| apu
tipanaqó akinipo |
`those
boys (are) deaf etc.’ |
|
There are three demonstrative pronouns in Sema. These are ti, hi and
hu. The function and distribution of these pronouns do not tally with
the ones like proximate (this) and remote (that) etc., that are usually
found in most of the languages even though the pronoun hi can be roughly
equated to the distribution of proximate demonstrative pronoun. The
distribution of these three pronouns are as under. |
(i)
hi is used to indicate an object or person very close with the speaker
and visible to him, as in:
|
hiye
ac
lakh |
`this
is a dog’ |
| hipaqóye
ac |
`these
are dogs’ |
| kaku
hi lulņ |
`take
this book etc’. |
|
|
| (ii)
ti. Both special and temporal distance have relevance in the use of
this particular demonstrative, i.e., the object referred to may be
slightly away from the speaker and the listener and be visible to
either of them provided it is an object that has just passed away.
In both these situations the demonstrative ti is used. If there is
a contradiction between the special and temporal distance, i.e, though
a object like rabbit or fox that can move at a great speed, may be
far away from both the speaker and the listener, the demonstrative
ti is used, provided the object has just then passed that way. Another
point to be noted in the use of ti/hu is that when a NP® AN, ti is
used only with Nina class of nouns but ti can be used with nouns referring
to the living beings also when NP®NA. |
| (iii)
hu is used to indicate any object or person who is away from both
the speaker and the listener. This would include the objects/persons
that have passed away long ago. |
| Determiner
: |
| timģ
hipaqóno isi iFi |
`these
people came today’ |
| timģ
tipaqóno iFino iFi |
`those
(slightly away) people came yesterday’ |
| timģ
hupaw qumFai |
`that
(distant) man is tall’ |
| timģ
tipaw qumFai |
`that
man is tall’ |
| kaku
hupaw kkz |
`that
book’s cover’ etc. |
|
|
| Incidentally
the proximate demonstrative pronoun hi `this’is identical with the
third person personal pronoun common Singular hi `it’. |
| Indefinite
pronouns |
|
The indefinite pronouns in the first instance can be sub-grouped into
two, viz., positive and negative indefinite pronouns, illustrative
examples of both these sub-groups are given. |
| Positive
|
| These
sub-group includes kömsö `all’ which also everything/every one/etc.
ta `little, kipha `more’ kiöla `some’ etc. as in : |
| kms
tile śwe |
everyone
went there’ |
| 1
2 3 |
1 3
2 |
| kms
phawe |
`everything
(is) lost |
| nono
kukeqó kömsö iFiwe |
`all
those you called have come |
| 1
2 3
4 5 6 |
(lit.
you nominative marker called plural all came) |
| |
1
2
3 4
5 6 |
| timģ
kms |
`all
people’ |
| apuno
kms |
`all
the fathers’ |
| apunohu
kms |
`all
the fathers (specific)’ |
| niye
ta lukpha
nisi anģ |
`I
want some more’ |
|
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 |
`(lit.
I focus marker little take more want has) |
| |
1 2 3
4 5
6 7 |
| ana
ktla
kpha
icló |
`give
me some more rice’ |
|
1 2 3 4
5 |
5
4 2 3 1 |
| ilimi
kutumo |
`many
dames (lit. many dame)’ |
|
1 2 |
1 2 |
|
|
| Negative
indefinite pronouns : |
|
This group includes a few indefinite pronouns like kumka `nothing’,
mu either etc., as in : |
| imu
momu ifo mu iFimo nanģ |
`neither
my brother nor my sister will come’ |
| 1
2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 |
`(lit.
I brother or I elder sister neither come not will)’ |
| |
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
|
|
