Chlouvānem/Morphology: Difference between revisions

* 1st person '''lili''' (sg.), '''lilše''' (dual), and '''main''' (pl.).

* 2nd person informal '''sāmi''' (sg.) and '''saše''' (dual).

* 2nd person formal superior '''nani''' (sg.; also used for 2nd plural, both informal and formal generic) and '''naše''' (dual).


* 2nd person formal equal '''ravi''' (sg.) and '''raude''' (dual).

* 2nd person formal inferior '''kūri''' (sg.) and '''kūḍe''' (dual).

* 3rd person '''tami''' (sg.), '''taṃše''' (dual), and '''taman''' (pl.).

* Three demonstratives, all declining for case only, not for number: proximal '''nenē'''; medial '''nunū'''; distal '''nanā'''.

* The possessives: '''lilyā''', '''lileṣyā''', '''mājñā''', '''sāmyā''', '''sareṣyā''', '''nanyā''', '''nanešā''', '''ravyā''', '''ravedyā''', '''kūryā''', '''kūredyā''', '''tamyā''', '''tameṣyā''', '''tamanyā''', '''demyā''', ('''yanyā''').

Among younger speakers in some areas the Jade Coast, most notably in Līlasuṃghāṇa, Taitepamba, and Mileyīkhā, demonstratives and possessives are not inflected at all, e.g. ''lili nanā phēcamu mišau'' "I saw that cat" instead of standard ''lili nanau phēcamu mišau''.

As mentioned before, Chlouvānem does not distinguish singular formal superior and plural "you", having the single pronoun ''nani'' for both. Unlike the similar situation in English, Chlouvānem still differentiates them by marking number on the verb, so for example "you (sg) work" is ''nani pūni'', and "you (pl) work" is ''nani pūnašin''. Originally, ''nani'' was only the 2nd person singular feminine pronoun (as shown by its cognates in other Lahob languages); in Archaic Chlouvānem the original plural pronoun ''nagin'' is attested, but we lack attestations of any form except the direct and the genitive (''nagyā'').

! rowspan=6 | Singular !! colspan=3 | 1st person

| '''lili''' || lū || lēyet || lilyā || liñ || lit || lęs || loh || ląu || lǣ || līp

| '''sāmi''' || sū || sēyet || sāmyā || sāñ || sāt || sąs || soh || sąu || sǣ || šīp

| '''nani''' || nyū || nyēt || nanyā || nyāñ || nyāt || nyąs || nyoh || nyąu || nyǣ || nīp

| '''ravi''' || rū || rēyet || ravyā || rāñ || rāt || rąs || roh || rąu || rǣ || rīp

| '''kūri''' || kū || kūyet || kūryā || kūñ || kūt || kųs || kūroh || kųu || kūrǣ || kūrīp

| '''demi''' || diū || dēyit || demyā || deñ || det || dęs || doh || dąu || dǣ || dīp

! rowspan=6 | Dual !! colspan=3 | 1st person

| '''lilše''' || lilut || liārat || lileṣyā || lilšās || lilšāt || lilšña || lilšoh || lilšų || lilšǣ || lilšī

| '''saše''' || sašut || sārat || sareṣyā || sarās || sašāt || sašña || sašoh || sašų || sašǣ || saršī

| '''naše''' || našut || nārat || nanešā || našās || našāt || našña || našoh || našų || našǣ || nanšī

| '''raude''' || raudut || rālat || ravedyā || raudās || raudāt || raudna || raudoh || raudų || raudǣ || raudī

| '''kūḍe''' || kūḍut || kūrat || kūredyā || kūḍās || kūḍāt || kūḍṇa || kūḍoh || kūḍų || kūḍǣ || kūrdī

! rowspan=3 | Plural !! colspan=3 | 1st person

| '''main''' || mū || mān || mājñā || maiñ || mait || mais || mayoh || mąu || mehǣ || menīk

| '''nani''' || nyū || nyēt || nanyā || nyāñ || nyāt || nyąs || nyoh || nyąu || nyǣ || nīp

| '''yani''' || yū || ēyit || yanyā || yañ || yat || yąs || yoh || yų || yǣ || īp

'''yavyāta''' (though often replaced by ''nani'') and '''yakaliyātam''' are used as formal second person plural pronouns; they are however nouns and decline as such (as singular 1-h and 1-m declension respectively, but they take plural verbs and adjectives). Various other nouns may be used as second- or third-person pronouns depending on the situation; see [[Chlouvānem/Morphology#Honorifics|the following section on honorifics]] for a list of them and their usage.

* ''ñæltah hånyadaikire purṣīnaviṣyu lēyet emęlyosi'' - It is my sister I gave that wonderful poetry book to. — note how it is simply ''ñæltah'' and not ''lilyā ñæltah'' because of the presence of the ergative pronoun ''lēyet''.

If the sentence is focussed on a verb-marked (i.e. with a dropped pronoun) agent, it is more common to use the possessive. In many colloquial varieties of Chlouvānem, there is a developing distinction between using the reflexive and the 1st- or 2nd- person forms, where the reflexive is more commonly (but still not exclusively!) used for alienable possession and the other for inalienable possession. Thus, "my sister" is more commonly ''lilyā ñæltah'', while "my book" is more commonly ''demyā naviṣya'', at least in a sentence with a first person focus. The above example would become ''lilyåh ñæltom hånyadaikire purṣīnaviṣyu emęlyaṃte''; one could also stress the fact it's their own book and thus say ''lilyåh ñæltom hånyadaikire demyau purṣīnaviṣyu emęlyaṃte''.<br/>Still, even in this case, "mother" and "father" would still lack a possessive, as referring to someone else's mother or father would anyway need the honorific words ''nāḍima'' and ''tāmvāram'' respectively, instead of ''meinā'' and ''bunā''.

| rowspan=2 | ''nenē''<br/>this (one) || rowspan=2 | ''nunū''<br/>that (one) (near you) || rowspan=2 | ''nanā''<br/>that (one) (over there) || rowspan=2 | ''yananū?''<br/>what?, which (one) ? || ''gu''<br/>no || ''sora''<br/>some || ''læti''<br/>any || rowspan=2 | ''yaiva''<br/>every(thing) || ''viṣam''<br/>another, other || ''guviṣam''<br/>no other

! <small>All possessives, ''nanā'', ''yacāryā?'',<br/> ''ami'', correlatives in ''-i''<ref>e.g. ''læti'', ''sorami''…</ref></small> !! <small>''nenē'' only</small> !! <small>''nunū'' and ''yananū?''</small> !! <small>''yasmāt?'' and ''yanūḍat?''</small>