Nouns substantive and adjective have two genders, a masculine and a feminine. Words referring to males are masculine, and to females are feminine. Inanimate things are sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine. Pronouns have three genders, arranged on a different principle. One gender refers to male living beings, another to female living beings, and a third (or neuter) to all inanimate things whether they are grammatically masculine or feminine. Nouns ending in u are masculine, and most, but not all, of those ending in i, u, ĕ or ñ are feminine. Of nouns ending in consonants, some are masculine, and some are feminine. No rule can be formulated regarding these, except that all abstract nouns ending in ar (a very numerous class) are masculine. There are four declensions. The first consists of masculine nouns ending in a consonant, in a, ĕ or ū (very few of these last two). The second consists of the important class of masculine nouns in u; the third of feminine nouns in i, ū, or ñ (being the feminines corresponding to the masculine nouns of the second declension); and the fourth of feminine nouns ending in a, ĕ or a consonant.
The noun possesses two numbers, a singular and a plural, and in each number there are, besides the nominative, three organic cases, the accusative, the case of the agent (see below, under “verbs”), and the ablative. The accusative, when not definite, may also be the same in form as the nominative. The following are the forms which a noun takes in each declension, the words chosen as examples being: First declension, tsūr, a thief; second declension, mạlu, a father; third declension, mạj^ū, a mother; fourth declension, (a) māl, a garland, (b) rāt-, night.
| First Declension. | Second Declension. | Third Declension. | Fourth Declension. | ||
| a. | b. | ||||
| Sing.: | |||||
| Nom. | tsūr | mạlu (pr. mål) | mạjū (möj) | māl | rāth |
| Acc. | tsūras | mạlis (mölis) | mājĕ | māli | rạtsū (röts) |
| Ag. | tsūran | mạli (möili) | māji | māli | rạtsū (röts) |
| Abl. | tsūra | māli | māji | māli | rạtsū (röts) |
| Plur.: | |||||
| Nom | tsūr | mạli (möili) | mājĕ | māla | rạtsū (röts) |
| Acc. | tsūran | mālĕn | mājĕn | mālan | rạtsūn (rötsün) |
| Ag. and Abl. | tsūrau | mālyau | mājyau | mālau | rạtsūv (rötsüv) |
The declension 4b is confined to certain nouns in t, th, d, n, h and l, in which the final consonant is liable to change owing to a following ū-mātrā.
Other cases are formed (as in true Indo-Aryan languages) by the addition of postpositions, some of which are added to the accusative, while others are added to the ablative case. To the former are added manz, in; kịtu, to or for; sụtin, with, and others. To the ablative are added sụtin, when it signifies “by means of”; putshy, for; pĕṭha, from, and others. For the genitive, masculine nouns in the singular, signifying animate beings, take sạndu, and if they signify things without life, take ku. All masculine plural nouns and all feminine nouns whether singular or plural take hạndu. Sạndu and hạndu are added to the accusative, which drops a final s, while ku is added to the ablative. Thus, tsūra sạndu, of the thief; mạli sạndu, of the father; sŏnạku (usually written sŏnuku), of gold (sŏn, abl. sing. sŏna); tsūran nạndu, of thieves; karĕn hạndu, of bracelets (second declension); mājĕ hạndu, of the mother; mājĕn hạndu, of the mothers. Masculine proper names, however, take nu in the singular, as in Rādhākrṣṇạnu of Rādhākrishna. These genitive terminations, and also the dative termination kịtu, are adjectives, and agree with the governing noun in gender, number and case. Thus, tsūra sạndu nĕcịvu, the son of the thief; tsūra sạndi nĕcivi, by the son of the thief; tsūra sạnzū kōru, the daughter of the thief; kulịku lang, a bough of the tree; kulicū lạṇdū, a twig of the tree. Sạndu, has fem. sing. sạnzu, masc. plur. sạndi, fem. plur. sanza. Similarly hạndu. Ku has fem. sing. cū, masc. plur. ki, fem. plur. cĕ; nu, fem. sing. ñ, masc. plur. ni, fem. plur. ñĕ. Similarly for the dative we have the following forms: mạlis kịtu pạñu, water (masc.) for the father; mạlis kitsū gāv, a cow for the father; mạlis kiti rav, blankets (masc. plur.) for the father; mạlis kitsa pōthĕ, books (fem. plur.) for the father. All these postpositions of the genitive and kịtu of the dative are declined regularly as substantives, the masculine ones belonging to the second declension and the feminine ones to the third. Note that the feminine plural of sạndu is sanza, not sanzĕ, as we might expect; so also feminine nouns in tsu, tshu, zū and sū.
Adjectives ending in u (second declension) form the feminine in ^ū, with the usual changes of the preceding consonant. Thus tạtu, hot, fem. tạtsū (pronounced tüts). Other adjectives do not change for gender. All adjectives agree with the qualified noun in gender, number and case, the postposition, if any, being added to the latter word of the two. Take, for example, chạtu, white, and guru, a horse. From these we have chạtu guru, a white horse; acc. sing. chatis guris; nom. plur. chạti gụri; and chatyau guryau sụtin, by means of white horses.
The first two personal pronouns are bŏh, I; mĕ, me, by me; ạsi, we; asĕ, us, by us; and tsah, thou; tsĕ, thee, by thee; tọ̆hi, ye; tŏhĕ you, by you. Possessive pronouns are employed instead of the genitive. Thus, myạnu, my; sạnu, our; cyạnu, thy; tuhạndu, your. For the third person, we have sing. masc. suh, fem. sŏh, neut. tih; acc. sing. (masc. or fem.) tamis or tas, neut. tath; agent sing. masc. neut. tạmi, fem. tami. The plural is of common gender throughout. Nom. tim; acc. timan; ag. timau. The possessive pronoun is tasạndu, of him, of her; tamyukn, of it; tihạndu, of them. The neuter gender is used for all things without life.
Other pronouns are:—This: yih (com. gen.); acc. masc. fem. yimis, or nŏmis, neut, yith, nŏth; ag. masc. neut., yimi, nọ̆mi, fem. yimi, nŏmi; nom. plur. yim, fem. yima, and so on.
That (within sight): masc. neut. huh, fem. hŏh; acc. masc. fem. humis or amis, neut. huth, and so on; nom. plur. masc hum.
Who, masc. yus, fem. yŏssa, neut. yih; acc. masc. fem. yĕmis, yĕs, neut. yĕth; ag. masc. neut. yĕmi, fem. yĕmi; nom. plur. masc. yim, and so on.