Word info Antonyms

animacy

Noun

Meaning

(linguistics) In some languages, the characteristic of a noun, dependent on its living or sentient nature, which affects grammatical features (it can modify verbs used with the noun, affect the noun's declension, etc.).

(biology) The state of being alive.

Source: en.wiktionary.org

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Examples

Anthropological linguists have conversely argued the strong connection between animacy and items viewed as having spiritual importance. Source: Internet

Athabaskan languages In Navajo ( Southern Athabaskan ) nouns are classified according to their animacy, shape, and consistency. Source: Internet

In non-native Swahili, concord reflects only animacy: human subjects and objects trigger a-, wa- and m-, wa- in verbal concord, while non-human subjects and objects of whatever class trigger i-, zi-. Source: Internet

To a lesser extent, a noun's animacy or humanness may add another layer of complexity. Source: Internet

Correlation between gender and the form of a noun In many other languages, nouns are assigned to gender largely without any semantic basis – that is, not based on any feature (such as animacy or sex) of the person or thing that a noun represents. Source: Internet

Like Navajo, it has classificatory verb stems that classify nouns according to animacy, shape, and consistency. Source: Internet

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