| 3.2.1.1.
Morphological construction |
| On
the basis of the information given above, it would be possible to
establish the morphological construction of the personal pronouns,
which is : |
| root
+ number +
case. |
| This
would give a total of our morphological constructions, as in : |
| root
alone |
no
`you’ (sg) |
| root
+ number |
no´ł
`you’ (pl) |
| root
+ case |
olaw
`to you’ (sig) |
| root
+ number +case |
o´łlaw
`to you (pl)’ |
|
|
| 3.2.2.2.
Sub-classification of the pronouns |
| On
the basis of both the function as well as the different grammatical
categories that the pronouns take, it would be possible to set-up
a few Sub-classes of pronouns like : personal pronouns, reflexive
pronouns, possessive pronouns, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns,
and indefinite pronouns. A brief discussion of these follows. |
| (1)
Personal Pronouns |
| The
personal pronouns function as replacements for co-referential noun
phrases in the neighbouring (usually the preceeding) clause. |
| The
first and second person personal pronouns in the singular and dual
have two sets of forms, the full forms when occurring as the subject
of a verb and a clitic when occurring as part of the predicate. The
nominative forms are ni `I’ and no `you’ (sg), while the corresponding
clitic forms are without the initial consoant, viz., i `I’ and o `you’
(sg). When these forms occur as the direct object of a verb, the clitics
are prefixed without pause to the verb or to the dual marker. The
clitic form also occurs when these pronouns occur as a determiner
in a determiner-determined construction (i.e., in the possessive function),
for instance : |
| pano
iithuluwe |
`he
saw me’ |
| pano
iluzo ithluwe |
`he
saw us (dual)’ |
| pano
oithuluwe |
`he
saw you (sg)’ |
| pano
kakulakhģ ocöwe |
`he
gave you a book’ |
| pano
kakulakhģ okuzo ithuluwe |
`he
gave you (dual) a book’ |
| ikģ |
`my
house’ |
| okģ |
`your
house’ |
| opu |
`your
father’ etc. |
|
|
| The
first and the second person personal pronouns in the plural and the
third person personal pronouns, in their different numbers have the
same shape when occurring both as the subject and the object of a
verb and also as the determiner in a determiner-determined construction,
as in : |
pano
ni ł
ithuluwe |
`he
saw us’ |
| pano
nół
ithuluwe |
`he
saw you (pl)’ |
| ino
pa ithuluwa |
`I
saw him’ |
| ino
li ithuluwa |
`I
saw them (dual)' |
| li
panół
ithuluwe |
`I
saw them’ |
| li
niłkģlo
iFe |
`she
come to our house’ |
| li
pakģlo iFe |
`she
came to his house’ etc. |
|
|
| (2)
Reflexive pronoun |
| The
reflexive pronouns normally replace a co-referential noun phrase in
the same finite verb clause. In Sema, in conjunction with an invariable
form, viz. kuthosina `self’ the personal pronouns function as the
reflexive pronouns. The same form viz. kuthosina `self’ occurs with
the different personal pronouns and the pronouns (the oblique forms
wherever available) precede the reflexive marker, as in : |
| hiye
ikuthosina sikč |
`I
made it myself’(lit. it (specific) I self made) |
| hiye
ił
kuthosina sikč |
`we
made it ourselves’ etc. |
|
|
| (3)
Possessive pronouns |
| The
possessive pronouns combine genitive (on par with the nouns and in
the same manner) with the pronominal function. Wherever the oblique
forms are available the possessive pronouns |
|
1. Marrison states that self is expressed by the word aliki and contains
the same sense alone, as in : |
| niye
iliki igwoFi |
`I
came myself’ |
| (iliki-herhouse) |
|
|
|
| This
seems to be literary translation of an emphatic statement I and I
alone came, i.e. none else. The word aliki means `alone’ as in : |
| niye
olikhi khiwe monanģ |
`I
will not let you alone(lit. I (specific) you alone not
will) |
|
|
