Eastern Lombard Grammar - Nouns

Nouns

Nouns in Eastern Lombard have two genders (masculine and feminine), and two grammatical numbers (singular or plural). See also Diachronics of plural inflection in the Gallo-Italian languages.

The feminine generally ends in -a:
gàta (she-cat)
fómna (woman)

but can also end with a consonant:
néf (snow)

Masculine' names generally end with a consonant:
gat (cat)
òm (man)

but can also end with a vowel. This usually happens where a historical -n has dropped:
cà (dog) (cfr. the western lombard 'can')
pà (bread) (cfr. the western lombard 'pan')
carbù (coal) (cfr. the western lombard 'carbón')

The plural of feminine nouns always ends in -e:
'na gàta / dò gàte (a she-cat / two she-cats)
'na fómna / dò fómne (a woman / two women)

Except when the singular ends with a consonant, in such cases the plural follows the rules for the masculine.

The plural of masculine nouns is a little more complicated to form and depends on the last sound of the singular.

If the singular ends with a vowel, the plural is identical:
en cà / du cà (a dog / two dogs)

If the singular ends with a -c, -j, -m, -p, -r, -s, the plural is identical to the singular:

en sac / du sac (a sack / two sacks)
en ventàj / du ventàj (a fan/ two fans)
en póm/ du póm (an apple / two apples)
en cóp / du cóp (a tile / two tiles)
en pér / du pér (a pear / two pears)
en ciós / du ciós (a field / two fields)

If the singular ends with a -t, the plural ends with a -cc (pronounced -):
en gat / du gacc (pronounced /du gatʃ/) (a cat / two cats):

If the singular ends with an -n, the plural ends with a -gn (pronounced -):
en àzen / du àzegn (pronounced /du ˈazɛɲ/) (a donkey / two donkeys)

If the singular ends with a -l, the plural ends in a -j: en caàl / du caàj (pronounced /du ka'aj/) (a horse / two horses)