Pronouns
4G1. Personal Pronouns
“I” don; “you (sg.)” mon; “he, she, it” do; “we” niž or nitl; “you (pl.)” nož; “they” dol.
I / We
| Case | I (sg.) | We (pl.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | don | niž | nitltl |
| Gen. 1 | dir | nežer | nitlur |
| Gen. 2 | diye | nežeye | nitliyi |
| Gen. 3 | dide | nežede | nitlidi |
| Dat. 1 | dida | nežeda | nitlda |
| Dat. 2 | dikhkh | nežekh | nitlukh |
| Dat. 3 | dikhkhi | nežekhe | nitlukhi |
| Instr. 1 | dikhkha | nežekha | nitlukha |
| Instr. 2 | ditl | nežetl | nitlotl |
| Prep. 1 | didaṣṣa | neždaṣa | nitldaṣa |
| Prep. 2 | diča | nežeča | nitl |
| Prep. 3 | diṭa | nežeṭa | nitloṭa |
| Prep. 4 | dongon | nižgon | nitltlgon |
You (sg.) / You (pl.)
| Case | You (sg.) | You (pl.) |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | mon | nož |
| Gen. 1 | dur | nožor |
| Gen. 2 | duye | nožiye |
| Gen. 3 | dude | nožede |
| Dat. 1 | duda | nožeda |
| Dat. 2 | dukh | nožokh |
| Dat. 3 | dukhe | nožokhe |
| Instr. 1 | dukha | nožokha |
| Instr. 2 | dotltl | nožotltl |
| Prep. 1 | dudaṣa | nožedaṣa |
| Prep. 2 | duča | nožeča |
| Prep. 3 | duṭa | nožoṭa |
| Prep. 4 | mongon | nožgon |
He / She / It / They
| Case | He / She / It (sg.) | They (pl.) |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | do | dol |
| Gen. 1 | doṣul, dotltlun | dozol |
| Gen. 2 | doṣiye, dotliye | doziye |
| Gen. 3 | doṣde, dolde | dozde |
| Dat. 1 | doṣda, dolda | dozda |
| Dat. 2 | doṣukh, dotlukh | dozukh |
| Dat. 3 | doṣukhe, dotlukhe | doṣukhe |
| Instr. 1 | doṣukha, dotlukha | dozukha |
| Instr. 2 | doṣotltl, dotlotltl | dozotltl |
| Prep. 1 | doṣḍassa, doldaṣa | dosdaṣa |
| Prep. 2 | doṣ, dotltl | doz |
| Prep. 3 | doṣṭa, dolṭa | dozṭa |
| Prep. 4 | dogon | dolgon |
4G2. Demonstrative Pronouns
| M. | F. | N. | Plural (all genders) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “this” | hau, hav | hii | hab | hal |
| “that” | ghau | ghai | ghab | ghol |
They are declined like adjectives — by dropping the final letter and replacing it with the endings given in the adjective table.
4G3. Determinative Pronouns
jivgo (m.), jiigo (f.), jibgo (n.) “oneself” (“I-myself,” “it-itself,” etc.); jalgo “themselves,” plural (common).
I give their full declension by way of illustration. The ending drops, except where it is used emphatically in the nominative, but it may be added for emphasis in all the other cases. With the exception of the nominative and the first instrumental, where it has the form jib (neuter), the neuter coincides with the feminine.
| Case | M. | F. | Plural (common) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | jiv | jiy | jal |
| Gen. 1 | jinṣol | jinḍir | jodir |
| Gen. 2 | jindaṣan | jinḍaṣan | jodidaṣan |
| Gen. 3 | jinṣukhkha | jinḍikhkha | jodikhakha |
| Dat. 1 | junṣukhkhi | jinḍikhkhi | jodikhkhi |
| Dat. 2 | junṣiyi | jinḍiyi | jodiyi |
| Dat. 3 | jinṣda | jinḍda | jodida |
| Instr. 1 | jiv gon | jiy gon | jal gon |
| Instr. 2 | jinṣda tlon | jinḍda tlon | jodida tlon |
| Prep. 1 | jinṣukh | jinḍukh | jodikhkh |
| Prep. 2 | jinṣṭa | jinḍṭa | jodiṭa |
| Prep. 3 | jinṣotltl | jinḍitltl | joditltl |
| Prep. 4 | jinṣiyi 'olo | jinḍiyi 'olo | jodiyi 'olo |
The neuter jib, except in the nominative and first instrumental where it takes the form jib gon, is declined like the feminine.
4G4. Possessive Pronouns
Dir “my,” dur “your,” doṣul “his” do not change for case or number, even in combination with a substantive. In reality these are the genitives of the personal pronouns don, mon, do, and may themselves be declined.
4G5. Indefinite Pronouns
Such as žoči “whoever” (literally “one or which person,” from tzo “one” — becoming žo in combination — and či “person”); Sunigi “someone” (m.), sinigi (f.), ṣibnigi (n.) are declined like nouns.
I give the declension of the latter; that of the former is very simple: ۋremains unchanged, while the accompanying چpasses through the phases to which it adapted in isolation.
šunigi, šinigi, šibnigi, šalnigi — “someone” (m. and f.), “something” (n.), “someone or something” (pl.).
| Case | M. | F. | Plural (common) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | šunigi | šinigi | šalnigi |
| Gen. 1 | yaṣol | yatlol | yaḍotl |
| Gen. 2 | yaṣdaṣan | yaldaṣṣa | yaḍdaḍan |
| Gen. 3 | yaṣakhkha | yatlokhakha | yaḍakhakha |
| Dat. 1 | yaṣakhikhi | yatlokhikhi | yaḍakhikhi |
| Dat. 2 | yaṣṣi | yatli | yaḍdi |
| Dat. 3 | yaṣda | yalda | yaḍda |
| Instr. 1 | šivnigon | sinigon | salnigon |
| Instr. 2 | yaṣda tlon | yalda tlon | yaḍda tlon |
| Prep. 1 | yaṣukh | yatlokh | yaḍokh |
| Prep. 2 | yaṣṭa | yalṭa | yaḍṭa |
| Prep. 3 | yaṣotltl | yatlotltl | yaḍotltl |
| Prep. 4 | yaṣṣi 'olo | yali 'olo | yaḍi 'olo |
The neuter šibnigi and šibnigon differs from the feminine only in the nominative and first instrumental.
4G6. Interrogative Pronouns
šu, ši — “who” (m. and f.); šib — “which, what” (n. and pl.); šall — pl. (common).
| Case | Who (m./f.) | What (n./pl.) | Pl. (common) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | šu | ši | šal |
| Gen. 1 | tlil | tlil | šalazol / tlilazol |
| Gen. 2 | tlalasdassa / tlidaṣṣa | šiyaldassa | šalaḍdaṣṣa / tlilaḍaṣṣa |
| Gen. 3 | tlilaṣokhkha / tlikhkha | šiyatllokha | šalaḍokhkha / tlilaḍokhkha |
| Dat. 1 | tlilaṣokhkhi / tlikhkhi | šiyatlokhi | šalaḍokhkhi / tlilaḍokhkhi |
| Dat. 2 | tlilaṣi / tliyi | šiyatli | šalaži / tliladi |
| Dat. 3 | tlilaṣda / tlida | šiyalda | šalazda / tlilaḍda |
| Instr. 1 | šiv gon | ši gon | šal gon |
| Instr. 2 | tlilaṣda tlon / tlida tlon | šiyalda tlon | šalazḍatlon / tlilaḍdatlon |
| Prep. 1 | tlilaṣokh / tlikhkho | šiyalokh | šalazokh / tlilaḍokh |
| Prep. 2 | tlilaṣṭa / tlita | šiyalṭa | šalazṭa / tlilaḍṭa |
| Prep. 3 | siv čiyaṣotl | šičučayatlotl | šalčaiyadotl |
| Prep. 4 | tlilaṣṣi 'olo / tlili 'olo | šiyatli 'olo | tlilaḍi 'olo / šalazi 'olo |
I do not give the full neuter declension of šib; it differs from the feminine only in substituting b for i or y.
4G7. Notes
All pronouns, except the determinatives and interrogatives, can take the ending -go when combined with a verb. For example, havuna dižago — “I did it myself,” of my own accord.
When an interrogative pronoun precedes an active verb, it takes the form tliṣa, as in tliṣa hobuna — “Who did this?” There are other verbs that govern the first person of the pronoun don, which, in combination with a verb governing the dative (2) and (3), changes its form along with the verb; thus dida vigana “I saw,” but not don vašana; ditza vigona, but not diža vigana. But these are the subtleties of grammar to which few pay attention.
Indeed, the data of my MS. suggest that the verb votlizi “to love” is probably the only one governing the dative (2).