Substantiivia

Substantiivia is a theoretical linguistic term used to describe the class of noun-like words in the constructed language Substantiva. In this framework, substantiivia are the heads of noun phrases that carry core referential content and interact with determiners, adjectives, and verbs through inflectional morphology. The term is used to illustrate patterns of noun inflection and to compare with related parts of speech such as pronouns and classifiers.

Morphology: Substantiivia inflect for number (singular or plural) and case (nominative, accusative, genitive). Most systems attach suffixes to the noun stem; endings vary by dialect. Typical patterns separate singular and plural with distinct endings, and assign case markers that attach to the same stem. Some variants combine features into a single fused morpheme. Definiteness may be expressed by a separate determiner preceding the noun or via a definite suffix on the noun.

Syntax and semantics: Substantiivia usually head noun phrases and govern agreement with adjectives and verbs in the clause. They encode referential content with possible distinctions for concrete versus abstract referents, and may carry limited features such as animacy or gender only when modeled by agreement elsewhere in the sentence.

History and usage: The concept of substantiivia appears in discussions of conlangs and typology as a vehicle to compare noun morphology across hypothetical systems. It is not presented as a description of any real language, but as a neutral educational construct for illustrating how noun heads can bear multiple morphosyntactic features.

Example paradigm (stem: luma, gloss: "book"): nominative singular luma; nominative plural lumai; accusative singular lumam; genitive singular lumasa. These forms show how a single stem can realize different grammatical features in Substantiva.