Pronouns
Almost every language you come across makes use of pronouns. Pronouns are words that act like references, they allow us to talk about people and things without using their actual names. They often have their own grammatical properties.
For example, let’s take the sentence “Sue locked up the house.” We can replace “Sue” and “the house” with pronouns, as in “She locked it up.” But, notice the word-order. We don’t really say, “She locked up it.” Maybe that would still make sense to someone, but it likely sounds wrong to a native English speaker. We have instincts when we use pronouns because they are built into our language.
There has been a strange pushback against pronouns in the recent decade, especially in terms of how they play into identity. I have seen conservatives proudly claim, “I don’t have pronouns,” while failing to realize that the “I” they speak of is indeed a pronoun.
Languages can have a lot of different types of pronouns. As you know, Marešidi is under construction so, while most of the pronouns are determined, I may decide to add some later down the line. For example, I don’t currently have a reciprocal pronoun (in English an example would be, “each other,” as in, “they embrace each other”) but I might choose to create one in the future. That all being said, let’s jump into our list of pronouns!
The Subject Pronouns
Subject pronouns have two qualities in Marešidi: person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and number (singular, dual, plural). When compared to English, you might notice that there are three additional pronouns in this table. These are called the duals and they are used when the subject is two people or two things. In English, we often revert to the plural when speaking about groups of two, but in Marešidi, we always make distinctions between an individual, a group of two, and a group of many.
Since Marešidi is S-V-O primarily, the subject pronoun is found before the verb, the same as English. An example would be the sentence “I sleep,” demu thise-mu.
Notice that the end of the verb ends in mu, much like the pronoun preceding it. The verb for “sleep” is actually thise; the -mu at the end is a conjugation suffix. This suffix is not exactly a pronoun, but we can think about it that way since it always matches the second syllable of a subject pronoun.
Here are a few more simple sentences in Marešidi where you can see a pronoun and its matching conjugation suffix.
The Object Pronouns
In addition to being a subject and a suffix, a pronoun can also act as an object. In other words, just as someone can do something, something can be done to them. In the case of a direct object, we add an /-n/ to the end of the subject pronoun and delete the first syllable. To make an indirect object, a /-p/ is added and the first syllable is also deleted. See the following tables:
Direct Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronouns
The object pronouns are found after the verb, but they are not attached as suffixes. They are their own words. In fact, they can be used alongside one another. In the case where a direct and indirect object are both present, the direct object comes directly after the verb. Here are some sentences that use subject pronouns and object pronouns (direct and indirect). I will provide the meaning of the verb, but try to translate them yourself!
saffaru - “to hear”
nebvifa - “to love”
dobi - “to taste”
cobvobu - “to care”
turiše - “to bring”
vampami - “to call”
Go to the bottom of the article for the translation and the type of object pronoun!
Reflexives and Possessives
The final two types of pronouns that I want to talk about are reflexive and possessive pronouns.
A reflexive pronoun is used when the subject of a verb is also the object. In other words, it’s when you do something to yourself. They are formed from the subject pronoun by adding a /-b/ and a vowel that matches the one before the ‘b.’ Reflexive pronouns replace their respective subject pronouns. Below is a table of them:
Possessive pronouns are words like “my” and “yours.” In Marešidi, these are not actually words, they are suffixes which are added to the end of the noun which is possessed. They are the same as the conjugation suffixes which are added to the ends of verbs, except they start with an /-o/. I won’t add a table for these since the /-o/ joins the preceding consonant. When the word for ‘glasses’ vidhuž takes the suffix /-omu/ it becomes, “my glasses” vidhužomu.
This might not have been the most fun lesson, but pronouns are exceedingly important for any language. Thanks for reading :)
Until next time!
Dillon
Here are the answers for the object pronoun questions:
I hear you. (direct pronoun)
He loves us. (indirect pronoun) - note: in English this is a direct pronoun
You all taste it. (direct pronoun)
You care for me. (direct pronoun) - note: in English this is an indirect pronoun
The two of them bring it to the two of us. (direct pronoun AND indirect pronoun)
They call you. (indirect pronoun) note: in English this is usually a direct pronoun
