  We study the nucleon and three N* resonances' properties in an effective
linear realization chiral SU_L(2) x SU_R(2) and U_A(1) symmetric Lagrangian. We
place the nucleon fields into the so-called "naive" (1/2,0) + (0, 1/2) and
"mirror" (0, 1/2) + (1/2,0) (fundamental) representations of SU_L(2) x SU_R(2),
two of each -distinguished by their U_A(1) chiral properties, as defined by an
explicit construction of the nucleon interpolating fields in terms of three
quark (Dirac) fields. We construct the most general one-meson-baryon chiral
interaction Lagrangian assuming various parities of these four nucleon fields.
We show that the observed masses of the four lowest lying nucleon states can be
well reproduced with the effective Lagrangian, after spontaneous symmetry
breakdown, without explicit breaking of U_A(1) symmetry. This does not mean
that explicit U_A(1) symmetry breaking does not occur in baryons, but rather
that it does not have a unique mass prediction signature that exists e.g. in
the case of spinless mesons. We also consider briefly the axial couplings with
chiral representation mixing.
