Pronoun Paradigm: Kham (Western Parbate) (Takale Dialect)
Paradigm Details:
Language: (kjl) Kham (Western Parbate) (Takale Dialect).
Family:
System Type: F
Source: Watters (2002).
Comment: Per Watters (2002:161), the S, A, and O forms listed below are used only ‘to reintroduce [discourse] participants of low standing or to place special emphasis on the participant at hand’. A set of bound pronominal elements serve to mark anaphoric reference in a manner comparable to the function of free pronouns in English and similar languages (Watters 2002:161). In addition, the language possesses a complex system of case marking in which both ergative-absolutive and nominative-accusative patterns of marking exist and overlap (Watters 2002:68 ff). This overlapping of case marking patterns is so extensive that utterances which contain both an ergative agent and accusative object or an unmarked nominative subject and unmarked absolutive object can occur (Watters 2002:68 ff). Which marking an argument receives is determined by its position on a nominal hierarchy in relation to the other arguments present in the clause (Watters 2002:68-9). Given this state of affairs and the lack of any obvious default marking for arguments appearing in the S, A or O roles, the pronouns below are given without any such markings. The 3rd person forms are transparently relatable to the distal (within view) demonstrative.
Pronoun Paradigm:
| A | S | O | Poss. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (excl) Person Singular | ŋa: | ŋa: | ŋa: | ŋa- |
| 1st (excl) Person Dual | gin | gin | gin | gin- |
| 1st (excl) Person Plural | ge: | ge: | ge: | ge- |
| 1st (incl) Person Dual | gin | gin | gin | gin- |
| 1st (incl) Person Plural | ge: | ge: | ge: | ge- |
| 2nd Person Singular | nɨ̃: | nɨ̃: | nɨ̃: | nə- |
| 2nd Person Dual | jin | jin | jin | jin- |
| 2nd Person Plural | je: | je: | je: | je- |
| 3rd Person Singular Gender 1 | no: | no: | no: | o- - |
| 3rd Person Singular Gender 2 | no: | no: | no: | o- - |
| 3rd Person Dual | no:ni | no:ni | no:ni | ni- |
| 3rd Person Plural | no:rə | no:rə | no:rə | ya- |