Celestial Laefêvëši pronouns

Celestial Laefêvëši has many types of pronouns.

There are two large classes of pronouns in Laefêvëši: substantival (or nominal) pronouns, and adjectival pronouns. As their name suggests, substantival pronouns replace nouns while adjectival pronouns replace adjectives. Each of these classes has further subdivisions.

Substantival pronoun

Substantival pronouns are divided into two main groups: personal and non-personal pronouns. The personal pronouns are pronouns like ós "I", sé "you", njûn "we", etc., as well as reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

The group of non-personal pronouns includes interrogative pronouns (sel "who" and sei "what"), relative pronouns, unspecified pronouns, relative unspecified pronouns, indefinite pronouns, negative pronouns, total pronouns, and manifold pronouns.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns (jubila ljaklansa) are used to denote the speaker, the addressee, or a third person - they are inflected for three persons. There is also a fourth person form of the pronouns, the obviative pronoun. Personal pronouns further inflect for number (singular, dual, plural), case, and clusivity.

The personal pronouns have unique forms for the six basic cases. Other case endings are added to these basic six forms, according to the case hierarchy.

Many pronouns also have two possible forms for each case: the long or emphatic form, and the short or unstressed form. Some pronouns have a third form in some of the cases: the preclitic form, which is a clitic form attached to the verb. The unstressed forms are used when the pronoun is not important. However, then inflecting for the subcases or additional cases, then the emphatic forms are used (along with Class II nominal suffixes, corresponding to the number, ie. singular pronouns take singular endings, and so on). Lastly, the clitic forms are often used when the verb begins in a vowel and the pronoun contracts. This is especially common in set phrases or idiomatic expressions.

Laefêvëši personal pronouns differentiate clusivity too - between inclusive (me and you) and exclusive (me and someone else) forms. Inclusive and exclusive pronouns exist in first person dual and plural, as well for second person dual and plural. However, the second person inclusive and exclusive pronouns are rarely used - the shorter inclusive forms are typically used.

There is also a fourth person pronoun, which exists only in singular. It is somewhat defective compared to other pronouns because it lacks certain forms. It is used when it's necessary to indicate that there are two separate people or things.

Third person pronouns in singular also differentiate between animate (ie. he/she) and inanimate (ie. it) forms, but only in nominative. The difference is non-existed in all other forms. There is also no gender difference or any other class difference.

Since Laefêvëši is a pro-drop language, nominative forms are rarely used explicitly. An exception to this might be the exclusive pronouns and the obviative pronoun, which tend to be used more often to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Non-nominative forms of any pronoun are frequently used.

Case	Singular
	1st person			2nd person			3rd person			4th person (obviative)
	Long	Short	Clitic	Long	Short	Clitic	Long	Short	Clitic
Nominative	ós	ó		sé	é		jâ; dô	â; ô		léis
Genitive	vrai	va		stai	sa		trai	ta		lau
Dative	vriu	vi	vl-	stiu	si	st-	triu	ti	tr-	leu
Accusative	vrei	ve	vj-	stei	se	sj-	trei	te	tj-	lei
Locative	vrui	vu		stui	su		trui	tu		lui
Instrumental	vroi	vo		stoi	so		trói	to		lou

Case	Dual
	1st person				2nd person		3rd person
	Inclusive		Exclusive		Inclusive	Exclusive
	Long	Short	Long	Short
Nominative	hat	hâ	xat	xâ	tal	dal	kû
Genitive	hrai		xirrai		čai	dilai	kjai
Dative	hriu		xirriu		čiu	diliu	kjiu
Accusative	hrei		xirrei		čei	dilei	kjei
Locative	hrui		xirrui		čui	dilui	kjui
Instrumental	hroi		xirroi		čoi	diloi	kjoi

Case	Plural
	1st person		2nd person		3rd person
	Inclusive	Exclusive	Inclusive	Exclusive	Long	Short
Nominative	njûn	njôr	pal	bal	jî
Genitive	njai	rjai	prai	birrai	jai
Dative	njiu	rjiu	priu	birriu	jiu	ji
Accusative	njei	rjei	prei	birrei	jei	je
Locative	njui	rjui	prui	birrui	jui
Instrumental	njoi	rjoi	proi	birroi	joi

Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns

The reflexive pronoun is used to refer back to the subject of the sentence. It inflects only for case, but not for number. It takes singular Class II case endings. There is also no stand-alone nominative form, but a nominative form exists when additional cases require it.

The reciprocal pronoun indicates that the persons or things do the same thing, feel the same way or have the same relationship. It also inflects only for case, takes singular Class II case endings, and has no stand-alone nominative form, except for additional cases.

Case	Reflexive	Reciprocal
Nominative	(nî-)	(nû-)
Genitive	nai	nûda
Dative	niu	nûdi
Accusative	nei	nûde
Locative	nui	nûdu
Instrumental	noi	nûd

Examples of the reflexive pronoun:

• Nareu šillar noido.
  Take the book with you.
• Nei lallais tvēalu.
  He saw himself in the mirror.
• Lottallúksi nuiru.
  She doesn't want to speak about herself.

Examples of the reciprocal pronoun:

• Nûdi grîttes neires.
  The two of them are washing each other's hands.
• Tajatoksi nûdo.
  They don't agree with each other.

Reflexive verbs and reflexive/reciprocal pronouns

Laefêvëši also has reciprocal verbs, which also indicate that the action refers back to the subject. Because of that, there is some overlap with the reflexive and reciprocal verbs. In many cases, one can be used instead of the other, sometimes there are slight nuances in the meaning, and sometimes they convey very different information.

Some verbs are inherently reflexive. The reflexive pronoun can be added to indicate the direction of the action. Compare the three examples below:

• Neinnasse. (reflexive without the reflexive pronoun)
  He's laughing.
• Neinnasse niu. (reflexive with the reflexive pronoun)
  He's laughing at himself.
• Neinnasse vi. (reflexive with a non-reflexive pronoun)
  He's laughing at me.

In other cases, the reflexive pronoun can be replaced by turning a regular verb into a reflexive verb when the reflexive pronoun isn't important.

• Nei lallais tvēalu. → Laillaisse tvēalu.
  He saw himself in the mirror. → He saw himself in the mirror.

Some verbs can be used either reflexively or with a reflexive pronouns without any change in meaning, apart from emphasising the reflexivity of the action. Compare the following examples:

• Grîtta nioreu. (non-reflexive)
  I'm washing the child.
• Grîttare. (reflexive)
  I'm washing myself.
• Grîtta nei. (non-reflexive with the reflexive pronoun)
  I'm washing myself.

In dual and plural, further distinctions can be made by using the reciprocal pronoun. Continuing from the previous examples:

• Grîtteri. (reflexive) - Grîtte nei. (non-reflexive with the reflexive pronoun)
  The two of us are washing ourselves. (each person is washing themselves)
• Grîtte nûde. (non-reflexive with the reciprocal pronoun)
  The two of us are washing each other. (person A is washing person B, and person B is washing person A)

The same applies to inherently reflexive pronouns:

• Neinneri. (reflexive without the reflexive pronoun)
  The two of us are laughing.
• Neinneri niu. (reflexive with the reflexive pronoun)
  The two of us are laughing at ourselves.
• Neinneri nûdi. (reflexive with the reciprocal pronoun)
  The two of us are laughing at each other.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns (tentandila ljaklansa) are used to introduce a question and enquire about persons, animals, objects, etc. The corresponding English pronouns are who and what.

Case	Interrogative
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	sel	sei
Genitive	sai	sak
Dative	san	sat
Accusative	seu	set
Locative	sen	sem
Instrumental	sin	sim

Examples:

• Sel hjonnas?
  Who is coming?
• San vettain nareu?
  Who did you give the book to?
• Sak hkillanne?
  What are you afraid of? (or What do you fear?)
• Set marranos?
  What are they looking for?
• Simot geittaun?
  What will you pay with?

Relative pronouns

The relative pronouns are used to introduce a relative clause, which then gives more information about someone or something mentioned in the main clause. These are substantival relative pronouns, however, which means they stand in for nouns or refer to whole clauses. The best English equivalents are (the person) who, (he) who, or (someone) who, and (the thing) which, (that) which, or (something) which.

Case	Relative
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	sol	sos
Genitive	soi	sok
Dative	son	sot
Accusative	sou	sut
Locative	son	som
Instrumental	sun	sum

Examples:

• Sol nevvanas, nevant ás.
  A person who teaches is a teacher.
• Tannar, sut ullan.
  Do what you want.
• Pol sanlás, sumot tajataker.
  This is the only thing which I disagree with.
• Pol, sut lonnais, nalj áksi.
  What he said isn't true. (or more literally, That which he said isn't true.)

Unspecified pronouns

The unspecified pronouns are similar to interrogative pronouns but refer to an unspecified person, animal, object, etc. They are never used to introduce a question. There are no direct English counterparts, the closest are who, anyone, someone, and what, anything, something.

Case	Unspecified
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	sēl	siu
Genitive	sau	sâk
Dative	sân	sât
Accusative	søn	søt
Locative	sēn	sēm
Instrumental	syn	sym

Examples:

• Sannar vi, søt lallavan.
  Tell me if you see anything.
• Sannar vi, siu ehtiavausse.
  Tell me if anything changes.
• Ynnake, sân vettaha pei.
  I don't know who I should give this to.
• Njainnahas sēl fjøljade.
  Someone should call the doctor. (or May someone call the doctor.)
• Yssynnanasse, suj ti sēl søt vettas.
  It always makes him happy when someone gives him something.
• Ynnaike, synot lottai.
  I didn't know who I was talking to.

Relative unspecified pronouns

The relative unspecified pronouns are similar to the relative pronouns but with a suffix added to indicate an optional or arbitrary, random choice. They are similar to English whoever or anyone, and whatever or anything.

Case	Relative unspecified
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	soles	soxes
Genitive	soies	soges
Dative	sones	soðes
Accusative	soues	suðes
Locative	soŋes	sōŋes
Instrumental	suŋes	sûŋes

Examples:

• Sientóleu niounnallés soles.
  Anyone can read this letter.
• Soŋesot annan, ljecyissár.
  Whoever you go with, be careful.
• Suðeseru ǯiuissás.
  I'm ready for anything. (alternatively also I'm ready for whatever [may happen].)

Indefinite pronouns

The indefinite pronouns are used to refer to unknown people, animals, objects, etc. They are equivalent to English someone or somebody, and something.

Case	Indefinite
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	tel	tei
Genitive	tai	tak
Dative	tan	tas
Accusative	teu	tes
Locative	ten	tem
Instrumental	tin	tim

Examples:

• Tel se naittais.
  Someone called you.
• Tes ennas øxlu.
  She has something in his pocket.
• Eillais ve timot.
  He hit me with something.
• Tan gyttai nareu, či ʒaillai, sân.
  I lent the book to someone, but I've forgotten who.

Negative pronouns

The negative pronouns indicate the non-existence of persons, animals, objects, etc. Their English equivalents are nobody, no-one, and nothing. They also require the predicate to be negated (double negation).

Case	Negative
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	tol	toh
Genitive	toi	tok
Dative	tor	tos
Accusative	tou	tus
Locative	ton	tom
Instrumental	tun	tum

Examples:

• Tol hjannaiksi.
  Nobody came.
• Toi lallaike.
  I saw no-one.
• Tok tinnaike.
  I found nothing.
• Mønnølu møttaiksi tok.
  He bought nothing in the shop.

Total pronouns

The total pronouns (sometimes also known as the universal pronouns) are used to indicate the total number of persons, animals, objects, etc. involved. The animate pronoun is often referred to as the distributive pronoun because it refers to each individual, and the inanimate pronoun as the summative pronoun because it refers to the class collectively. Their English equivalents are everyone, everybody, and everything, all.

Case	Total
	Animate	Inanimate
Nominative	fel	fei
Genitive	fai	făk
Dative	fân	fâs
Accusative	feu	fet
Locative	fen	fem
Instrumental	fin	fim

Examples:

• Feu donnanas.
  He greets everyone. (in the sense of greeting each person separately)
• Yvynekja tajatakses fînot.
  The professor doesn't agree with everyone.
• Pol fei lás, sut sella.
  This is everything that I know.
• Fâk i ynnake.
  I don't know how to do everything.

Manifold pronouns

The manifold pronouns are a set of unspecified pronouns with prefixes (and as such, they are declined identically to the unspecified pronouns).

There are four prefixes:

• lae- "many"
• xae- "many" (rarely used)
• tue- "hardly"
• jae- "rarely"

The first two types, lae- and xae-, are identical in meaning but the lae- forms are prevalent and the xae- forms have largely fallen out of use. They refer to multiple people or things and can be translated similarly to English "many a person" and "many a thing".

The other two types, tue- and jae-, are also similar in meaning, both referring to the scarcity or low number of people or things. Of these two, tue- is somewhat more common, but both prefixes are used. They can be translated as "hardly anyone" and "hardly anything".

Examples:

• Laessēl stoido tajatakses.
  Many a person will not agree with you.
• Vēalu laessiu ehtiaisse.
  Many a thing has changed in the city.
• Laessâk ynnake.
  I don't know many a thing. (or There are many things I don't know.)
• Tuessēl ksynnas aisóleu.
  Hardly anyone knows this song. (or Very few people know this song.)
• Vēalu tuessiu ehtiaisse.
  Hardly anything has changed in the city.

Other pronouns

Case	Interrogative		Relative		Relative unspecified		Indefinite		Negative		Unspecified
	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate
Nom.	sél	séi	sól	sós	sóles	sóxes	tél	téi	tól	tóh	sêl	síu
Gen.	sái	sák	sói	sók	sóies	sóges	tái	ták	tói	tók	sáu	sâk
Dat.	sán	sát	sór	sót	sóres	soðes	tán	tás	tór	tós	sân	sât
Acc.	séu	sét	sóu	sút	sóues	súðes	téu	tés	tóu	tús	sǿn	sǿt
Loc.	sén	sém	són	sóm	sóŋes	sôŋes	tén	tém	tón	tóm	sên	sêm
Inst.	sín	sím	sún	súm	súŋes	sûŋes	tín	tím	tún	túm	sýn	sým

Case	Total		Manifold
			la- (many)		xa- (many)		ta- (few)		ja- (rarely)
	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate	Animate	Inanimate
Nom.	fél	féi	lás	lîn	xás	xîn	tás	tîn	jás	jîn
Gen.	fái	fâk	lái	lák	xái	xák	tái	ták	jái	ják
Dat.	fân	fât	lán	lár	xán	xár	tán	tár	ján	jár
Acc.	féu	fét	lýn	lýs	xýn	xýs	týn	týs	jýn	jýs
Loc.	fén	fém	lén	lém	xén	xém	tén	tém	jén	jém
Inst.	fîn	fím	lûn	lûm	xûn	xûm	tûn	tûm	jûn	jûm

Combinations

Indefinite-relative

The combined indefinite-relative pronouns are pronouns made from an indefinite and a relative pronoun. Pronouns are inflected by case and therefore cannot be the object and the subject of two different verbs at the same time. The usual construction is to use two pronouns separated by a comma, thus forming two clauses. With combined indefinite-relative pronouns, it becomes possible to use a single pronoun which is both the object and the subject of two different verbs at the same time.

Example:

• How can you miss something (that) you never had?
• Váj fíllallén tés, sók énnanaiŋe?
• Váj fíllallén téssok énnanaiŋe?

Cases	Indefinite	Relative	Indefinite-relative
Nom + Nom	téi	sós	teós
Nom + Gen	téi	sók	teók
Nom + Acc	téi	sút	teút
Acc + Nom	tés	sós	téssos
Acc + Gen	tés	sók	téssok
Acc + Acc	tés	sút	téssut

Personal-summative

This kind of pronouns correspond to English we all, you all, they all pronouns. In contrary to other personal pronouns, personal-summative pronouns do not have a verbal form.

Case	Personal-summative (plural)
	1st person								2nd person								3rd person				4th person (obviative)
	Inclusive				Exclusive				Inclusive				Exclusive
	Long	Short	Prep.		Long	Short	Prep.		Long	Short	Prep.		Long	Short	Prep.		Long	Short	Prep.		Long	Short	Prep.
Nominative	skjûn	skû			skjôr	skjô			stjál	stjâ			stál	stâ			kvôn	kvî
Genitive	skjái	skja	skjá-		skái	ska	ská-		stjái	stja	stjá-		stái	sta	stá-		kvái	kva	kvá-
Dative	skjéu	skjø	skjǿ-		skéu	skø	skǿ-		stjéu	stjø	stjǿ-		stíu	sti	stí-		kvéu	kvø	kvǿ-
Accusative	skjéi	skje	skjé-		skéi	ske	ské-		stjéi	stje	stjé-		stéi	ste	sté-		kvéi	kve	kvé-
Locative	skjúi	skju	skjú-		skúi	sku	skú-		stjúi	stju	stjú-		stúi	stu	stú-		kvúi	kvu	kvú-
Instrumental	skjói	skjo	skjó-		skói	sko	skó-		stjói	stjo	stjó-		stói	sto	stó-		kvói	kvo	kvó-

Adjectival pronouns

Personal possessive pronouns

Person		Singular				Dual				Plural
		Full	Oblique	Clitic		Full	Oblique	Clitic		Full	Oblique	Clitic
				voc.	non-v.			voc.	non-v.			voc.	non-v.
1st person	Inclusive	suiri	sou(r)-	soj-	sjo-	hairi	hau(r)-	haj-	hja-	njuiri	njuu(r)-	njyj-	njy-
	Exclusive					xairi	xau(r)-	xaj-	xja-	njoiri	njou(r)-	njoj-	njo-
2nd person	Inclusive	seiri	seu(e)-	sej-	sje-	tairi	tau(r)-	taj-	tja-	pairi	pau(r)-	paj-	pja-
	Exclusive					dairi	dau(r)-	daj-	dja-	bairi	bau(r)-	baj-	bja-
3rd person		jairi	jau(r)-	naj-	nja-	koiri	kou(r)-	koj-	kjo-	jøiri	jøy(r)-	njøj-	njø-
4th person		lîsiri	lîsu-/lîsr-	lis-		–				–

Reflexive possessive pronoun

The forms of the reflexive possessive pronoun are:

• long: nîjiri
• short: nîu-
• vocalic: nîj-
• non-vocalic: njî-

Non-personal adjectival pronouns

Other adjectival pronouns

		Qualitative			Relational			Possessive		Quantitative
		Full	Oblique	Clitic	Full	Oblique	Clitic	Full	Oblique	Full	Oblique
Interrogative		vreisi	vrei(s)-	-ér	vraili	vrae(l)-	-ár	luiri	luu(r)-	þammisi	þammi(s)-
					þammili	þamme(l)-
Relative		reisi	rei(s)-		raili	rae(l)-		løiri	løy(r)-	þëttisi	þëtti(s)-
					á
Unspecified		vreisi	vrei(s)-	-ér	vraili	vrae(l)-	-ár	luiri	luu(r)-	þammisi	þammi(s)-
Relative unspecified		preisi	prei(s)-	-ép	praili	prae(l)-	-áp	pluiri	pluu(r)-	ƕëttisi	ƕëtti(s)-
Indefinite		treisi	trei(s)-	-	noili	noe(l)-	-ón	noiri	nou(r)-	tømmisi	tømmi(s)-
					vroila	vroe(l)-	-
Negative		skeisi	skei(s)-	-	saili	sae(l)-	-	sairi	sau(r)-	tohhisi	tohhi(s)-
Total		freisi	frei(s)-	-ǿr	faili	fae(l)-	-ǿf	fairi	fau(r)-	xōl (-óh)
					ēffili	ēffe(l)-
					mjeili	mjee(l)-		miiri	miu(r)-	mi
Manifold		laevreisi	laevrei(s)-		laevraili	laevrae(l)-		laeluiri	laeluu(r)-	laeþammisi	laeþammi(s)-
Differential		ljaisi	ljai(s)-	-íl	laili	lae(l)-	-ál	ljairi	ljau(r)-	–
Equal		faisi	fai(s)-	-áf	taili	tae(l)-	-át	tairi	tau(r)	–
Demon- strative	Proximal	šaisi	šai(s)-	-áš	pol(i)		-ól	poljiri	polju(r)-	tymmisi	tymmi(s)-
	Medial	čeisi	čei(s)-	-	mol(i)		-óm	moljiri	molju(r)-	møttisi	møtti(s)-
	Distal	kjaisi	kjai(s)-	-	kjal		-ák	kjaljiri	kjalju(r)-	kømmisi	kømmi(s)-

Demonstrative and summative pronouns

Number	Case	Demonstratives			Summative
		THIS	THAT	YONDER
Singular
	Nom.	pól(i)	sól(i)	kjál(i)	xôl
	Gen.	pái	sái	kjáde	xái
	Dat.	píu	síu	kjádo	xíu
	Acc.	péi	séi	kjáda	xéi
	Loc.	púi	súi	kjádi	xúi
	Inst.	pói	sói	kjádu	xói
Dual
	Nom.	pél(i)	sél(i)	kján(i)	xêl(i)
	Gen.	piái	siái	kjánde	xiái
	Dat.	pýe	sýe	kjándo	xýe
	Acc.	piéi	siéi	kjánda	xiéi
	Loc.	piúi	siúi	kjándi	xiúi
	Inst.	piói	siói	kjándu	xiói
Plural
	Nom.	pál(i)	sâl(i)	kjân(i)	xál(i)
	Gen.	pâs(i)	sât(i)	kjâfe	xâs(i)
	Dat.	pît(i)	sît(i)	kjâfo	xît(i)
	Acc.	pés(i)	sét(i)	kjâfa	xét(i)
	Loc.	pût(i)	sût(i)	kjâfi	xût(i)
	Inst.	pós(i)	sót(i)	kjâfu	xós(i)
Clitic forms		-(n)ool -(n)ól	-(n)oos -(n)ós	-(n)aak -(n)ák	-(n)ooh -(n)óh