Editing Burushaski (section)

==== Noun classes ====
In Burushaski, there are four [[noun class]]es, similar to declensional classes in [[Indo-European languages]], but unlike Indo-European, the nominal classes in Burushaski are associated with four grammatical "genders":
* '''m''' = male human beings, gods and spirits
* '''f''' = female human beings and spirits
* '''x''' = animals, [[countable]] nouns
* '''y''' = abstract concepts, fluids, uncountable nouns

Below, the abbreviation "'''h'''" will stand for the combination of the m- and f-classes, while "'''hx'''" will stand for the combination of the m-, f- and x-classes. Nouns in the x-class typically refer to countable, non-human beings or things, for example animals, fruit, stones, eggs, or coins; conversely, nouns in the y-class are as a rule uncountable abstractions or mass nouns, such as rice, fire, water, snow, wool, etc.

However, these rules are not universal – countable objects in the y-class are sometimes encountered, e.g. ''ha'', 'house'. Related words can subtly change their meanings when used in different classes – for example, ''bayú'', when a member of the x-class, means salt in clumps, but when in the y-class, it means powdered salt. Fruit trees are understood collectively and placed in the y-class, but their individual fruits belong to the x-class. Objects made of particular materials can belong to either the x- or the y- class: stone and wood are in the x-class, but metal and leather in the y-class. The [[Article (grammar)|article]], [[adjectives]], [[Numeral (linguistics)|numerals]] and other attributes must be in [[agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] with the noun class of their subject.