4.1 Definitions

Nouns are words that languages use to designate things. The things can be real or imaginary objects (cat, dragon), concepts (happiness, telekinesis) and actions (talking, mindreading), and even words themselves (the word “this”). Nouns that refer to objects can be general enough to apply to many different things (country, goddess) or specific enough to refer to only one thing (Egypt, Isis); the latter are called “proper nouns” and in English are regularly capitalized.

4.2 Parts of nouns

The English nouns member, members, membership, and non-member all have in common the word member. This word is called the “root” of these five nouns. The noun member itself consists only of the root; the others are formed by adding things to this root: the ending s for the plural, the ending ship to give the meaning “group of members” or “quality of being a member,” and the prefix non to indicate the opposite of member.

Egyptian nouns are built up in the same way, of roots and additions. Some consist only of the root, while others have one or more prefixes, endings, or suffixes. In this lesson we will learn about noun roots and the endings used to indicate gender and number.