Nouns.
I. Gender.
There is no modification or grammatical difference to mark gender.
Sex is indicated by separate words in the case of human beings: an(e) man, me(le) boy, ena(ne) brother, amu(le) woman, ame(le) girl, eta(de) sister.
For mammals the words avoge, male, or momobe, female, follow the noun: ovol’ avoge, boar, ovo’ momobe, sow.
Dr. Strong notes that the sex of birds is sometimes denoted by the adjective ifa(ne), good, i.e., “ornamented,” for the male bird, and ifan’ ul’ amu, the “wife of the ornamented” for the female: uruv’ ifa, the male hornbill; uruv’ ifan ul’ amu, the female hornbill.
II. Number.
Only nouns indicating persons have been found with plurals. These are formed by changing the final e to i. Sometimes the e is changed to a; this may indicate the dual.
Ex. amu(le) woman, plur. amuli and amula; so(le), young man, plur. soli and sola; me(le), child, plur. meli and mela.
Note (1). The word a(ne) man, has a double plural in two different meanings: ani, the men; ake(da) the married men.
(2). The shortened form of the word is often used in the plural. This naturally is the same as the singular.
III. Case.
1. There is no modification of the noun to express case, but the equivalents of cases are shown by suffixes. The vocative alone often takes a final a as in the interrogative form.
Ex. Tayova, a tsia! Tayo, come here!
The subject, direct object, and indirect object are however easily recognised by their position in the sentence. The subject comes first, followed by the direct object, then the indirect object if there be one, with the verb at the end. If there are complements they immediately precede the word which governs them.
Ex. naga kuku nu inde, I tobacco to thee gave; Baiv’ u mega nembe u fod’ al’ ema, Baiva’s child bird his bow-with killed; nuni ake mu letsi gatsi, thou men their village-to will-go.
2. The genitive is expressed by means of the possessive adjective.
Ex. ovo’u ma, hair of the pig, lit. pig his hair.
3. Persons belonging to a place sometimes omit the adjective.
Ex. A Kotsi, a man of Kotsi; An’Alol’, a man of Alole; Alol’ amu, a woman of Alole; Ambov’amu, a woman of Ambove; Tseluku ul’ akeda, men of Tseluku.
4. Position in a place, or motion to or from a place is shown in the following ways. When the noun has a shortened for -tsi is suffixed. If there is no short form the final e of the noun is changed to i and -tsi is added.
Ex. nani etsi ando, I am in the house; nuni bulitsi gatsi, thou wilt go to the garden; naga Mambutsi l’a tela, I have come here from Mambo.
Note (1). Some proper names of places do not take the suffix -tsi. Ex. amul’ Alol’ itatsi, the woman will sleep at Alole.
(2). Other proper names, especially those of mountains and the villages built on them, take the suffix -tu (upon) instead of -tsi. Ex. Falitu gatsi, I will go to Faliba, lit. I will go upon Faliba.
IV. Interrogative Nouns.
The noun in Fuyuge has a special form to indicate the interrogative. If the noun ends in e, this vowel is changed to a. If already ending in a, the a takes a strong accent. To any other vowel ending a is added.
Ex. ovo(le) pig: interrog. ovola? is it a pig?
bulomakao, cow, &c.: interrog. bulomakaoa? is it a cow?
kuku, tobacco: interrog. kukua? is it tobacco?
kupa, sweet potato: interrog. kupa? is it a sweet potato?
V. Demonstrative Nouns.
These are similar to the Interrogative Nouns and are formed by the addition of the syllables -aua, -ana, or -ala instead of a. This form is both affirmative and interrogative.
Ex. oyand’ aua? is it a flower? or, it is a flower.
Tayov’ aua, it is Tayo; kuku aua, it is tobacco; an’ ala, it is a man; Ambov’ ana, it is Ambo.