Proforms

As mentioned earlier, Nahaıwa pronominals are expressed as extensional prefixes, more specifically of type −+, with a variable inner case vowel.

Here are some of the main pronominals:

FormMeaning
n◈I/me (singular speaker, or rarely, multiple authors of a same utterance, as in written joint work)
k◈you (addressee, either singular or plural, never including absent third parties)
ŋk◈me + you
θ◈you know what/who (contextually ascertainable 3rd person)
nt◈that which I am pointing to or looking at (pointing demonstrative)
t◈resumptive pronominal (refers to the antecedent in relative clauses)
tʼ◈monovalent lambda pronominal (covers the interrogative “what” among other uses)
ntʰ◈Intransitive case anaphora (refers to the most recent noun with this case)
ncʰ◈Ergative case anaphora (refers to the most recent noun with this case)
ŋkʰ◈Accusative case anaphora (refers to the most recent noun with this case)
mpʰ◈Dative case anaphora (refers to the most recent noun with this case)
ŋqʰ◈Extensional case anaphora (refers to the most recent noun with this case)

The plural “we” has no dedicated pronominal, but can be expressed by adding the associative plural extension ⟪-nθ◈-⟫ right after ⟪-n◈-⟫, with the same inner case vowel: ⟪-n◈nθ◈-⟫ (“me and co.”).

They all can be used as full words by combinging them with the dummy root ⟪-yá⟫, ⟪[NTR] is a thing, is something⟫, with the Intransitive inner case vowel ⟪-a-⟫: ⟪-nayá⟫ ≍ ⟪[NTR] is me⟫.

The case anaphora proforms are used to refer back to a recently mentioned noun, using the outer case the noun was marked with as the identifier for identifying it.