Indefinite Pro-forms
The indefinite pro-forms are sets of deictic words which can be placed into a table.
| object | place | action | manner | state | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| noun | determiner | |||||
| proximate | mari まり | -mari まり | majja まっぢ | marila まりわ | madusi まどせ | marika まりか |
| distal | kasi かせ | -kasi かせ | kasuja かすぢ | kalisa かえさ | kadusi かどせ | kasika かせか |
| interrogative | sama さま | -diku でく | satta さった | sulla すっわ | lara わら | saqqa さっげ |
| negative | ci’u ちう | -cu ゆ | qa’i げい | buni ぶに | - | |
| universal | ’aba あば | -’aba あば | batuja ばとぢ | ’abala あばわ | ||
| existential | ’umi うみ | -mi み | mituja みとぢ | ’amila あみわ | fana へな | |
proximate:
- object noun: mari まり
- object determiner: -mari まり
- place: majja まっぢ
- action: marila まりわ
- manner: madusi まどせ
- state: marika まりか
distal:
- object noun: kasi かせ
- object determiner: -kasi かせ
- place: kasuja かすぢ
- action: kalisa かえさ
- manner: kadusi かどせ
- state: kasika かせか
interrogative:
- object noun: sama さま
- object determiner: -diku でく
- place: satta さった
- action: sulla すっわ
- manner: lara わら
- state: saqqa さっげ
negative:
universal:
existential:
Proximate forms have referents physically or psychologically near the speaker, whereas distal forms are used when the referent is far away. Interrogative forms are used in questions, and negative forms are used in negative sentences. Universal means “all” or “every”, and existential means “some” or “any”.
The existential markers are also used in complements.
ʔusu li xaha ’umi ru padissu.
。うすえざはうみるぱでっす。
1int com name something prs;gno learn.
“I learned what her name is.”
Object Noun
Object nouns are pronouns. Unlike some personal pronouns, these are not marked for animacy, and are thus used to represent people, animals or things.
Mari ra’u ’aggami. / Mari ra’u linu.
。まりらうえぬ。まりらうあっがみ。
mari ra’u ’aggami. / mari ra’u linu.
This prs;sta police. / This prs;sta tree.
“This (person) is a police officer.” / “This (object) is a tree.”
Fu kusama kuffa diru? / Fu kusama kuffa qikanni?
。ふくさまくっへねかっに。ふくさま ・ くっへでる。
fu ku-sama kuffa diru? / fu ku-sama kuffa qikanni?
2tra dat-what give money? / 2tra dat-what give dog?
“To whom did you give the money?” / “What did you give the dog?”
This latter example exploits the ability to swap dative and object for motive verbs.
Reduplicated indefinite pronouns with suffixed -ta た and are used for emphasis.
“what the…?”
“nothing and no one”
“never ever”
“absolutely everybody”
Object Determiner
Object determiners act as determiners. In most cases, derivations from the object noun forms are obvious.
“no sound”
“this country”
“some monarch”
“every fork”
“which mountain?”
“every me and every you”
Place
Place pronouns are used for locations in any, some or all of: space, time, reality and gingla. They can function as adverbial adpositions,
“The elephant drank water here” / “The elephant is drinking water now.”
or as nouns.
“Whence came you?”
Action
The action terms are pro-verbs, which can be used to replace ordinary verbs in sentences.
“What does your father do?”
Manner
Manner pro-forms are used to refer to the way in which an action is undertaken. They function as modal adverbs in active sentences, i.e.: sentences with overt or implied auxiliaries of activity.
Kimilli jannikiluqu kadusi ’ili cani?
。きみっえぢっにきをもかどせいえやに。
kimilli janni-kiluqu kadusi ’ili cani?
King move-walk that_way really prs;dyn?
“Does the king really walk that way?”
State
State pro-forms are used as modal adverbs in stative sentences, i.e.: sentences with overt or implied auxiliaries of state.
“How are you?”
They can also function as deteminers.
“This is some kind of treasure.”