[YG Conlang Archives] > [westasianconlangs group] > messages [Date Index] [Thread Index] >
> > 4 delum "door" > > No feminine? > In your previous msg about Gedeh it was "deltum"... Previously I was not aware that this root is only _dl_. Gender suffixes are attached to inanimate nouns only if you want to distinguish convex versus concave, for example connector, screw, lens etc. It also may mean closed versus opened; and with verbal abstracts it means perfect versus imperfect: _lokteb_ "to write"; _loktebat_ "to be writing"; _loktebut_ "to have written". So _delum_ means "door" generally, whereas _delatum_ and _delutum_ may mean "opened door" and "closed door", or _delatum_ "doorway". Similarly _bebum_ "gate", _bebatum_ "gateway", _bebanutum_ "gate wings (du.m.)". P.A.