Wena: Difference between revisions

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In the third person, when talking about a number of people or things, modifiers are frequently used to disambiguate between referents that would otherwise all be referred to as '''''de'''''. Some commonly used phrases are '''''de la''''' 'the woman', '''''de hu''''' 'the man', '''''de ngo''''' 'the person', '''''de nu''''' 'the thing'. These are also very commonly used without '''''de''''', as definiteness tends not to be marked explicitly except through the use of the genitive form '''''zyi'''''.
In the third person, when talking about a number of people or things, modifiers are frequently used to disambiguate between referents that would otherwise all be referred to as '''''de'''''. Some commonly used phrases are '''''de la''''' 'the woman', '''''de hu''''' 'the man', '''''de ngo''''' 'the person', '''''de nu''''' 'the thing'. These are also very commonly used without '''''de''''', as definiteness tends not to be marked explicitly except through the use of the genitive form '''''zyi'''''.


=====Reciprocal and reflexive pronouns=====
=====Reciprocal=====


The reciprocal pronoun is '''''dede''''' 'each other', 'one another'. It has the genitive form '''''zyide'''''.
The reciprocal pronoun is '''''dede''''' 'each other', 'one another'. It has the genitive form '''''zyide'''''.
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=====Reflexive=====


Reflexive pronouns may be formed by suffixing '''''-zu''''' onto any of the personal pronouns. In the first and second persons, the '''''-zu''''' is only used emphatically and otherwise dropped. In the third person, the '''''zu''''' is a separate word and it is the important part of the phrase, with the '''''de''''' able to be dropped.
Reflexive pronouns may be formed by suffixing '''''-zu''''' onto any of the personal pronouns. In the first and second persons, the '''''-zu''''' is only used emphatically and otherwise dropped. In the third person, the '''''zu''''' is a separate word and it is the important part of the phrase, with the '''''de''''' able to be dropped.
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