Pronouns

16.1 Personal Pronouns

The Alashian pronominal system stands in stark contrast to the pronominal systems of its closely-related Semitic cousins. Centuries of close contact has resulted in Alashian undergoing a significant degree of metatypy with respect to Cypriot Greek, meaning Alashian's pronominal system has been restructured so that it has a nearly one-to-one structural and syntactic correspondence to the Cypriot Greek model.

Three cases are represented in the personal pronouns, the only vestige of morphological case marking in Alashian: the nominative, accusative, and a merged genitive/dative (which will be called the 'genitive' for short). The nominative and accusative pronouns come in both full/emphatic and clitic forms, while the genitive pronouns lack clitic forms.

The clitic forms are always unstressed, and so never show any accent marks.

16.2 Possessive Suffixes

Possessive suffixes are largely a feature of archaic Alashian, today surviving only in a few fixed expressions. They are added directly to the construct form of the noun being possessed and indicate a pronominal possessor. Each suffix has two forms, one used after words ending in a consonant and one used after words ending in a vowel.

The following tables demonstrate the use of the possessive endings with the singular noun αβώ 'abā “father” (construct άβετ 'abet) and the plural noun ιαδεί yadī “hands” (construct ιαδή yadē). The former is used quite frequently in the modern language, while the latter is more archaic.

16.3 Reflexive Pronoun

The reflexive pronoun simply consists of the noun νάφσε nafse “breath” (originally, “soul, spirit”) with the appropriate possessive suffixes. Naturally νάφσε nafse appears in its plural form νεφώς nefās when the subject is plural.

16.4 “By Oneself”

The adverbial pronouns of the “by oneself” type are formed with declined forms of the preposition βήν bēn “between” (cf. section 17.2).

16.5 Demonstrative Pronouns

Alashian has two levels of demonstrative pronouns, proximal (“this/these”) and distal (“that/those”). They mark gender in the singular, but have a single genderless form in the plural.

The demonstrative pronouns and adjectives have distinct (though related) forms, with the pronouns having a prefix historically related to the definite article and various suffixial flotsam that no longer has a clear purpose. The demonstrative adjectives, unlike most other adjectives, do not show any sort of state agreement at all.

16.6 Interrogative Pronouns

Alashian has two interrogative pronouns, as well as a number of interrogative adjectives and adverbs.

The interrogative pronouns are μώ mā “what?”, used with inanimate referents, and μιή mie “who?”, used with animate referents. These decline in all three cases, though they do not contrast number:

There are three interrogative adjectives and determiners: ιή yē “which, what? (animate)”, έδα 'eda “which, what, what kind of? (inanimate)”, and κάν kan “how much, how many?”. They each have a full adjectival declension (though kan lacks plural forms), although the first two are somewhat irregular:

Interrogative adverbs are non-declining, and include μασή masē “when?”, ήκα 'ēka “where?”, and βιμώ bimā “how?”. “Why?” is expressed using μώ mā, the same word as the nominative form of “what?”.

16.7 Correlatives Tables

The above information dealing with pro-forms and determiners, along with other minor classes of determiners, may be summarized in a series of correlatives tables.

16.7.1 Interrogative Forms

The interrogative forms have for the most part already been discussed. The 'determiner' (“which? what?”) and 'quality' (“what kind of?”) are both handled by the adjectives ιή yē and έδα 'eda, depending on the animacy of the noun being described. The 'person' (“who?”) and 'thing' (“what?”) fields are filled by the native pronouns μώ mā and μιή mie, which have cognates in most modern Semitic languages. The distinction between mā and mie is also a question of animacy.

The interrogative of place (“where?”) is handled by the adverb ήκα 'ēka, which etymologically consists of an adjective *ʔay- “which” (cf. Alashian ιή yē) and an adverb *kā “here”. Ήκα 'ēka is used for location only; the interrogatives of direction (“whither? to where?”) and origin (“whence? from where?”) consist of prepositions plus 'ēka: αδ ήκα 'ad 'ēka (lit. “towards where?”) and βνε ήκα bne 'ēka (lit. “from where?”).

The interrogative of time (“when?”) is μασή masē, another native form with cognates in a number of Semitic languages. The interrogative of amount (“how much? how many?”) is κάν kan, which behaves as a noun and will typically appear in the construct state accompanied by whatever is being quantified. The quantified noun always appears in the singular, regardless of logical number.

The interrogative of way (“how?”) is βιμώ bimā, which consists of the clitic instrumental preposition βι- bi- “with” and the pronoun μώ mā “what?”. The interrogative of reason (“why?”) is simply μώ mā, having acquired an idiomatic adverbial function alongside its more typical pronominal one.

16.7.2 Proximal Forms

Proximal forms have the basic meaning of “this”; that is, they reference something in close proximity to the speaker.

The proximal determiner (“this”) is simply the quasi-adjective δή dē, which shows agreement in gender in number. Its pronominal equivalent, αδ̄δ̄εκώ 'aḏḏekā and its other forms, fill the roles of the 'person' (“this person, this one”) and 'thing' (“this thing, this one”) categories. It also has two variants derived using prepositions, κααδ̄δ̄εκώ ka'aḏḏekā “such, like this” (and its feminine and plural counterparts) and βεαδ̄δ̄εκώ be'aḏḏekā “for this reason, therefore” (usually always masculine singular).

The 'place' and 'direction' forms are primitive Semitic forms: ηών hān “here” and κυώ kuo “hither, to here”. The proximal adverb of origin, however, employs the preposition βνε bne “from”: βνε ηών bne hān “hence, from here”.

The adverb αππών 'əphān “now” is directly related to the noun πών pān “time, instance, occurrence” with what was once a definite article prefixed, though the connection between the two words is not readily apparent to most Alashian speakers.

The proximal quantifier is δή πυώς dē puos “this amount [of]”, which consists of the demonstrative “this” plus the noun πυώς puos “amount, total”, borrowed from Greek πόσο póso “how much?”.

The proximal adverb of way is κάκ kak “thus, this way”, which etymologically consists of the preposition ka- “like” and the locatival adverb *kā “here”.

16.7.3 Distal Forms

The distal forms have a basic meaning of “that”, referencing something more distant from the speaker, whether physically or metaphorically. These closely parallel the proximal correlatives in their formation.

As with the proximals, a number of these forms are directly derived from the demonstratives. The determiner ηού hū “that” is the distal demonstrative adjective, while the distal 'person' and 'thing' categories are filled by the distal pronouns such as ανού 'anū “that person, that thing, that one”. The 'quality' and 'reason' categories are filled with pronouns augmented by clitic prepositions, namely καανού ka'anū “that kind of, like that” and βεανού be'anū “for that reason, therefore”.

The distal adverb of place is θών ṯān “there”, a primitive Semitic form. The directional adverb is αδών 'adān “thither, to there”, which historically consists of the preposition αδ 'ad “toward” + θών ṯān. The adverb of origin is phrasal: βνε θών bne ṯān “thence, from there”.

The distal adverb of time is πλέ ple “then”, a loanword from Cypriot Greek πιλαί pilé “already”, which in both languages also serves as a general marker of the perfect aspect.

The distal quantifier is ηού πυώς hū puos “that amount, that much”, clearly built on the same model as δή πυώς dē puos “this amount, this much”. The adverb of way is κάκ kak “that way, like that, thus”, and is not distinguished from the proximal adverb of way.

16.7.4 Indefinite Forms

The indefinite forms mark an unknown or inspecific quantity or quality, either because the speaker does not know (e.g., “I saw something strange”) or simply is not revealing the information (e.g., “I saw someone you know”). Most Alashian indefinites involve the numeral (ά)ρ̄αδ ('a)řad “one” in some form.

The indefinite determiner “some, some kind of” is simply ρ̄άδ řad, the same as the adjectival form of “one”. Despite the illogic of it, ρ̄άδ řad may freely appear with plural endings if modifying a plural noun.

The indefinite pronouns marking persons and things consist of an assimilated řad fused with the interrogative pronoun: ρ̄αμμιή řammie “someone”, ρ̄αμμώ řammā “something”. These decline in the same manner as the interrogative pronouns they were based on.

The indefinite marker of quality is the adverb κάαρ̄αδ ka'ařad, which literally means “like one” or “like something”. Analogy likely played some role in its adoption.

All of the indefinite locative and directional adverbs are phrasal. “Somewhere” is ηαλ ρ̄αδ μακκούν hal řad məkhūn, literally “at some place”. The directional “to somewhere” is ρ̄άδ μακκούνα řad məkhūna, featuring a frozen non-productive directional suffix *-a, eliminating the need for a preposition. “From somewhere” is, not surprisingly, βνε ρ̄άδ μακκούν bne řad məkhūn, literally “from some place”.

Alashian has a number of indefinite adverbs of time. The one shown in the chart is πών pān, which means “once” or “sometime”, implying a single indefinite occurence sometime in the past. Indefinite future occurrences are generally handled with the idiom ιούν ηαλ αιιουνυώς̄ yūn hal hayyūnuoš, literally “a day out of days”. Multiple indefinite occurrences (i.e., “sometimes”), whether past of future, are generally handled with πωνιήν pānien, the plural form of πών pān.

The last few indefinites are loanwords. The indefinite quantifier “some, some amount” is ριδ̄μυώς riḏmuos, derived from Greek αριθμός “a number [of]”. The indefinite adverb of manner is βερ̄άδ μυώδ beřad muod “somehow, in some manner, by some means”, where μυώδ muod ultimately comes from French mode. The indefinite adverb of reason is βερ̄άδ λούχ beřad lūx “for some reason”, with λούχ lūx coming from Greek λόγος lógos.

16.7.5 Negative Forms

Most of the negative correlatives feature a negative suffix *-ma or *-mā, which is related to the interrogative μώ mā “what?”; this is a fairly common Semitic construction, where sentences like “What is in my hand?” come to mean “There is nothing in my hand”. All of these negative forms must be accompanied by a negated verb (double negation).

The *-ma/*-mā suffix is seen most clearly in the negative pronouns μιμμώ mimmā “nobody” and μαμμώ mammā “nothing”, both of which are non-declining. The negative determiner/adjective of quality, ήμα 'ēma “no, no kind of” also uses it; note that this form acts as a prenominal particle or adjunct more than an adjective, since it also does not decline. The adverb of time, μαζμώ mazmā “never”, is derived from μασή masē “when?” + *-mā, but has undergone some vowel reduction and assimilation.

All other negatives are phrasal and employ ήμα 'ēma: ηαλ ήμα μακκούν hal 'ēma məkhūn “nowhere”, ήμα μακκούνα 'ēma məkhūna “to nowhere”, βνε ήμα μακκούν bne 'ēma məkhūn “from nowhere”, ήμα πυώς 'ēma puos “no amount of”, βεήμα μυώδ be'ēma muod “in no way”, βεήμα λούχ be'ēma lūx “for no reason”.

16.7.6 Universal Forms

The universal correlatives all have the basic meaning of “all” or “every”. Many of these forms revolve around the adjective κάλ kal “all, every”.

There are only two universal correlatives that are not phrasal. One is κάλ kal, which means “all” or “every” when used attributively or “everything” when used nominally; it also has a derived adjective καλεί kalī “each”. The other is παχεί paxī “always”, derived from Greek εποχή epoxí “period, age, epoch”.

The following forms are phrasal: κάλ τείπ kal tīp “every kind of”, κάλ άρ̄αδ kal 'ařad “everyone, each”, ηαλ κάλ μακκούν hal kal məkhūn “everywhere”, καλ μακκούνα kal məkhūna “to everywhere”, βνε κάλ μακκούν bne kal məkhūn “from everywhere”, κάλ πυώς kal puos “every amount of”, βικάλ μυώδ bikal muod “in every way, by all means”, βικάλ λούχ bikal lūx “for every reason”.

16.7.7 Indeterminate Forms

The indeterminate forms have the basic meaning of “any”. They are completely identical to the negative forms; the two are distinguished only by the polarity of the main verb, with positive verbs giving indeterminate meaning and negative verbs giving negative meaning.

16.7.8 Alternative Forms

The alternative correlatives mean “other” or “else”. There are two main stems at work: the native Semitic χάρ xar “other” and the Greek prefixial αλλι- 'alli-, from Greek άλλος allós “other”.

The alternative determiner is simply the adjective χάρ xar “other, another”. The qualitative alternative is the loaned Greek adjective αλλούν 'allun “another kind of”.

The pronouns feature the prefix 'alli- attached to an interrogative base: αλλιμιή 'allimie “someone else, another”, αλλιμώ 'allimā “something else, another”. A similar form is seen in αλλιπαχεί 'allipaxī “some other time”, though this is instead created from the base παχεί paxī “always”.

All other forms are phrasal: ηαλ χάρ μακκούν hal xar məkhūn “somewhere else”, χάρ μακκούνα xar məkhūna “to somewhere else”, βνε χάρ μακκούν bne xar məkhūn “from somewhere else”, χάρ πυώς xar puos “some other amount”, βιχάρ λούχ bixar lūx “for some other reason”. The adverb of alternative method, βιχαρείς bixarīs “another way, differently” is also technically phrasal, but is formed from the noun χαρείς xarīs “otherness, difference”, a nominalized form of χάρ xar.