Nominal Prefixes The
noun class prefixes in Ebrié distinguish between certain
homophones and between singular and
plural forms. Originally, this system would have been more robust, as seen in other
Niger-Congo languages. The four nominal prefixes are
á-, à-, ɛ̃́-, and
ɛ̃̀-. The latter two, which are nasal vowels, can also be realized as
syllabic nasals, transcribed as
ɴ́- and
ɴ̀- but written orthographically as . The second noun in a compound retains its prefix, as shown below. {{interlinear |indent=2 {{interlinear |indent=2
Plural Nouns Nouns can be made plural through the use of nominal prefixes or plural suffixes. Certain nouns are irregular or invariable. When a singular noun begins with the prefix á- or à-, its plural form will have the prefix ń- or ǹ- respectively. If a singular noun lacks a prefix, it will often have the prefix ń- in the plural. Other nouns take one of the plural suffixes -mã́, -hɔ̃̀, or -mã́hɔ̃̀. • áyá /ájá/ 'tree' → ńyá /ńjá/ 'trees' • agban /àg͡bã́/ 'plate' → ngbán /ǹg͡bã́/ 'plates • lalabhô [làlàɓô] 'duck' → ńlalabho [ńlàlàɓô] 'ducks' • mmanhɔn [m̀mã̀hɔ̀̃] 'mothers' • nmyahɔn [ǹmjã̂hɔ̃̀] 'spouses'
Subject Pronouns In Ebrié,
tense/aspect/mood markers are found on the
verb or as separate
morphemes if the
subject is a
noun or a plural
subject pronoun. The singular subject pronouns merge with the
TAM markers, resulting in
morphophonemic changes. For exampleː {{interlinear |indent=2 == Syntax ==