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Ngehu: Difference between revisions
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=====Indefinite===== | =====Indefinite===== | ||
Indefinite pronouns are, in many cases, simply omitted. | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | '''''I nye zowa.''''' | |||
|- | |||
|i || nye || zowa | |||
|- | |||
|<small>COP</small> || current.<small>E</small> || move.to.2S.<small>AG</small> | |||
|- | |||
| "is" || "current one" || "one who comes to you" | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="3" | ''Someone/something is coming.'' | |||
|} | |||
The three most important words that are frequently used as indefinite pronouns are: | |||
* '''nwa''' = one, something, someone [countable, singular] | |||
* '''we''' = some, plural, more than one [countable, plural] | |||
* '''mbwo''' = some, substance [uncountable] | |||
Each of these has its own genitive contraction: | |||
* '''ya nwa''' → '''mbya''' = of one, of something, of someone | |||
* '''ya we''' → '''vye''' = of some, of plural, of more than one | |||
* '''ya mbwo''' → '''mbyo''' = of some, of a substance | |||
In addition, the nouns '''ngo''' 'person' and '''nu''' 'thing' may be used indefinitely to mean "somebody/someone" and "something" respectively. However, due to the tendency of most nouns to be interpreted as definite when they are in the subject, these are frequently either replaced by the more explicitly indefinite '''nwango''' 'someone' and '''nwanu''' 'something' respectively, or used in the predicate of the sentence. | |||
:{| | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="5" | '''''<span style="color:blue">I ngo ye</span> nye zowa.''''' | |||
|- | |||
|i || ngo || ye || nye || zowa | |||
|- | |||
|<small>COP</small> || person || ATTR || current.<small>E</small> || move.to.2S.<small>AG</small> | |||
|- | |||
| "is" || "person" || "that is" || "current one" || "one who comes to you" | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="5" | ''<span style="color:blue">Someone</span> is coming.'' | |||
|- | |||
| colspan="5" | ''<span style="color:blue">There is a person who</span> is coming.'' | |||
|} | |||
=====Interrogative===== | =====Interrogative===== | ||