4 - Determiners & pronouns

4) Determiners and pronouns

A) The Articles 1) Indefinite article U (UN)

Origin It comes from the numeral un

(Indo-European: oinos*, Greek: ena, Fr/It/Sp: un(o) German : ein(s), English: one, Dutch: een, Danish: en, Breton: un etc…)

* For euphonic reasons, u is used before a consonant, un before a vowel

Use before a countable noun in the singular; it doesn't exist in the plural

Ex: U kun a dog kune dogs

Je s’ne u kwal, je s’u ponit

* Can turn a non-countable into a countable noun with a more limited meaning

Ex Vok se sirven ba silad se gor Speech is silvern, silence is golden

U silad falì su d’insamad wan de vokor initì A silence fell on the audience when the speaker came in.

* Can be used before nouns of nationalities, trades, etc…

Ex:

He s’u Franc he s'a Frenchman He se Franci (adj.) he's French

He s’u plobor OR He se plobor He's a plumber

2) The definite article DE

Origin It comes from the demonstratives di, da

(CF: Indo-European: to, ta, tio, Greek: to, ta, Slavic: to, ta…, German:

der, die, das, Dutch de, English: the)

Use In the singular and plural = the

Ex: De man the man de ʒina the woman

De mane the men de ʒinas the women

Is used only when the noun is determined, particular

Ex: De man (wen i vizì) the man (I saw)

De ʒina (ov wen i vok) the woman (I'm talking about)

BUT Man = man (in general) ʒina = woman (in general)

Kat s’u domi best the cat (in general) is a domestic animal

Av tu vizen de kat ? Have you seen the cat ? (you know what cat it is)

The noun can be determined by * possessive phrase (genitive)

Ex: DE okle mi forpatri my grand-father's glasses

* a relative clause

Ex: DE tristid wen i felì the sadness I felt

* the context

Ex: He falì in DE foj He fell into the fire (which was there)

DE plaʒ se vuzi num The beach (that one) is empty now

The definite article is never used with a general noun (abstract, non-countable nouns, nature, elements…)

Ex: Verid, belad, liam, wer, denie, art truth, beauty, love, war, money, art

muzik, natùr, sol, vint, lun, mar music, nature, the sun, the wind, the moon, the sea

Let us compare General Particular

De man vidì senden in karsia par he robì vage De vizitore venì us de karsia

The man was sent to jail because he stole cars The visitors came out of the prison

The definite article is not used with * proper nouns refering to people even with a title

Ex: Jan, Davìd, Silvia, Krist, Raj Luìs, Prisedan Mao, Kanselora Merkel

John, David, Sylvia, Christ, King Lewis, Chairman Mao, Chancellor Merkel

But it is used in the plural De Martine, de Mulore, de Duponte, de Smite

The Martins, the Mulors, the Duponts, the Smiths

* geographic nouns (countries, etc…)

Ex Europa, Francia, Doskia, Swedia, Espania, Italia, USA (ou ess a), USSR (ou ess ess eRR)

Europe, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy, the USA, the USSR

Lag Genevi, Kep Horn, Kep Bun Speri, Alpe, Pirene, Bor Everest

The Lake of Geneva, Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, the Alps, the Pyrenees, Mount Everest

Volga, Midimàr, Mori Mar, Atlanti Oseàn, Strad Viktadi, Hotèl Paci

The Volga, the Mediterranean, the Dead Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, Victory street, Peace Hotel

Atlanti Oseàn

* Dates & days of the week

Ex He ven be Lundia He comes on Monday He ven be Lundias… on Mondays…

He venì be 24i (dudes-kweri) Ʒun He came on June 24th

17i oktober 1969 October 17th 1969 (dessepi oktober desnèv-sesdes-nev)

B) Pronouns and Quantifiers

1) Personal Pronouns and possessive adjectives

GENERAL TABLE

SUBJECT OBJECT INDIRECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE A.

Origin

(I: Indo-Euro: ego, Greek: egô, Latin: ego, Italian: io, Spanish: yo, Fr: je, Russian: ia, German: ich, English: I, Dutch: ik, TU = fr/it/Sp: tu, Ger: du, rus: ty, serb-cro: ti…he = Eng: he, Dutch: hij, dan: han…CE = Eng: she, Ger: sie, Dutch: zij, ze, JE = Lit jis, Hin ye, Ger: es, Dutch: het, Czech: je = (object), NU = Fr: nous, it: noi, Sp: nos(otros), rus/Cz/ser-cro: nas, (object = na), VU = fr: vous, it: voi, Sp: vos(otros), Rus/Cz =: vy, ser-cro: vi…vas = va, LU = it: loro = lu, lo, li, it: le, li = la), fr: les, leur, Sp: los, las)

A) Pronoun subject Is used to conjugate the verb

* With Comparatives

BUT He liam mi sesta maj te ma He loves my sister more than me (than he loves me = object)

* use of he = general (men and animals)

ce = women and female animals

je = all the other nouns

* je, un, la, ek, eke

Di kafa se bun. Ko kopì tu ja ?

B) Personal pronoun object (accusative) : ending -a

It is used * as a direct object

* With a preposition

* To conjugate a reflexive verb with the pronoun SIA (oneself) in the 3rd person

Ex SIA LAVO…to wash (oneself)…SIA VEKO…to wake up ("wake oneself")…SIA LIVO…to get up ("lift oneself")

* Notes:

- The reflexive conjugation is only used when the sujet acts (voluntarily or involuntarily) on himself, otherwise the passive is used.

Ex He tudì sia, jetan sia ap tru de fent = He killed himself (voluntarily) by throwing himself out of the window

He vunì sia ki u kotèl, proban opro ostre = he injured himself with a knife (involuntarily) trying to open oysters

≠ He vidì tuden in un obfàl = He was killed in an accident

- To express reciprocity, the adverb unaltem is used (each other, one another, reciprocally)

Ex Lu gladì unaltem = they looked at each other

≠ Lu glad sia in de mirèl = they look at themselves in the mirror

- Certain reflexive verbs in French, Spanish, German or Russian which are not really reflexive correspond to simple verbs in Uropi.

Ex Pasìto = se promener (go for a walk), tiedo = s'ennuyer, aburrirse, sich langweilen (to get bored), ito a led = se coucher, lozhit'sya spat' (go to bed), hasto = se dépêcher, aprésurarse, sich beeilen, toropit'sya (to hurry), stopo = s'arrêter, pararse, ostanovit'sya (to stop)…

C) Indirect object or Dative: ending : -o

It corresponds to using the preposition A which introduces the indirect object

MO = “a ma”, TO = “ a ta “, HO = “a ha”, SIO = “a sia” …

He kopì ho sigare

D) Place of the Pronouns object

* Generally after the verb

Ex: I vizì ca I saw her Ce vokì mo she spoke to me

Yet it is possible to place it before the verb (after the auxiliary) especially in compound tenses

* The personal pronoun (object) is always placed before the other complements

* The direct object (accusative) is generally placed before the indirect object (dative)

* With a compound verb, the personal pronoun object is inserted between the verb and the adverb

E) Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns ending: -i (adj.), ìa (pron.)

Possessive adjectives agree with the possessor, but not with the thing that is possessed

Possessive pronouns take an -s in the pluriel :

Di kun s'ne mi. Se he ne vi ?

Possessive adjectives are used with clothes and parts of the body

2) The Indefinite Pronoun : UN ( = liente, people, lu, they…you…) = one

* Corresponds to French on, to German man

* With liente (people)

* With lu (they) (CF: Russian: oni govoriat = they say, Spanish: dicen)

UN > SIA > SIU

To the pronoun subject UN corresponds the pronoun object SIA (= oneself, see above: reflexive verb) and the possessive adjective SIU (= one's)

- Use of SIA… SIO… SIU…

SIA which is used as a reflexive pronoun, is first of all the complement of the indefinite pronom UN (object and also used with prepositions) = oneself.

Ex Un doʒ kono sia som = one should know oneself, po sia = for oneself, in sia = in oneself…

Un vark po sia = one works for oneself

SIO is the indirect object (or dative, See above: C)

Ex Un doʒ prago sio is… = one should ask oneself if… (= to oneself)

SIU is the corresponding possessive adjective: = one's

Ex In waj un kon siu frame = In misfortune one knows one's friends (proverb)

Un doʒ honoro siu genore = one should honour one's parents

Just as sia and sio, siu may have a reflexive function; it then refers to the preceding subject

Ex Martìn pragì a siu dota ordo siu kamar = Martin asked his daughter to tidy her room

Siu dota refers to Martìn (preceding subject): she's Martin's daughter, whereas siu kamar refers to dota: it's his daughter's room.

In the 3rd person, siu can be used instead of hi, ci, ji, li in order to avoid any ambiguity. However using siu is in no way compulsory: you may very well use hi & ci (= his & her)in the previous example:

Ex Martìn pragì a hi dota ordo ci kamar = Martin asked his daughter to tidy her room

In the same way:

Ce brekì siu gam in u skiji obfàl = she broke her leg in a skiing accident

or Ce slipì su de muj graz id brekì ci gam = she slipped on the wet grass and broke her leg

But on the other hand:

De raj sendì hi servan calo hi medikor = the king sent his servant to call his doctor (= the king's doctor)

But De raj sendì hi servan calo siu medikor = the king sent his servant to call his (own) doctor (the servant's: preceding subject )

or He vac hi veste = He washes his clothes (his own or sbdy else's ?) ≠ He vac siu veste (hi siavi veste) = he washes his own clothes

But most of the time the context enables us to avoid any ambiguity

3) The Reciprocal Pronoun : UNALTEM = each other, one another.

* It is invariable

* It can be used with a preposition

Ex: Lu liam unaltem They love each other ≠ lu liam sia they love themselves

Ka men tu ov di kravàt ?

6) Indefinite Adjectives and Pronouns

A) Un…alten…obe

* OBE = both…NEOBE = neither

Obe fente sì opren

B) Ek…Jaki…Ne…Tal…Eni

Nun od mi frame dom in de kebipol

C) Les Composés de Ek, Jaki, Tal, Ne, Eni, Alten

GENERAL TABLE

+ * ekun alten = somebody else, altenwim = in another way

D) The Quantifiers : MOL… POJ… SAT…

Av tu kopen sat pan ?* The Compounds of mol…poj…

E) The Quantifiers: MAJ… MIN… MAJSAN… MIJ…

F) Qualitative indefinite pronouns : SUL… SOM… EKI…

De majsan liente gus feste

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