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===Pronouns=== | ===Pronouns=== | ||
==== Personal Pronouns ==== | |||
Personal pronouns make more distinctions in number than nouns do. Where nouns have merely a singular, a collective, and a plural, pronouns come in singular, dual, paucal (or collective), and plural. The dual is used for pairs and dyads. The paucal is generally used to refer to a set of closely bonded individuals, such as in a marriage or small kingroup, and other groups that act collectively. The plural is used to refer to larger unrelated groups of people. Thus the paucal has lost its strict numerical value and become a collective plural, while the plural remains a non-collective plural. Kēlen culture approves of collectives, so the paucal is actually more widespread than the plural. | |||
Furthermore, the first person pronouns come in both exclusive and inclusive varieties. Exclusive excludes 2nd person, and inclusive includes it. Or, first person exclusive refers to 'me and him or her, but not you', or first person plus third person, and first person inclusive refers to 'me and you and maybe him or her, too', or first person plus second and/or third person. | |||
{| class="bluetable" | |||
|- | |||
! Person !! Singular !! Dual !! Paucal !! Plural | |||
|- | |||
| 1p (''exclusive'') || liēn || liēnne || lēim || liēþ | |||
|- | |||
| 1p (''inclusive'') || - || liēr || ñēim || ñiēþ | |||
|- | |||
| 2p || riēn || riēnne || rēim || riēþ | |||
|- | |||
| 3p || sāen || sāenne || sāim || sāeþ | |||
|} | |||
There are two modifiers that can modify pronouns, '''tēna''' and '''āñ'''. '''tēna''' can modify any non-singular pronoun to add emphasis by specifying "both" or "each". '''āñ''' can modify any pronoun, turning it into a reflexive form. | |||
==== Reduced and Relative Pronouns ==== | |||
There are four reduced pronouns. One is used only as a relative pronoun, the others appear in both roles. | |||
{| class="bluetable" | |||
|- | |||
! Person !! Form | |||
|- | |||
| 1p || le | |||
|- | |||
| 2p || ri | |||
|- | |||
| 3p anim. || ma | |||
|- | |||
| 3p inan. (''relative only'') || ja | |||
|} | |||
The pronoun '''le''' is often used in place of singular, dual, and paucal forms of 1p, exclusive and inclusive. This is considered a polite usage. The pronoun '''ri''' can be used in place of singular, dual, and occasionally paucal forms of 2p, but is considered impolite. Finally, '''ma''' is often used in place of any of the 3p animate forms, and is neutral as far as politeness is concerned, though in some contexts it could be interpreted as impolite. Most often the reduced forms occur in oblique phrases and not as an object of a relational. | |||
These forms can all be used as relative pronouns, though the 3rd person reduced pronouns are the most prevalent relative pronouns. Also, there is a special relative pronoun '''ien''' which is only used to relativize the object of the relational SE. | |||
==== Definite Pronouns ==== | |||
Inflected nouns can be definite or indefinite. Generally definiteness is clear in context. When one wants to explicitly state that a noun is definite, one can use one of three definite pronouns. These are '''xō''', '''þō''', and '''āke'''. They mean 'this', 'that', and 'the other' respectively. They generally follow the noun they modify, but can immediately precede it. They can also be used to reference a previously mentioned noun. However, in certain contexts, the noun they are assumed to modify is 'place', so they can also be interpreted as: | |||
{| class="bluetable" | |||
|- | |||
! Pronoun !! Meaning | |||
|- | |||
| xō || 'this place, here' | |||
|- | |||
| þō || 'that place, there' | |||
|- | |||
| āke || 'that other place, yonder' | |||
|} | |||
=== Verbs === | === Verbs === | ||
=== Relationals === | === Relationals === | ||