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:
Form | Meaning |
---|---|
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.