Wenja Grammar: Plurals & Animacy

In languages like English, there is usually a way to differentiate singular nouns from plural nouns.

Wenja, Wenjas

bear, bears 

leaf, leaves 

BUT fish, fish

In Wenja, plural nouns look exactly the same as singulars.

Winja = Wenja, Wenjas 

hars = bear, bears 

balya =  leaf, leaves 

payska = fish, fish

However, if a plural noun is the subject of a verb, in special circumstance you'll see the plural marked on the verbs. To understand when, you must first understand animacy.

Wenja speakers view the things within their world as either living (animate) or non-living (inanimate). For the Wenja, anything animate has a soul.  Animate nouns are people, spirits, gods, and animals. Inanimate nouns are objects, such as rocks, weapons, and food.

The key point is that Wenja only use endings on their verbs when the subject is animate. The only things that can be inanimate would be in the 3^rdperson. For the 3rd singular, since there is no verbal ending in the paradigm for animate subjects, the verb will look the same whether the subject is animate or inanimate. So, the only difference you would need to worry about would be for the 3^rd person plural subjects:

3^rd person plural subjects:

Mara harha.                        The apples rest.                  (Inanimate) 

Chwan harharsh.              The dogs rest.                      (Animate)

3^rd person singular subjects:

Mara harha.                          The apple rests.                (Inanimate) 

Chwan harha.                       The dog rests.                    (Animate)