SamSkandinavisk pronouns

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Personal pronouns

The SamSkandinavisk personal pronoun system is very similar to that of Danish, Norwegian-Bokmål and Swedish, and incidentally quite close to English. Pronouns inflect for person, case, number, and, in the third person singular, gender. Unlike English there is a separate third-person reflexive pronoun sig (himself, herself, itself, themselves). SamSka also keeps a distinct 2nd person singular du (you) and i (you plural), and objective forms of these. Reflexive forms are not used for the first and second person, mig for example can mean both me or myself.

Table of Personal pronouns

Singular Plural
Person Nominative Objective Possessive: com./neut./pl. Person Nominative Objective Possessive: com./neut./pl.
1st jeg [jeɪ] mig [meɪ] min [miːn] / mitt [mɪtː] / mine [ˈmiːnə] 1st vi [viː] oss [ɔsː] vår [vɔːr] / vårt [vɔːʈ] / våre [ˈvɔːrə]
2nd du [duː] dig [deɪ] din [diːn] / ditt [dɪtː] / dine [ˈdiːnə] 2nd i [iː] eder [ˈeːdər, eːr] eders [ˈeːdəʂ, eːʂ]
3rd Masc. han [hanː] hanem [ˈhɑːnəm] / ham [hamː] hans [hanːs] 3rd de [deː] dem [deːm] deres [ˈdeːrəs]
3rd Fem. hon [hɔnː] henne [ˈhɛnːə] hennes [ˈhɛnːəs]
3rd Common den [dɛnː] den [dɛnː] dens [dɛnːs]
3rd Neut. det [dɛ] det [dɛ] dets [dɛtːs, dɛsː]
3rd Impers. man [manː] en [eːn] ens [eːns]
(3rd Reflex.) sig [seɪ] sin [siːn] / sitt [sɪtː] / sine [ˈsiːnə] (3rd Reflex) sig [seɪ] sin [siːn] / sitt [sɪtː] / sine [ˈsiːnə]

Some possessive pronouns (for example 1st singular) are inflected similarly to adjectives, agreeing in gender and number with the item possessed.

The distinction between du and i is intended to be purely one of number. Du is to address a single person and i to address two or more people. There is no particular level of formality associated with either pronoun. Unlike with German du or French tu, SamSka du can be used to address adult strangers of any social rank.

Den is the equivalent of it used for common gender nouns. It is used for nouns when the grammatical gender is common and they have no physical gender. This could include inanimate objects, abstract concepts and animals where the physical gender is not known or not relevant. For example a bok (book) would normally be referred to as den. But a hankatt (tomcat) might instead be referred to as han (he) because it has a known and relevant physical gender. Den may also be used as a gender neutral pronoun to talk about a person when the physical gender is not yet known or not considered relevant. This can be used in non-sexist language to avoid a preference for male or female.

The third person pronouns det, den and de also serve as demonstrative pronouns, roughly equivalent to English that and those, and as definite articles, equivalent to English the.

The reflexive pronoun is used when the object or possessive is identical to the grammatical subject of the sentence: han kysste sin hustru. "he kissed his (own) wife". han kysste hans hustru "he kissed his (somebody else's) wife"

Man the impersonal pronoun is used in a similar way to formal English "one", or more informally "you" or "they". It refers people in general but to no one in particular.

Interrogative Pronouns

hvad [ʍɑː(d)] what, whatever

hvar [ʍɑːr] where, how, which

hvardan [ˌʍɑːrˈdɑːn] how

hvarför [ˌʍɑːrˈføːr] what for, why

när [næːr] / hvarnär [ˌʍɑːrˈnæːr] when, whenever

hvarledes [ˌʍɑːrˈleːðəs] how

hvem [ʍɛmː] who, whom, which, which one

hvo [ʍoː] who

hvilken [ˈʍɪlːkən] which, which one, who, whom, what, how Neuter = hvilket; plural = hvilke.

hvis [ʍiːs] whose, of which, of whom

Demonstrative Pronouns

det [dɛ] that (neuter)

den [dɛnː] that (common)

de [deː] those (plural)

dette [ˈdɛtːə] this (neuter)

denne [ˈdɛnːə] this (common)

desse [ˈdɛsːə] these, such (plural)

där [dæːr] there, over there, at that place, yonder

dit [diːt] there, thither, yonder, that way, to that place

därfrå [ˌdæːrˈfrɔː] from there, thence, therefrom

[dɔː] at that time, in that case, then

her [heːr] here, herein, this place

hit [hiːt] hither, here, to this place

Relative Pronouns

hvad [ʍɑː(d)] what

hvardan [ˌʍɑːrˈdɑːn] as, like, such as

hvarför [ˌʍɑːrˈføːr] why

hvem [ʍɛmː] that

hvilken [ˈʍɪlːkən] that, which, who, whom. Neuter = hvilket; plural = hvilke.

när [næːr] when, whenever, as

där [dæːr] where, which

den som [dɛnː sɔmː] the one that, who

dit [diːt] where

som [sɔmː] that, which, who, whom

Other Pronouns and Pronoun-like Determiners

all [alː] all, any, every, everyone

alle [ˈalːə] all, everyone, any, everybody

allesammen [ˌalːəˈsamːən] everybody, everyone, all of them / you / us, altogether

allt [alːt] all, everything, anything, the lot

allting [ˌalːˈtɪŋː] everything

alltsammen [ˌalːtˈsamːən] everything

annen [ˈanːən] other, another, others, else. Indefinite common = annen; indefinite neuter = annet; definite = andre.

enhver [ˌeːnˈʍeːr] each, every, all, any, anybody, everybody, everyone

hver [ʍeːr] each, every, all the, everybody, everyone

hverandre [ˌʍeːrˈanːdrə] each other, one another

ingen [ˈɪŋːən] none, nobody, no one, nothing. Neuter = inget; plural = inge

ingenting [ˌɪŋːənˈtɪŋː] nothing, naught

mange [ˈmaŋːə] Comparative = flere / mangere; superlative = flest / mangest. many, a lot

någen [ˈnɔːjən] any, anybody, anyone, some, somebody, someone, anything, something

någet [ˈnɔːjət] any, anything, some, something

själv [ʃɛlːv] oneself

somme [ˈsɔmːə] some

slik [sliːk] such