o yis     Noun phrases

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O Yis is a head initial language; modifiers always follow their head noun. Thus adjective-like nouns always follow the noun they are modifying, and will use the modifying form of their article to link to the head noun:

This also holds true for less adjective-like nouns:

Linking nouns together into a list is achieved by means of postpositions. For simple additive lists ('and' lists) the postposition can be dropped, though it is retained for emphasis when required. For additive lists of more than two nouns the postposition goes at the end of the list:

Proper nouns almost always drop their articles when they are not the first item in the list:

For genitive modifiers, the possessing noun follows the possessed noun, and links to the modified noun using the genitive form of its article:

Proper nouns acting as genitives cannot drop their articles:

When two or more modifiers are acting on the same noun, the more specific/intrinsic modifiers are placed closer to the noun; by definition genitive nouns are less intrinsic and are thus placed further away from the noun. The modifier hierarchy is:

  1. noun
  2. intimate detail (size, weight, value)
  3. shape
  4. colour
  5. general size (big, tall, etc)
  6. possessor

Some examples:

Benefactive, Locative, Genitive and Instrumental nouns

Any noun that is not the undertaker or experiencer of an intransitive verb, or the agent or patient of a transitive verb, will be added to the end of the clause as an oblique noun. However there are some exceptions to this rule: postpositional noun phrases (also known as relative noun phrases) can directly modify a noun; the postpositional phrase is linked to the noun using the relative particle m'.

Demonstrative nouns

Any head noun can change its article to indicate specificity and location (eg this, that, these, those) simply by using the near and distant articles in place of the basic article:

This page was last updated on Tecubestuu-14, 531: Salhkuu-20 Gevile