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Nouns
There are three genders in Neapolitan, just like in English. They are: feminine, masculine,
and neuter, again just like in English. Also, like English, if the noun refers to a person, then the gender of that noun is the same as the sex of the person. However, unlike English, inanimate objects can be, and usually are, either masculine or feminine gender. The neuter gender will be covered in more detail later, but for now suffice to say that neuter nouns are mainly abstractions or collective references rather than specific, individual objects.
Since both masculine plural nouns and feminine plural nouns end in -e, the feminine plural has the initial consonant doubled if it is preceded by the feminine plural article or a feminine plural adjective. It is also common for the masculine plural to change internally, as in the case of ’o guaglione (boy) which in the plural becomes ’e guagliune and ’o pesce (fish) which becomes ’ e pisce.
Most language teachers agree that it is best to learn nouns along with their definite
articles to help in remembering their gender, but in Neapolitan we must consider the definite article, the final vowel and the initial consonant. Unfortunately, when it comes to those nouns which begin with a vowel, we have only the ending to consider since both the masculine and feminine, singular and plural definite articles are identical (l’ or ll’).
- If a singular noun ends in -o, it is masculine. Some examples:
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| ’o puèto | ’e puète | poet |
| ’o muro | ’e mure | wall |
| ’o laco | ’e lache | lake |
| ’o tiempo | ’e tiempe | time |
| ’o purpo | ’e purpe | octopus |
- If a singular noun ends in -a, it is feminine. Some examples:
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| ’a casa | ’e ccase | house |
| ’a mana | ’e mmane | hand |
| ’a vocca | ’e vvocche | mouth |
| ’a cannela | ’e ccannele | candle |
| ’a preta | ’e prete** | stone |
Note that preta did not double the initial consonant in the plural because it is followed by another consonant (see section on Doubling initial consonants).
- If a singular noun ends in -e, it can be either masculine or feminine. Some examples:
Masculine
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| ’o cafone | ’e cafune | hick, country boy |
| ’o càlece | ’e càlece | stemmed glass |
| ’o camionne | ’e cammiune | |
| ’o | ’e | |
| ’o | ’e |
Feminine
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| row 1, cell 1 | row 1, cell 2 | row 1, cell 3 |
| row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 | row 2, cell 3 |
| row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 | row 2, cell 3 |
| row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 | row 2, cell 3 |
| row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 | row 2, cell 3 |