Nominal
Nominal declension is based on case, gender, and number, in order. Each parameter is indicated by a phoneme, respectively consonant, vowel, and tone, effectively forming a syllable.
Case
There are five cases:
- nom nominative: s
- acc accusative: n
- abl ablative: t
- dat dative: d
- gen genitive: c
There is also vocative case, which is unmarked, but this is rarely used.
Gender
There are five genders, named after five phases in wǔxíng:
- wo wood: a
- fi fire: e
- ea earth: i
- mt metal: o
- wa water: u
- unknown/mixed: y
Number
There are three numbers:
- sg singular: level tone
- sv several: falling tone
- pl plural: rising tone