Pronouns
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The grammar of pronouns in Tandi
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 1 Nov 2017, 14:55.
[comments] tanpronounsgrammar
2. Derivation
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There are eleven personal pronouns that represent various persons and numbers. There are singular pronouns and plural pronouns, including both inclusive and exclusive for the first person pronouns, and the third person is split into separate pronouns for the animate, inanimate, and abstract classes of nouns.
All pronouns decline as though they were indefinite singular nouns. The first and second person pronouns decline as though they were animate nouns, while the third person pronouns decline according to their class.
Substantive possessive pronouns (e.g. “ours” or “yours”) can be used as an adjective with a copula. In this case, they decline to match the referent’s class and number. These substantive possessives are formed by adding <-:ar> to the appropriate possessor prefix, where the symbol <:> indicates that the preceding vowel is doubled. For example, “mine” would be minnar while “yours (plural)” would be nussar.
boji trieðäs minnar
/b̪oji t̪ɾieðæs min:ɑɾ/
b-oji
be-IND.PRES.3S.PTV trie-ðäs
dog-DEF.SG.PTV minnar
mine.AN.SG.POSI
the dog is mine
minnarboji trieðäs
/min:ɑɾb̪oji t̪ɾieðæs/
minnar-b-oji
mine.ANAnimate (gender/class)
alive, moving.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.POSIPositive (class)
standard adjective-be-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns trie-ðäs
dog-DEFDefinite
"the".SGSingular (number)
one countable entity.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns
the dog is mine
Substantivals can also be declined directly as a noun. When used this way, they are almost always declined as definite nouns.
øjødboiz minnarðään
/øjød̪b̪oi̯z min:ɑɾðæ:n/
øjød-b-oiz
red-be-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns minnar-ðään
mine-ANAnimate (gender/class)
alive, moving.DEFDefinite
"the".PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns
mine are red
Substantivals can additionally be declined as a noun by adding the appropriate possessor prefix to determiners (e.g. “that” and “those”), numbers (e.g. “one”), or quantifiers (e.g. “some” and “many”). This is generally done to signal some sort of qualification or quantification. These words are almost always declined as indefinite nouns.
øjødboiz minšykroðan
/øjød̪b̪oi̯z minɕykɾoðɑn/
øjød-b-oiz
red-be-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns min-šykro-ðan
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned-that-INDEFIndefinite
a nonspecific referent.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns
(those of) mine are red
øjødboiz mintulgeðan
/øjød̪b̪oi̯z mint̪ulgeðɑn/
øjød-b-oiz
red-be-INDIndicative mood (mood)
a common form of realis.PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns min-tulge-ðan
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.POSSGPossessed (case)
marks being owned-some-INDEFIndefinite
a nonspecific referent.PLPlural (number)
more than one/few.PTVPartitive (number)
'some of' or for mass nouns
some of mine are red
There are several other pronouns beyond the personal pronouns.
Reciprocal Pronoun
There is a single reciprocal pronoun, sembe, which can be translated as “each other” or “one another”. It signifies that two or more agents act reciprocally upon each other.
Reflexive Pronoun
There is a single reflexive pronoun, brogu, which can be translated as “self”. Unlike in English, it does not decline to indicate whose self (e.g. “myself” vs “yourself”); rather, this is understood within the context of the sentence.
Relative Pronouns
The main method of relativizing a clause is by using verb participles. However, in more complex relative phrases, this construction is sometimes impossible. For these cases, there exist two relative pronouns. Any clause that relativizes an oblique argument must use one of the relative pronouns.
English contrasts restrictive vs. non-restrictive relativization using commas in writing and pauses in speech.
Tandi, on the other hand, uses different lexical pronouns. Restrictive relative clauses (e.g. “The man who lives in this house is gone”) are formed using the pronoun ter. Non-restrictive relative clauses (e.g. “The man, who lives in this house, is gone”) are formed using the pronoun sor. Unlike in English, non-restrictive relative clauses do not need commas or any change in prosody.Relative pronouns are declined to match the class and number of its referent in the matrix clause, and its grammatical case in the embedded clause.
Interrogatives and Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used in place of the normal usage of their referent. The syntax and intonation of the sentence do not normally change, though many speakers may add vocal emphasis to the pronoun.
Answering a non-yes/no question can involve answer ellipses. In such a case, only the focused constituent is provided, declined into the proper case.
Yes/no questions are asked by adding the clitic
Tandi has no words corresponding to “yes” or “no”. To respond to a yes/no question, you can either repeat the verb (to indicate affirmation) or negate the verb, or you can do the same with the pro-verb gril to mean “I do [it]” or “I don’t [do it]”.| Interrogative | Proximal | Distal | Existential | Elective | Universal | Negative | Alternative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| um- | ly- | šy- | tul- | we- | ju- | fyn- | ry- | ||
| Determiner & Pronoun | -kro | umkro | lykro | šykro | tulkro | wekro | jukro | fynkro | rykro |
| Location | -sai | umsai | lysai | šysai | tulsai | wesai | jusai | fynsai | rysai |
| Time | -pir | umpir | lypir | šypir | tulpir | wepir | jupir | fynpir | rypir |
| Manner | -kur | umkur | lykur | šykur | tulkur | wekur | jukur | fynkur | rykur |
| Reason | -bjur | umbjur | lybjur | šybjur | tulbjur | webjur | jubjur | fynbjur | rybjur |
| Quantity | -ge | umge | lyge | šyge | tulge | wege | juge | fynge | ryge |
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