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§10 Pronouns

Pine pronouns include independent personal pronouns (as opposed to pronominal sets found inside the verb), demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, interrogative pronouns and reciprocal pronouns.

§10.1 Independent Personal Pronouns

Independent personal pronouns refer to participants in a phrase in the same way that verbal pronominal sets do inside the verb, but do so outside of the verb. Independent pronouns may appear due to syntactical requirements, such as particles that are disfavoured clause finally, or to avoid clause-final placement of a non-subject independent pronoun when the subject is local, for emphasis, or because they are required in specific constructions. For example, due to the OS word order, if an object is marked by a determiner that includes an independent pronoun, or consists of an independent pronoun alone, an independent pronoun for a local subject will often be found following it, so as to avoid that the clause ends with an object independent pronoun, which is commonly disfavoured in Pine, at least in more formal registers:

Emphatic independent pronouns are distinguished from syntactically obligate independent pronouns by the presence of the focus particle įo and clause initial movement. Should the first person be emphasised in the example above, the independent pronoun will often appear twice.

Certain speech particles are not allowed or strongly disfavoured in clause final position, which then requires the subject to appear with an independent pronoun to avoid this. For example, recall questions in e…pi cannot end in pi.

Examples of constructions that require independent pronouns include the copula with a comitative pronoun, which correspond to English verbs such as ‘to have’ or ‘to carry’, or the copula with an elative pronoun indicating opinion.

§10.1.1 Local Independent Pronouns

As with verbs, the first person plural distinguishes an inclusive and an exclusive plural, where the inclusive plural is based on the second person and includes the inclusive marker -tṡ-.

Local independent pronouns are unique in that they have preserved a special patientive form, and also have special genitive forms, though they are only found as part of a determiner phrase, for example mi ṇiįe na ‘mine’, or as a predicative form, for example nả piįe mi na-t de ‘this is yours’. Singular marked forms have a front-aligned form in -ỉ-/-ivv- and a front-rounded aligned form in -iġ- or -ůġ-/-ův- (with geminated forms of the illative and elative endings). These forms are more common in the east, although bỉ/ṇỉ (or ṇeů) are more common than biġi/ṇiġi. The inessive has short front and long front-rounded forms, of which the former is slightly more common. Likewise, local pronouns have conserved an older illative plural ending in -mi for the second person plural and the first person plural exclusive, while the first person plural inclusive has both forms in -mi and -bi.

§10.1.2 Non-Local Independent Pronouns

The non-local independent pronouns are įo 's/he' mana 'one/someone/something' na or a (after a consonant) 'it' and go 's/he₂'. The third-person animate and inanimate often have the same form in the sematic (ai), and the third-person inanimate has the asematic form na following a vowel and a following a consonant. The forms įo, (n)a and go are most commonly found with a long vowel, but if they are not stressed, (n)a and go may have a short vowel, whereas įo is always long.

The third-person obviate has a long and short form in the illative and elative singular (auįįot and aunnit in the long form and aut and aun in the short form), both of which are equally acceptable, but short forms are more common in poetic and colloquial registers. The original sematic form of the fourth person is eįįa, but due to influence from the third-person animate and inanimate, a short form in ei is also found.

The third-person inanimate asematic forms have one form found following consonant-final words, a, and one found after vowel final words, na respectively. The form įo (pronounced long as [jɔː], which distinguishes it in speech from the particle įo, but not in writing) also has dialectal forms in įa or ġa and a somewhat formal and emphatic form in dả, such that mi sakvin įo ‘the man’ can also be heard as mi sakvin dả or mi sakvin ġa. The third-person animate and inanimate have both vowel and consonant initial forms. The latter is more formal while the former is more or less standard. The third-person animate has a special sematic form in įaġi which is sometimes heard, usually for emphasis.

The fourth person can be found with the determiner mi, then mi ma, before non-restrictive relative clauses and in other instances, where it means ‘something’, as in mi ma, nama(t) genekkisin~genekkun a ‘something, which I saw’.

The plural forms of the third-person animate and inanimate have also merged in most dialects, but a distinct inanimate form in g- persists in formal registers, and occasionally in colloquial registers where distinguishing animacy is deemed necessary. Forms in n- are found following a vowel. Like its singular forms, the animate and inanimate asematic forms of the third person have one form which occurs after consonants other than -n (and more rarely -l and -r), ỉ, and one that occurs after other consonants, nỉ. The comitative plural forms of non-local independent plurals can be found ending in -gỉn or in the case of the third-person animate and inanimate, in ỉein and gỉein respectively, the latter being more formal.

The fourth-person independent pronoun mana when standing alone can refer to ‘someone’ or ‘something’, while its plural form maski usually only means ‘people’, or refers to a plural indefinite pronoun.

§10.1.3 Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns distinguish a dual and plural form and must appear with possessive affixes. The dual forms are used when a single person or group acts reciprocally onto another person or group, while the plural involves more than two arguments acting reciprocally. Reciprocal pronouns have two alternative forms, one is a single word, called the compound forms, and the other is made up of two words, called the paired forms. In the dual, the initial separate pronoun Ø-kủ(v/kk)-Ø is declined according to its syntactic role (non-subject), as the and found with obviate possessive affixes, while the other pronoun, Ø-mỉ-Ø in the asematic or Ø-mỉkka-Ø in the sematic and fulfils the role of the subject and is found with third-person animate (or inanimate) singular possessive affixes. For plural reciprocal pronouns, the object pronoun Ø-ỉt-Ø is the third-person personal pronoun found with obviate possessive affixes (but with plural suffixes) while the subject pronoun Ø-kủƛƛi-Ø in the asematic or Ø-kủvit-Ø in the sematic is found with third-person animate (or inanimate) plural possessive affixes. For compound forms, only the third-person singular possessive affixes are found for the dual, and third-person plural possessive affixes are found. For compound forms, the pronoun is in the case of the object of the clause. This means that compound forms lack an asematic form. Generally, verbs with reciprocal pronouns are also found with the ipsigrade and a fourth-person object despite the pronoun being obviated. The determiner form is used without possessive affixes, which are instead found on the noun and act as a genitive form, as in kủkkủt satsukṇen a ‘each other’s knife’.

Paired forms are more commonly used when the object and the subject are not in a purely nominative-accusative relationship, for example with an unagentive subject, or an object in one of the locative cases. However, both forms are fully valid, but paired forms may be perceived as being slightly more formal by some speakers, though this is not universally true.

dual compound forms

dual paired forms

plural compound forms

plural paired forms

§10.1.3.1 Respective Reciprocal Forms

Respective reciprocal forms of reciprocal pronouns indicate a respective or distributive form of reciprocality – X’s own and Y’s own. For example, if two fishermen take each their own fishing rod (X takes their own and Y takes their own), a respective reciprocal form is to be used to indicate that they do not take each others’ rods (X takes Y’s rod, and Y takes X’s rod). The compound forms are augmented by mỉ(n)- followed by the respective possessive affixes.

mỉskủkkủdat seuvu tsůeƛƛein sisaƛƛaƛƛat tsivat mi saƛƛakki nỉ

miiskuukkuut-at si-ufu c-u--i-TTi-in sisaTTaTTat c-ifat mi saTTakki nii

[miːsˈkuːʰkuːdat ˈsɛu̯wʊ ˈt͡sʏy̯t͡ɬːɛɪ̯n sɪˈsat͡ɬːat͡ɬːat ˈt͡sɪːwat mɪ ˈsat͡ɬːaʰkɪ niː]

mỉ_s_kủkkủt-at seuv-u tsůeƛƛ-ein si-saƛƛ-aƛƛ-at Ø-tsiv-at mi saƛƛ=ϕa-kki

poss.3a-each.their.own-poss.nloc.pl river-gen side-com.pl cis-fish-freq-dep 3a.ag-get-nloc.prs.pl

det fisherman-act.pl

‘the fishermen get to fish along their (respective) side of the river’

or ‘the (two) fishermen get to fish each along their own side of the river’

(each grandchild gets their own)

§10.2 Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Pine have three levels of deixis, proximal, medial and distal-obviate. They are made up of the determiner mi, a non-local independent pronoun, either įo in the animate or na in the inanimate singular, and nỉ for the plural (not distinguishing animacy in the asematic form), or the obviate go which lacks a plural and is only found in the distal deixis, and finally a hyphenated deictic clitic, -t de in the proximal, -t ni in the medial and -t ba in the distal-anaphoric. As such, demonstrative pronouns have both animacy, number, obviation and deixis, but the third-person obviate lacks proximal and medial deictic forms. Only the independent pronoun part of the demonstrative pronoun is declined.

The distinction between proximal and medial with demonstrative pronouns can both be that of closeness to the speaker (proximal) or to the addressee (medial), or something with a recent or more relevant anaphora (proximal), or more distant or less relevant anaphora (medial). The distal-obviate demonstrative serves two functions – animate and inanimate pronouns found with the distal deictic clitic -go refer to something distant to both speaker and addressee, thus functioning as a true distal demonstrative pronoun without distinction for animacy. However, when used with the third-person obviate, which lacks proximal and medial deictic clitics, it functions as an obviate demonstrative pronoun only, and as such is obligately animate. While it lacks plural forms, it can be anaphoric (or cataphoric) to a plural referent. Proximal and medial demonstrative pronouns are referred to by the corresponding non-local pronoun in verbs, such that an inanimate proximal, medial or distal demonstrative pronoun corresponds to a third-person inanimate, a proximal or medial animate demonstrative pronoun corresponds to a third-person animate, and an obviate demonstrative pronoun corresponds to the third-person obviate.

proximal and medial deixis

obviate deixis

distal deixis

The medial demonstrative pronoun is more restricted in its use than the proximal demonstrative pronoun, in that the reference to an argument distant from the speaker is more salient than for the proximal demonstrative pronoun, which has both a true proximal meaning (closer or more relevant to the speaker) and a more general use with less emphasis on deixis. For example, an English speaker might say ‘that was good’ when referring to an event that just occurred, but in Pine one would favour the proximal mi na-t de even though the referent might not be visible or closer to the speaker. As such, proximal deixis can also function as a general demonstrative pronoun while the medial demonstrative pronoun is less general and more specifically medial.

Demonstrative pronouns can be found with laggi or kinot, as in mi laggi na-t de or mi kinot a-t de ‘this kind’, but short forms of the demonstrative determiner millat and mikinot or ailla-t de and kino-t de are equally as common.

§10.2.1 Demonstrative Pronouns of Type

Beyond deictic demonstrative pronouns, Pine also makes use of demonstrative pronouns of type, whose referent are of a specific type, which end in -llut and are declined like teleutophonic adjectives in -llut (although the essive is usually -llủts in the singular and -llủtsot in the plural). Such pronouns do not distinguish animacy. The proximal and medial deictic forms are similar in function to that of demonstrative pronouns, but the distal form is most commonly found in as a prerelative demonstrative pronoun, although it can also function as a true distal demonstrative. When functioning as a prerelative or distal demonstrative pronoun of type, the anaphoric referent is not obviate unless it has a relative precedent. Demonstrative pronouns of type do not generally refer to obviate arguments. They can function both as demonstrative pronouns (replacing a noun) or as a demonstrative adjective.

Proximal and medial demonstrative pronouns of type can appear with or without a consonant – dellut~įellut or ellut, and nįillut or illut. Forms without a consonant are more common in the eastern dialects and in formal language. Parallel forms in (d~į)ekinot (or (d~į)ekot), (nį)ikinot (or (nį)ikot) and okinot (or okot) also exist but shorter forms are mostly restricted to more colloquial registers. In eastern dialects, short forms (ekot, ikot, okot) are commonly used as demonstratives, replacing the independent pronoun usually found with deictic clitics, such that įo sakvin de ‘this man’ may instead be heard as ekot sakvin de (which western dialects may incorrectly understand to mean ‘this kind of man’).

Demonstrative pronouns of type have an adjectival form which can be used instead of using the copula and the adverbial forms eset, iset, oset. They can be used impersonally (usually without the progogic -mi), as can be commonly heard in ḥoḷḷami įa… or oḷḷa(mi) įa… ‘you see’, often used at the beginning of an explanatory statement or as a narrative particle. Note that exceptionally, oḷḷ- ‘be like that, be that way’ does not undergo front apophony, only back apophony and eḷḷ-, iḷḷ- and oḷḷ- lacks v-versioners: oḷḷ- ⟫ oḷḷ- (never *oḷv-).

proximal, medial and distal pronominal

proximal, medial and distal adjectival

prerelative pronominal

prerelative adjectival

§10.2.2 Demonstrative Pronouns of Manner

The three deictic demonstrative pronouns have adverbial forms, or demonstrative pronouns of manner. Adverbial forms in -set exist alongside forms in -llat, such that eset and ellat both mean ‘this way, like this, thus’. Forms in -llat are preferred when the pronoun functions as a modifier to another pronoun or describe a more abstract manner, for example ollat nįukkut ‘so much’, which can be contrasted with oset nįukkut ‘much in such a way’, where some specification of the exact way expected to follow’. The medial or distal forms illat, ollat are commonly used in a similar manner as the English ‘so/such’ to indicate a high degree or some attribute or manner, as in ollat ṃyssůt naukvis ‘such a cute dog, a dog so cute’ or illat ṇeskukkissa ‘I’m so tired’, where the specification of the prerelative ollat is not included. Some purists consider this to be outside influence and recommend avoiding it, using ohat, ohak, ari or some other degree adverb instead. Nonetheless, illat is considered stronger than ollat.

A third way of forming demonstrative pronouns of manner is using a third-person inanimate pronoun followed by the deictic clitic -t de/-t ni/-t ba and laggi, or ai-t de laggi, ai-t ni laggi and ai-t ba laggi. The deictic clitic can be dropped (ai laggi).

§10.3 Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that lack a definite referent. Because of this, their pronominal referent in verbs is the fourth person, which agrees in number with the indefinite pronoun. Pine has the following types of indefinite pronouns: universal (everyone, everything, all, each), known existential (someone, something, a certain), unknown existential (someone, something), elective (anyone, anything), dual (both, either, each), quantifier pronouns (many, much, few, little), negative quantifier pronouns ( no one, nothing, none, neither), differential pronouns (another) and identity pronouns (the same). Every indefinite pronoun has a corresponding determiner form which is given in the tables below for reference, as well as various adverbial forms.

All declarative determiners except nįukkis ‘much’ and ninas ‘little’ have a ‘type’ form, either by adding the word laggi directly after the determiner, or more commonly by adding -illat, -llat, or alternatively -ikinot or -kin (from kỉdnu ‘of kind’) to the determiner.

Determiner forms of indefinite pronouns are not found with pronouns, as this would result in two consecutive independent pronouns. Instead, indefinite pronouns are found with the appropriate possessive affixes, for example pikủƛƛudủtṡin ‘for/to the both of us’, not *kuįįu peutṡomi nỉ.

§10.3.1 Universal Indefinite Pronouns

There are two series of universal indefinite pronouns, those in gvai- which describe individual parts, and those in ƛuo- which describe a whole. Universal indefinite pronouns in gvai- distinguish animacy and number while those in ƛuo- distinguish neither animacy nor number. The animate singular form gvaiddas translates as ‘everyone’ or ‘each one’ and considers every member of a group as whole, while the plural form gvaiddaski~gvaiddi can also be translated as ‘everyone’ or simply ‘all’, and is used with obligate animate plural nouns or when considering every member of a group or groups individually. The same is true of the singular inanimate gvaiggas ‘everything’, where all things are considered as a whole, whereas the inanimate plural gvaiggaski~gvaiggi ‘all’ is used when referring to obligate inanimate plural nouns, or every unit of a group individually. The singular (and in the case of obligate plurals, the plural) forms gvaiddas and gvaiggas can be augmented by the prefix mỉ- or more emphatically aḷḷu- to indicate that each (of many) is considered individually, as in alỏman aḷḷugvaiddi ‘each (and everyone of them all) sleeps’. The inanimate locative cases are also locative adverbs. Note that aḷḷugvai- is usually pronounced [ˈaɬːʊkᶣːæɪ̯-] rather than the expected [aɬːʊˈgᶣæɪ̯-].

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -llat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

§10.3.1.1 Universal Indefinite Pronouns: gvai- ‘every’

animate singular

animate plural

inanimate singular

inanimate plural

Adverbial forms for universal pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.1.2 Universal Indefinite Pronouns: ƛuo- ‘all, whole’

Adverbial forms for universal pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.1.3 Universal Indefinite Pronouns: ƛuoƛƛas & gvaiddas

The universal indefinite pronouns in ƛuoƛƛas and the inanimate singular gvaiggas and their corresponding determiner forms are close in meaning and can often be confused by non-native speakers, especially their adverbial forms. While gvaiggan is usually used to indicate the sum of all inanimate things considered together, ƛuoƛƛas is more commonly found with things that form a discrete whole. For example, nakaṡkvan gvaiggas ‘everything is ready’ indicates that the sum of all inanimate things is ready, while akaṡkvan ƛuoƛƛas is better translated as ‘all of it is ready’ or ‘the whole thing is ready’. Thus, ƛuoƛƛas refers to ‘the whole (of something)’, while gvaiggas refers to ’everything’. The distinction between the two pronouns in adverbial forms also merits some clarification. The temporal form gvaįįu means either ‘every time’ or ‘each time’ or ‘always’ (although gveiddit is more common for ‘always’), while ƛuoįįu or ƛủįįu means ‘all the time, the whole time, for the whole duration’. The manner adverb gvaiset means ‘in every way, entirely’, while ƛuoset means ‘completely’ or ‘entirely’, and both are close enough in meaning to be virtually synonymous, but the latter is often found before certain adjectives, as in ƛuoset ḷįuḍḍu ‘completely soaked, soaked (such that the whole of the argument is wet)’, while gvaiset ḷįuḍḍu would be understood to mean ‘wet (such something is wet everywhere)’.

The locative adverbial forms gvaįį(i)a, gvaįįot, gvaįįủn and gvaįįon correspond to the English forms ‘everywhere (at, to, from, along)’, meaning in every location, while ƛuoƛƛia~ƛuoƛƛumit, ƛuoƛƛot, ƛuoƛƛủn and ƛuoƛƛugit or ƛuoƛƛon means ‘the whole place’. For example, nả gvaįįen tsaƛƛa ‘there is water everywhere’ means that water is in every place, but nả ƛuoƛƛon tsaƛƛa means ‘there is water all over the place’, meaning there is some water over all the surfaces, on walls, the floor, clothes, etc. The phrase nả gvaįįon tsaƛƛa conjures up an image of a location being flooded, while nả ƛuoƛƛon tsaƛƛa instead gives a picture of water splattered on all surfaces, for example after dropping a container of water.

§10.3.2 Known Existential Indefinite Pronouns

Known existential indefinite pronouns refer to a known but unspecified referent and correspond to English ‘someone, something’ or ‘a certain one’. They distinguish animacy and number. They contrast with unknown existential pronouns in that they refer to something which is familiar or known to the speaker, or alternatively something not strictly defined, such that daddas ‘someone’ can also be taken to mean ‘someone (or another)’ . For example, geneiggan dadda ‘I saw someone (…whom you know, e.g.)’ indicates that the person who was seen is familiar, has or will be further described at some point, whereas geneiggan ỏhakakken ‘I saw someone’ indicates that the speaker doesn’t know who that person was. As such, known existential indefinite pronouns are more commonly found as prerelatives than unknown existential indefinite pronouns. Because of the known quality of such pronouns, they often refer to a part of something defined, as in gaggi ‘some (of the things)’, less commonly gaggaski. The inanimate locative cases are also locative adverbs.

The determiner forms are in da-t and ga-t which are common to both known and unknown forms. They are extensively used in Pine to denote either a partitive quantity, for example ga-t hikva kidna na ‘some good cheese’ or simply to signal some uncertainty or vagueness.

animate singular

animate plural

inanimate singular

inanimate plural

Adverbial forms for known existential pronouns include:

locative

Known existential indefinite pronouns can be augmented with prefixes that modify their meaning:

§10.3.3 Unknown Existential Indefinite Pronouns

Unknown existential indefinite pronouns contrast with known existential indefinite pronouns, but indicate that the referent is not known to the speaker. As such, instead of referring to a part of a known whole, they may instead simply refer to people or things, as in geneiggants ỏhakakkit ‘I saw some people’ and geneiggants ỏhakittṡut ‘I saw things’. The inanimate locative cases are also locative adverbs.

Unknown existential indefinite pronouns are formed by the prefix ỏha- (which can stand as its own word should there be an attributive phrase to the second part of the pronoun) and the interrogative forms -kammi ‘who’ and -kiṡki ‘what’, such that ỏhakammet means ‘some people’, and ỏhakiṡki means ‘something’. In western dialects, it’s not uncommon for the initial ka- of the interrogative pronoun (animate) to be missing: ỏhammi, ỏhakken, ỏhakkimut, … ‘someone’. Likewise, the initial kiṡ- may be missing (ỏhaki, ỏhaken~ỏhattṡu, ỏhaket~ỏhattṡot, … ‘something’). In extremely informal contexts or as part of the slang of many dialects, forms are reduced further to simply ỏ-, such that ỏhakammi becomes ỏmmi (or ommi), and ỏhakiṡki becomes ỏki (or okki). This is sometimes heard amongst younger speakers, especially male, in eastern dialects. Across all dialects, the sematic forms in kittṡ- for inanimate pronouns are far more common than those in kiṡk- or kiktṡ-. Likewise, forms in ỏhak- are also heard in all dialects, often in more relaxed speech, in which case the second element is usually completely unstressed: ỏhakittṡu [ˈoːhɑˈkɪt͡ʃːʊ] ‘something’ vs. ỏhakkittṡu [ˈoːhaʰkɪt͡ʃːʊ] ‘something’.

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -llat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

As with known forms, the determiner forms ỏhakiṡ (also ỏhaṡ, ỏkkiṡ, ỏkki or okki) have short forms in da-t and ga-t which are used to confer a sense of partitivity, vagueness or uncertainty which is very prevalent in spoken Pine. The forms da-t and ga-t are common to both known and unknown pronouns. Likewise, ỏhakiṡƛen (also ỏhaṡƛen, ỏkkiṡƛen, okkiṡƛen, ỏkken, okken, oƛƛen) ‘some kind’ is very commonly used where English would use either ‘some’ or nothing at all. Pine speakers generally mark uncertainty more overtly than what one might be used to in English.

animate singular

animate plural

inanimate singular

inanimate plural

Adverbial forms for unknown existential pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.4 Elective Indefinite Pronouns

Elective indefinite pronouns refer to any of many things of people out of a group, without restriction as to which specifically the referent is. Like unknown existential indefinite pronouns, elective indefinite pronouns are made up of a prefix (ỏha-), sometimes found as a separate word when an attributive sentence is headed by the second part, which is the known existential indefinite pronoun, either -daddas or -gaggas. The initial syllable of these pronouns is very commonly dropped, as in ỏhaddas ‘anyone’ and ỏhaggas ‘anything’. This is also true of the determiner form, which is nearly always simply ỏke(-t) regardless of animacy.

Elective indefinite pronouns are not found in negative clauses as a general rule. Such pronouns can be preceded by tsỉn for emphasis, for example tsỉn ỏhaddas ‘anyone at all, whosoever’.

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -llat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

singular

or

or

plural

Adverbial forms for elective pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.5 Dual Indefinite Pronouns

Dual indefinite pronouns indicate that elements are considered as a pair, and thus corresponds to ‘both’. They are declined like universal indefinite pronouns. Dual indefinite pronouns also have two prefixed forms – forms with ỏha- indicate either of a pair and form elective dual forms, as in ỏhakuįįet ‘to either one (of two), to one or the other’, indicating that any of the two options can be considered, and forms with mỉ- indicate a distributive dual form, as in mỉkuįįet ‘to each one (of two)’. Singular forms without augments, kủƛƛas and kủįįas, exists, especially with nouns that are not seen as countable or not found in the plural, but plural forms are much more common. The opposite is true with elective and distributive dual forms, where the singular is more common, but plural forms are used with plurale tantum or plural obligate nouns.

The difference between kủƛƛas or more commonly kủƛƛaski~kủƛƛi ‘both’ and mỉkủƛƛas ‘each (of two)’ is slight. The distributive dual form mỉkủƛƛas suggests that both persons are considered separately, while kủƛƛas or kủƛƛi considers them together. Such that alỏmat kủƛƛit ‘both (of them) sleep’ considers them together, while mỉkủƛƛi alỏman ‘each (of two) sleeps’ considers them individually, and may not be sleeping together, in the same bed or in the same location. Adverbial forms exist, and elective and distributive adverbs are formed by the prefix mỉ- and ỏha-. The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -llat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

animate singular

animate plural

inanimate singular

inanimate plural

Adverbial forms for dual pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.6 Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns

Quantifier indefinite pronouns are a group of pronouns that give information about quantity. They are unique amongst indefinite pronouns in that they have comparison forms. They include:

§10.3.6.1 Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns: Many, More, Most

The indefinite quantifiers of countable quantity do not distinguish animacy, however there is an alternative form of the nannaski which is more commonly used with inanimate things, nanni (and the corresponding essive plural nannittset).

Singular forms are often used when counting things of a similar nature whereas the plural often refers to things of a different nature, although this is more apparent when using the determiner forms, and the plural is more salient in denoting different types while the singular is more neutral: hellami mitṇa ṇůeyki na ‘many trees (of the same kind) grow’ but hellat mitṇa ṇůeykit ỉ ‘many (different) trees grow’. Likewise, nannas, nakkut and naƛƛut can often correspond to ‘many people, more people, most people’ while nannaski~nanni, nakkukki and naƛƛukki are often translated as ‘many (of them), more (of them), most (of them)’. The inanimate locative cases are also locative adverbs. The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -illat or -kinot to indicate kind or type (note that minƛůillat has -ů- while minƛukinot has -u-):

’

singular

plural

Adverbial forms for countable quantifier pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.6.2 Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns: Few, Fewer, Fewest

The indefinite quantifiers of countable quantity, like nannas, nakkut, naƛƛut ‘many, more, most’ do not distinguish animacy, however there is an alternative form of the pavvi which is more commonly used with inanimate things, pavvaski (and the corresponding essive plural pavvattsot). Their declension mirrors that of nannas, nakkut, naƛƛut ‘many, more, most’

Like the ‘many’ series, singular forms are often used when counting things of a similar nature whereas the plural often refers to things of a different nature, although this is more apparent when using the determiner forms, and the plural is more salient in denoting different types while the singular is more neutral: hellami pavi ṇůeyki na ‘few trees (of the same kind) grow’ but hellat pavi ṇůeykit ỉ ‘few (different) trees grow’. Likewise, pavvas, pakkut and paƛƛut can often correspond to ‘few people, fewer people, fewest people’ while pavvi, pakkukki and paƛƛukki are often translated as ‘few (of them), fewer (of them), fewest (of them)’. Pine makes more use of paƛƛut ‘fewest’ than English, as more emphatic form of pavvas. The inanimate locative cases are also locative adverbs.

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -illat or -(i)kinot to indicate kind or type:

singular

plural

Adverbial forms for countable quantifier pronouns include:

locative

§10.3.6.3 Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns: Much, More, Most

The indefinite quantifiers of uncountable quantity nįukkis, nįustut and nįuḷḷut (or ‘much, more, most’ do not distinguish animacy or number, and have an inherent partitive meaning, applying to a part of an uncountable whole.

The equative forms of ninas is mỉnįuston ⟫ mỉnįustoma ‘as little’, which has an adverbial form in mỉnįustunnit (a comitative adverb). The determiner form is also mỉnįuston.

Unlike other quantifier indefinite pronouns, when referring to inanimate and indefinite quantities, the verbal referent is often the third-person inanimate, as in gamigvet nukka ‘I eat much’, but the form gamigva nukka is also common. Comparative and superlative have long and short sematic forms, of which long forms are considered more formal.

§10.3.6.4 Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns: Little, Less, Least

The indefinite quantifiers of uncountable quantity ninas, nittut and niƛƛyt ‘little, less, least’ mirror the corresponding quantifiers nįukkis, nįustut and nįuḷḷut ‘much, more, most’ – they do not distinguish animacy or number, and have an inherent partitive meaning, applying to a part of an uncountable whole.

Unlike other quantifier indefinite pronouns and like ‘much, more, most’, when referring to inanimate and indefinite quantities, the verbal referent is often the third-person inanimate, as in gamigvet nina ‘I eat little’, but the form gamigva nina is also common. Likewise, the positive, comparative and superlative have short sematic forms, nitta and niƛƛa and classically have been used only for the accusative and genitive case, not for the patientive case (which instead uses the long forms). Such forms can be found either with polyvalent or monovalent verbs, the former being more common in formal registers.

The equative forms of ninas is mỉnitton ⟫ mỉniddoma ‘as little’, which has an adverbial form in mỉnittunnit (a comitative adverb). The determiner form is also mỉnitton.

Forms in -kinot are often found and are seen as diminutives rather than their normal meaning of ‘kind/type’ and can be used as definite pronouns (migvat nina~ninakinukka nattsapi ‘eat a little bit please’), and an adverbial form in -kinosset or -kosset is also heard, for example ninakosset ‘a little bit’. The form ninakosset is especially common. Alternative forms in -kot and -kůt also exist, such that ninakosset and ninakukka are also heard, along with nittukkosset and nittukkukka.

§10.3.6.5 Other Quantifier Indefinite Pronouns

A number of other quantifier indefinite pronouns exist, which lack determiner forms. They are not true nouns in that they have a fourth-person referent in verbs. All are hemiplural – their asematic form lacks plural markers but their sematic forms are pluralised, and they usually have plural referents, although vaivva ‘several’ has a plural referent if it refers to different types, but a singular referent if it refers to several items of the same type.

The quantifier sasṃa indicates some smaller quantity or number (usually two to five), either animate or inanimate, and can be used as a determiner, with the head usually in the elative, occasionally as a compound. It can be found in the plural, often referring to things of different types.

The quantifier vaivva is similar to sasṃa but indicates a larger number (usually five to ten or more), regardless of animacy. The closely related quantifier vaikka (underlying root is *vait-) only refers to people.

Finally, the quantifier mįaigga means ‘more than one’, often indicating a large number, while mįaihůgi means ‘the same things’.

§10.3.7 Negative Indefinite Pronouns

The negative indefinite pronouns distinguish animacy and number and are found in negative clauses. As with other indefinite pronouns, negative indefinite pronouns are made up of two parts: vuo(-t)- and the known existential pronouns -daddas and -gaggas, although their first syllable is nearly always missing in normal registers: vuoddas ‘ no one’, vuoggas ‘nothing’.

The animate singular form vuodd(add)as translates as ‘ no one’ or ‘none’ and considers every member of a group as whole, while the plural form vuodd(add)aski or vuodd(add)i can also be translated as ‘none’ or simply ‘none (of them)’, and is used with obligate animate plural nouns or when considering every member of a group or groups individually. The same is true of the singular inanimate vuogg(agg)as ‘nothing’, where all things are considered as a whole, whereas the inanimate plural vuogg(agg)aski or more commonly vuogg(agg)i ‘none’ is used when referring to obligate inanimate plural nouns, or every unit of a group individually. The singular (and in the case of obligate plurals, the plural) forms vuoddas and vuoggas can be augmented by the prefix mỉ(n)- to indicate that none (of many) is considered individually, as in lỏmmat nủnan mỉvuodda ‘none (of them all) sleeps’ or ‘ no one at all sleeps’, or by kủ(v)- to indicate that neither (of two) is considered, as in kủvuoddon ‘with neither (of two)’. An emphatic form of the determiner vaḥḥa can be found as ủḥḥa, but forms in vuodda(-t) and vuogga(-t) are more common in normal registers today. Negative indefinite pronouns can often be preceded by oat or ủt ‘not’ or ủ(t) for emphasis, for example: uġun nunni ủt vuoggan ‘there wasn’t anyone (at all)’

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -illat or -kinot to indicate kind or type. The combination of ủḥḥa and -illat/-kinot and vu as ủḥḥakinot vu forms a strongly negative determiner similar to ‘not a single (kind of)’. Forms in -kinot are specially emphatic, for example nekkyt vaḥḥakinot~vuokkinot nỉktṡu nukkan ‘I didn’t see anyone (at all)’. Additionally, vaḥḥakinot~vuokkinot, vaḥḥakot~vuokkot and ủḥḥakinot or ủḥḥakot can be used as emphatic indefinite pronouns: nekkyt vaḥḥakinukka~vuokkinukka~vaḥḥakukka~vuokkukka~ủḥḥakinukka~ủḥḥakukka nukkan ‘I didn’t see a single soul’.

Although negative indefinite pronouns are generally found in negated sentences, they can occur in a positive clause, especially in nả vuoggas a vu… ‘it is merely, it is just…’:

animate singular

animate plural

inanimate singular

inanimate plural

Adverbial forms for elective pronouns include:

locative

Alternative adverbial locative forms in vuovv- also exist (vuovvoįa, vuovvot, vuovvủn, vuovvon)

§10.3.8 Differential Indefinite Pronouns

The differential indefinite pronouns distinguish only number and correspond to ‘the/an other’. Differential indefinite pronouns can be augmented with the prefix ỏha-, as in ỏhakuokkas ‘any other’ and mỉ- with plural forms to indicate that each of the others are considered, as in mỉkuokkaski~mỉkuokki ‘each of the other ones’ or ‘every other’. Negative forms exist in voi-, as in voikuokkia ‘nowhere else’ , though more commonly this would be expressed with two consecutive pronouns, uġun vuoggia kuokkia ‘nowhere else’. A similar indefinite pronoun in iḷḷulas exists, although many instead use the adjective iḷḷulit ‘other, different’ instead. Forms in iḷḷul- do not appear with the prefixes ỏha-, mỉ- or voi-.

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -illat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

singular

plural

Adverbial forms for elective pronouns include:

locative

locative

§10.3.9 Identity Indefinite Pronouns

The identity indefinite pronoun giggas distinguish only number and correspond to ‘the/a same’. They can be found with the augment mỉ-, as in mỉgiggas ‘the very same’. The plural form with mỉ- is often used to mean ‘the same things’, as in kỉldatselỉdnan mỉgiggit ‘you said the same things again, you repeated yourself’.

The determiners can be found with laggi or in short forms in -illat or -kinot to indicate kind or type:

As with certain other indefinite pronouns, forms in gitṇakinot~gitṇakot can be used as pronouns with an emphatic meaning: geneiggan mỉgitṇakukka! ‘I saw that very same kind!’. The adverbial form gitṇakinosset~gitṇakosset have an approximative meaning: ‘in a similar way, similarly’.

Pronouns and determiners of identity can be prefixed by ỏha- with a more emphatic meaning (all the same, the very same), for example in the expression ỏhagitṇa ḷuƛƛin a ‘it’s all the same to me (lit. all the same brook)’.

The pronoun giggas is somewhat transparently made up of gi- and the latter part of gaggas ‘something’. The corresponding animate form in giddas is only ever heard in very formal contexts and in some fixed expressions, namely giḍḍat giddi meaning ‘(always) the same forget’, indicating that the suspect is usually the one who has done it before.

singular

plural

Adverbial forms for elective pronouns include:

locative

§10.4 Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns that replace nouns or noun phrases found in interrogative questions. Interrogative pronouns are:

Like indefinite pronouns, whose declension they follow, they also have a determiner form which is given below. Interrogative pronouns are found in interrogative clauses and in relative interrogative clauses.

Word order is not changed by interrogative pronouns, but pronouns may be found clause initially followed by įo for emphasis.

Unlike many other pronouns, interrogative pronouns often have a predicate verbal form, which can be used instead of a pronominal predicate form. Animate predicative verbal forms are more or less in free variation with their pronominal forms, but with inanimate predicative forms, the question often emphasises the predicative nature of what is being asked about, although both can are often are used interchangeably.