Ladino/Grammar

Parts of Speech

Nouns

• kolor<n><f><sg> ↔ kolor (color)
• tokea<n><m><sg> ↔ tokea (blower of the ram's horn)
• kavané<n><f><sg> ↔ kavané (coffeehouse)

Grammar Points

Gender of Articles for Nouns

All Ladino nouns and adjectives have gender - however, their gender may differ based on origin. Words of Hispanic origin tend to have the same -o as the primary masculine marker and -a as the primary feminine marker :

• ermano<n><sg><m> ↔ ermano (brother)
• kaza<n><sg><f> ↔ kaza (house)

Nouns ending in the suffix -or tend to be feminine as well:

• kolor<n><sg><f> ↔ kolor (color)
• dolor<n><sg><f> ↔ dolor (pain)
• kalor<n><sg><f> ↔ kalor (heat)

Words from different languages have different rules, though. Usually, if the noun refers to a male or female, the noun will possess that gender as well:

• tokea<n><sg><m> ↔ tokea (blower of the ram's horn)
• hasakí<n><sg><f> ↔ hasakí (the sultan's favorite woman)

Inanimate object nouns are usually masculine unless they end in -á/-a, -al, or -é:

• kavané<n><sg><f> ↔ kavané (coffeehouse)
• morá<n><sg><f> ↔ morá (fear)
• yaká <n><sg><f> ↔ yaká (collar)