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TUNDRIAN LANGUAGE / LINGUA TUNDRIANA

PRONOUNS

CONTENTS

Note that under pronouns we shall also deal with related parts of speech, such as possessive and demonstrative adjectives.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Tundrian personal pronouns normally have several case forms for each person, number and gender. They are:

  1. The nominative - used for the subject of the sentence, for the complement of stative verbs and for emphasis in replying to questions. Examples:
    • Subject: Tu vens demán? - Are you coming tomorrow?
    • Complement: Yera ella qui ha clamat. - It was she who has called.
    • Emphasis: Qui lhi enviará celâ carta? Nôs! - Who will send this letter to him? We will.
       
  2. The accusative - used for the direct object of the verb. Example:
    • Nos han vistos a lâ pisciyna. - They have seen us at the swimming pool.
       
  3. The dative - used for the indirect object of the verb. Example:
    • Mi dará cinq mil luras. - He will give me 5000 luras.
       
  4. The prepositional - used as the complement of prepositions. Examples:
    • El rey transmitte celo messatx a Doi. - The King transmits this message to you [very formal].
    • Dâ noi, a voi. - From us, to you.
    • Por lui, la qüessoun non havîa qualcún xîn. - For him, the question made no sense at all.
    • Cel livro fu escrut per illa. - This book was written by her.
    • La vêitura veine vêrs mei con una extreima vêlocitat. - The vehicle (car) came towards me with extreme speed.
       

The tables below provide the different forms of the personal pronoun:

NUMBER PERSON Nominative Accusative Dative Prepositional
Singular 1st jo me / m' mi mei
  2nd informal tu te / t' ti tei
  2nd neutral vôs vos voi voi (vous)
  2nd formal Doi Doi a Doi Doi
  3rd masculine il lo lhi lui
  3rd feminine ella lâ lé illa
Plural 1st nôs nos noi noi (nous)
  2nd informal vosaltri / vosaltre vos voi voi (vous)
  2nd neutral vôs vos voi voi (vous)
  2nd formal Doi Dos a Dos Dos
  3rd masculine elli los lhis ils
  3rd feminine elle las lés illas
Reflexive 3rd - se / s' si sei

NOTES

  1. The 2nd person informal forms (tu etc.) are used when talking to children, among close relatives and friends, in prayer, when addressing animals, and - increasingly - among peers at university and the workplace. Its former use of addressing social "inferiors" is now obsolete (and would be quite insulting).
     
  2. The 2nd person formal forms (Doi etc.) are becoming quite rare - they are essentially restricted to situations where one addresses a person of high social rank whom one does not actually know very well or at all, e.g. the managing director of one's company, the principal of one's school, and senior people in government, the army and the Church.
     
  3. In all other situations the 2nd person neutral pronouns (vôs etc.) are used, which - as can be seen - are identical in the singular and the plural. Children generally address all adults except close relatives with these forms, while adults use them addressing strangers, people they do not know very well, and anyone not considered more or less as a social equal. This is the usual form used between workers and clients in shops and service establishments (banks, restaurants, hotels, barbershops), between government employees and the public, and among strangers over the telephone.
     
  4. The accusative singular pronouns me, te and se are replaced by m', t' and s', respectively when immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel (including words beginning with a silent h). E.g.:
    • Ella m'ha visitat mûlte vices. - She has visited me many times.
    • El doctour t'examinará demán. - The doctor will examine you tomorrow.
    • S'és battut contra lâ guerra touta sûa viyta. - He has struggled against war all his life.
       
  5. The prepositional forms nous and vous are now obsolete, but can be found in older writings and poetry. In everyday usage, including written texts, they have been replaced by noi and voi, respectively. Thus, the 18th century phrase "Passarás lâ sêmaina con nous" would now read "Passarás lâ sêmaina con noi" (You shall pass the week with us).
     
  6. The gender of plural forms depends on whether the collectivity talked about or addressed contains males or masculine nouns: if they do (even one), the masculine forms must be used - the feminine forms are used only when every noun referred to is feminine.
     
  7. The reflexive pronoun is not used in the nominative.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

NUMBER PERSON BY FORM OF POSSESSED NOUN
Sing.
masc.		 Sing.
fem.		 Nom.
pl. m.		 Nom.
pl. f.		 Acc.pl. m. Acc.pl. f.
Singular 1st mêu / mî mîa mêi mîe mêus / mîs mîas
  2nd informal tûy / tû tûa tûi tûe tûs tûas
  2nd neutral vostro vostra vostri vostre vostros vostras
  3rd sûy / sû sûa sûi sûe sûs sûas
Plural 1st nostro nostra nostri nostre nostros nostras
  2nd vostro vostra vostri vostre vostros vostras
  3rd lour

Notes:

  1. Forms in red (e.g. mî) in the table above are the possessive adjectives when these are different from the corresponding pronoun. In all cases where there is no form in red, the possessive pronoun and adjective are identical. Examples of use of the possessive adjectives:
    • Mî melhour amiyc mi lo ha enviat. - My best friend has sent it to me.
    • En tû cas, haveim dêcidut differentment. - In your case, we have decided differently.
    • Sû mariyt és franceis. - Her husband is French.
    • Sûa mûlher és tundriana. - His wife is Tundrian.
    • Mêi filhi estûdzan en América. - My sons study in the US.
    • Hoy enviat mîs filhs a estûdzar en América. - I have sent my sons to study in the US.
       
  2. The 3rd person plural possessive pronoun / adjective does not vary by the number, gender or case of the nouns being possessed. Examples:
    • Cela vêitura és la lour. - This car is theirs.
    • Ço és lour escola.- This is their school.
    • Lour mariyti touti trapalhaban en lâ çutat. - Their husbands all worked in the city.
    • Han vendut toutas lour casas. - They have sold all their houses.
       
  3. There is no separate possessive reflexive pronoun / adjective - the normal 3rd person forms are used. Examples:
    • Lhi dé lo sû avriyc. - She gave him her (own) coat.
    • Lour dous enfanti êmigraron a los Estats Uniyts. - Their (own) two children emigrated to the US.
       

DEMONSTRATIVES

For the proximative ("this"), there is a distinction in Tundrian between the demonstrative pronoun (this is the book) and the demonstrative adjective (this book).  For the demonstrative denoting something at a distance from the speaker ("that"), the same forms are used for the pronoun and the adjective:

MEANING
Nom. sing. m. Nom.  sing. f.   Acc.     sing. m. Acc.  sing. f. Nom.  pl. m. Nom. pl. f. Acc.  pl. m.   Acc.   pl. f.
this, these [pron.]

ço
this, these [adj.] cel cela celo celâ celi cele celos celas
that, those quest questa quest questa questi queste questos questas

Note that the forms cela, celo, etc. are unstressed even though they contain two syllables. Thus they are pronounced /tʃəla/,  /tʃəlu/, etc.

Examples of use:

  • Ço és mî melhour amiyc. - This is my best friend.
  • Ço son le mîe conditzouni. - These are my conditions.
  • Cel avión és el plus rápid de nostra companía. - This airplane is the fastest of our company.
  • Cela casa mi appartzene depois treis âns. - This house has belonged to me for the past three years.
  • Volho que mi apports celo can demán. - I want you to bring me this dog tomorrow.
  • Da lhi celâ carta, por favour! - Give him this letter, please!
  • Celi soldati serán li mêi invitati. - These soldiers shall be my guests.
  • Son cele feule qui mi placen el plus. - It is these stories that I like the most.
  • Volerîa comprar celos livros. - I would like to buy these books.
  • Preinde celas flours! - Take these flowers!
  • Quest és mî filh alí. - That is my son over there.
  • Quest homne ne m'ha nûnca clamat. - That man has never called me.
  • Questa és mîa vêitura. - That is my car.
  • Pots prestar-mi quest livro? - Can you lend me that book?
  • Non volho encontrar questa persouna denôu. - I don't want to meet that person again.
  • Questi yeran uni belli jûrni. - Those were some beautiful days.
  • Questi cavalli guanharán mûlts prêims. - Those horses will win many prizes.
  • Que son belle queste rose! - Aren't those roses beautiful!
  • Plantavan questos piyns al comintz del seyl. - They planted those pine trees at the beginning of the century.
  • N'hoy visitat nûnca questas montanhas. - I have never visited those mountains.

INTERROGATIVE AND RELATIVE PRONOUNS

As in English, there is a close relationship in Tundrian between the interrogative pronoun ("Who?") and the corresponding relative pronoun ("who").  The forms are given in the table below:

ENGLISH EQUIVALENT INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN RELATIVE PRONOUN
who qui? qui
whom quén? quen; quén (after prep.)
whose cuy, -a? cuy, -a
what qué? ho que; qué (after prep.)
which qual? qual, el/la qual
how coum? coum
how much quant, -a? quant, -a
how many quanti / quante? quanti / quante
when quand? quand
where dûnd? dûnd
why por qué? por qué (for what reason) / por que (in order that); quar

Examples of use:

  • WHO
    • Qui ha guanhat? Who won?
    • El homne qui guanha obtzenrá mil dôllars. The man who wins will get $1000.
  • WHOM
    • Quén viydi con tei hieri seira? Whom did I see you with last night?
    • És el homne quen voy casar. He is the man whom I shall marry.
    • És el homne con quén veine a lâ festa hieri. He is the man with whom she came to the party yesterday.
  • WHOSE
    • Cuy avriyc és ço? Whose coat is this?
    • Ço és el homne cuya vêitura ha fut furata. This is the man whose car has been stolen.
    • Cuyas casas has vendutas? Whose houses have you sold?
  • WHAT
    • Qué son le ratzouni por sû comportament? What are the causes of his behaviour?
    • Ço és ho que mi ha apportat. This is what he has brought me.
    • Con qué t'ha cûrtat? What did he cut you with?
    • És ço con qué m'ha cûrtat. It is this that (what) he cut me with.
  • WHICH
    • Qual montanha és plus alta? Which mountain is higher?
    • Quest és el livro lo qual tropái a Taigo. That is the book (which) I found in Taigo.
    • Non saipo qual ti place. I don't know which one you like.
  • HOW
    • Coum voi gûsta la carn? How do you like your meat?
    • Mi diyxe coum tropara lo dinêr. She told me how she had found the money.
  • HOW MUCH
    • Quant saps? How much do you know?
    • Quanta aqua voi falle? How much water do you need?
    • Non sapeim quant moral resta al exêrcit. We do not know how much morale remains in the army.
  • HOW MANY
    • Quanti jûrni noi restan? How many days remain to us?
    • Quantas casas ha compratas? How many houses has he bought?
    • S'explica ací quante vices pots tzentar lo exame. It is explained here how many times you can try the exam.
  • WHERE
    • Dûnd seis nat? Where were you born?
    • Ço és dûnd jo trapalhava. This is where I used to work.
  • WHY
    • Por qué non ho mi has explicat? Why did you not explain it to me?
    • Mi diyxe por qué ella eulara a Pariys. She told me why she had gone to Paris.
    • Mi ho diyxe por que jo eulasse a Pariys. She told me why (in order that) I should go to Paris.
    • Quar n'és nûnca vêniyt! For he never came!

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

Alternate forms (when they) designate the masculine and feminine forms of the same pronoun or adjective.

all tout, -a
anybody qualcún, qualcuna
anything qualcausa
as much/many as ... tant, -a ... coum
both ambi, -e [pl.]
certain cert, -a
each, every (adj.) catún, catuna
each one, everyone (pn.) cata
enough assat
everybody touti, -e [pl.]
everything tout
little, few pauc, -a
much, many mûlt, -a
no (adj.) necún, necuna
nobody neim
nothing necuna causa; nulla
other altro, -a
one hom
only (sole) soul, -a
same metús, metussa
several vêri, -e [pl.]
some (a few) alcuni, -e [pl.]; uni, -e [pl.]
somebody alcún, alcuna
something alcuna causa
such tal
too much/many trôp de
whatever qualcausa-que
whoever qualcún-que

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