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.

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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

Close letter words and terms