -udi |
| acc. | -os | -or | -ong | -ung | -odi | -ordi |
| gen. | -on | -orn | -ome | -ume | -ongdi | -ungdi |
| sim. | -oli | -uli | -oli | -uli | -oldi | -uldi |
| ins. | -ond | -und | -ondi | -ordi | -oddi | -uddi |
The nominative singular ending can be either -a or nothing.
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | (-a) | (-a) | -ast | -ast | -adi | -adi |
| acc. | -as | -ar | -ang | -ang | -adi | -ardi |
| gen. | -an | -arn | -ame | -ame | -angdi | -angdi |
| sim. | -ali | -ali | -ali | -ali | -aldi | -aldi |
| ins. | -and | -and | -andi | -ardi | -addi | -addi |
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | -i | -e | -ist | -est | -idi | -edi |
| acc. | -is | -er | -ing | -eng | -idi | -edi |
| gen. | -in | -en | -ime | -eme | -ingdi | -engdi |
| sim. | -ili | -eli | -ili | -eli | -ildi | -eldi |
| ins. | -ind | -end | -indi | -edi | -iddi | -eddi |
|
|
|---|
Far has plural forms because if the number is greater than one, but contains far, then the modified noun will be plural, so far will be as well. For example, "26 women" would be fesust farast sarust (literally "25 1 women").
|
|
|
|---|
Stennan names have the form Given_name Family_name [Married_name]. For women given names are first or second declension animate. For men given names are second or third declension animate. Family names are any declension animate. A married woman adds her husband's family name in the genitive case.
-issu, attached to the stem, is the animate form of the dimunitive and is sometimes used for nicknames, especially for children. E.g. Dima → Dimissu, or Nind → Nindissu.
Foreign names which end in -o or -i are declined like first or third (respectively) declension inanimate nouns, but adjectives which modify them are in the animante gender.
Apposition is indicated simply by following one noun by another, in the same case.
There are three comparatives, indicated with suffixes added to the inanimate root (i.e. -o, -a, and -i for the three declensions). They are -fa, meaning "the same", -xra, meaning "more", and -xrama, meaning "most". These are all second declension adjectives. The noun being compared to, which in English would be marked by "as" or "than", is simply put into the similitive case.
There are a few special cases:
| adjective | meaning | "same" | "more" | "most" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sti | good | stifa | stra | strama |
| bihi | much, many | bihifa | bixra | bixrama |
An adverb is formed from an adjective with the suffix -ole, -ale, or -ile for the first, second, and third declensions respectively. In other words, the inanimate singular similitive, with the final "i" replaced by "e".
There are a few special cases:
| adjective | meaning | adverb |
|---|---|---|
| sti | good | stil |
|
|
|
|---|
There are personal pronouns for first person, second person, third person inanimate, and third person animate. First and second person pronouns have singular and plural forms. Third person pronouns also have nullar forms, which can be used to mean "no one" and "nothing". Personal pronouns also have possesive adjectival forms, all in the second declension. These are listed in the tables below as "poss.".
| 1st person singular | 1st person plural | 2nd person singular | 2nd person plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | pra | xre | si | se |
| acc. | prar | xreng | sir | seng |
| gen. | prarn | xrem | sin | sem |
| sim. | prali | xreli | sili | seli |
| ins. | prand | xredi | sind | sedi |
| poss. | prarn | xrem | sin | sem |
| 3rd per. inanimate sing. | 3rd per. animate sing. | 3rd per. inanimate plur. | 3rd per. animate plur. | 3rd per. inanimate null. | 3rd per. animate null. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | i | er | ist | est | idi | erdi |
| acc. | is | er | ing | eng | idi | erdi |
| gen. | in | ern | ime | erme | ingdi | engdi |
| sim. | ili | erli | ili | erli | ildi | eldi |
| ins. | ind | end | indi | erdi | igdi | egdi |
| poss. | in | ern | ima | erma | ingda | engda |
The same reflexive pronoun is used for all persons.
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| acc. | mis | mir | ming | ming | midi | midi |
| gen. | min | min | mim | mim | mingdi | mingdi |
| sim. | mili | mili | mili | mili | mildi | mildi |
| ins. | mind | mind | mindi | midi | migdi | migdi |
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | dlo | dle | dlost | dlest | dlodi | dledi |
| acc. | dlos | dler | dlong | dleng | dlodi | dledi |
| gen. | dlon | dlen | dlome | dleme | dlongdi | dlengdi |
| sim. | dloli | dleli | dloli | dleli | dloldi | dleldi |
| ins. | dlond | dlend | dlondi | dledi | dlogdi | dlegdi |
| I.S. | A.S. | I.P. | A.P. | I.N. | A.N. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | tlo | tle | tlost | tlest | tlodi | tledi |
| acc. | tlos | tler | tlong | tleng | tlodi | tledi |
| ken. | tlon | tlen | tlome | tleme | tlongdi | tlengdi |
| sim. | tloli | tleli | tloli | tleli | tloldi | tleldi |
| ins. | tlond | tlend | tlondi | tledi | tlogdi | tlegdi |
Links