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3.2.2.2 Ordinals
Ordinals are simply derived from cardinals by suffixing {-na}. This system is so uniform that any learner can master it in no time.
For example :
/pàkhàt/ ‘one’ /pàkhàt-ná/ ‘first’
/pàhnì/ ‘two’  /pàhnì-ná/ ‘second’
/pàthúm/ ‘three’ /pàthùm-ná/ ‘third’
/pàlí/ ‘four’ /pli-ná/ ‘fourth’
/pàá/ ‘five’ /pàa-ná/  ‘fifth’
/pàrùk/ ‘six’  /pàrúk-ná/ ‘sixth’
/pàsàrì/ ‘seven’ /pàsíri-ná/ ‘seventh’
/pàríet/ ‘eight’ /pàríet-nà/ ‘eighth’
/pàkúo/ ‘nine’ /pàkúo-nà/ ‘ninth’
/sòm/ ‘ten’ /sòm-ná/ ‘tenth’
/sòm-pàkhàt/ ‘eleven’ /sòm -pàkhàt ná/ ‘eleventh’
When they form larger constructions with nouns they generally follow the nouns. The following examples could be seen :
/náupá pàkhàt-ná/ ‘first child’
/hàptá pàhnì-ná/ ‘second week’
/pàthíenní pàlì-ná/ ‘fourth sunday’
3.2.3 Pronouns
Pronouns constitute another important group of content class of words in Hmar. Although small in number this class of words play a very significant role in discourse. Pronouns share a lot of characteristics of the nouns and, therefore, they are often included in the broad class of nouns.
From the functional point of view pronouns in Hmar could be discussed under 3 categories. They are (i) personal pronouns (ii) demonstrative pronouns (iii) interrogative and relative pronouns. It may be useful to have a brief discussion regarding each of these categories.
3.2.3.1  Personal Pronouns
The personal pronouns in Hmar are very few in number. They manifest three grammatical persons such as first person which refers to the ego or the speaker, second person which refers to the addressee and third person which refers to the referee. While pronouns of first two persons refer only to ‘human nouns’ those of the 3rd person may be used to refer to non-human nouns including inanimate nouns. The personal pronouns in Hmar donot distinguish between inclusivity and exclusivity nor do they mark any distinction between masculine and feminine. They also do not manifest any rank distinction.
3.2.3.1.1 Number of Personal Pronouns
All the personal pronouns show a two-tier constrast in terms of number-singular and plural. The plural form in each case is related to the singular form or, is derivable from the singular form by some morphological processes.
The personal pronouns showing the person and number distinctions could be presented in the following table.
1st person /ká, kéi/ ‘I’ 1. /ká-n, kéinì/ ‘we’
2. /ei, eini/ (inclusive of hearer’
2nd person /ná, i/ ‘you in any rank’ 1. /ná-nì/
2/in/
‘you’
‘you’
3rd person 1. /á/
2. /ámà/
‘he, she, it’
‘he, she, it’
1. /á-n/
2. /á-nnì/
‘they’
‘they’

 

 

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