nouns.tex


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\begin{lahu-vocab}{Nouns used in the following sections}
\item[spring washer] asdfsdf
\end{lahu-vocab}
Nouns make up the majority of most peoples' vocabulary. They are the `names of things'. \emph{Proper nouns} are a type of noun that identify a unique entity such as `Jehovah'. These are generally capitalised in Lahu as they are in English.

\section{Number}
To express the idea of more than one noun in Lahu extra words need to be used such as \emph{teˇ hpaˍ}, \emph{teˇ g'ui} and \emph{hui}.

\begin{examples}
\item
\gll Nuˇ {teˇ hpaˍ}
cow plural
\glt cows
\glend

\item
\gll Chaw hui
man plural
\glt men
\glend

\item
\gll Yaˇ {teˇ g'uiˬ}
child plural
\glt children
\glend
\end{examples}

\section{Gender}
\label{sec:gender}
Gender in Lahu is generally expressed using suffixes, \emph{paˍ} for male and \emph{ma} for female. This is the case for humans and many animals. Some words do not need the suffix to indicate the gender as it is already implied, for example \emph{hawˉ hkaˆ} for \emph{man} and \emph{yaˇ miˇ} for \emph{woman}.

\begin{examples}
\item
\gll Nuˇ paˍ
cow male
\glt bull
\glend

\item
\gll nuˇ ma
cow female
\glt cow
\glend

\item
\gll va paˍ
pig male
\glt boar
\glend

\item
\gll va ma
pig female
\glt sow
\glend
\end{examples}

\section{Possession}
\label{sec:possession}
When something \emph{belongs} to someone then the possessive particle `ve' is used \emph{after} the pronoun (or proper noun) and \emph{before} the thing that is possessed. Do not confuse this particle with the particle used with verbs (see section~\ref{sec:verbs}). The possesive particle is more often used with pronouns (see section~\ref{sec:pronouns}) and these are used in the following examples.

\begin{examples}
\item
	\gll {Yawˇ hui} ve hpu.
	they (par) money
	\glt `Their money.'
	\glend
\item
	\gll Nawˇ ve li
	you (par) book
	\glt `your book'
	\glend
\end{examples}

It is often omitted in such expressions as these:

\begin{examples}
\item
\gll nuˇ hkehˇ
cow manure
\glt cow's manure
\glend
\item
\gll g'aˆ {awˬ mvuh}
chicken feather
\glt chicken's feather
\glend
\end{examples}