Substantivi

Substantivi is the term used in some linguistic traditions to denote the class of words commonly known as nouns. The exact usage, spelling, and plural form vary by language; in English, the corresponding term is noun or substantive. The plural form substantivi appears in languages that form plurals in ways that affect noun endings, and the precise form depends on the language in question.

The term traces to Latin substantivum, related to the notion of substance or naming of entities. In many languages, the noun class is one of the core parts of speech, historically tied to how a language marks reference to objects, persons, places, and ideas.

Substantivi name entities and serve multiple grammatical roles. They can denote persons, places, things, or abstract concepts. In clauses, they commonly function as subjects, direct objects, or objects of prepositions. They often carry grammatical categories such as gender and number, and in many languages they participate in determiner and adjective agreement.

Types and categories commonly found with substantivi include common versus proper nouns, countable versus mass (uncountable) nouns, concrete versus abstract nouns, and collective nouns. Some languages mark these distinctions with articles, case endings, or word order, while others rely on separate particles or determiners to signal specificity or definiteness.

Morphology and syntax: In inflected languages, substantivi may show case or declension, gender, and number. Determiners, adjectives, and numerals frequently agree with them in gender and number. Substantivi are central to noun phrases and to sentence structure, influencing how other parts of speech relate to them. In linguistics, the term substantive is also used as a broader label for this noun class in some grammars.