In response to a request from
nyxelestia, here's the full Ongul pronominal system.
Ongul pronouns exhibit three persons and four classes: male human, female human, animal, and inanimate/abstract. The plural forms are simple reduplications of the singular forms, so
l1a "I, me (male or female human)",
l1al1a "we, us (male and/or female humans)".
|
Male human |
Female human |
Animal |
Other |
1st person |
l1a |
ma |
2nd person, neutral |
θ2a |
ð2a |
l2a |
2nd person, respectful |
θ2al2 |
ð2al2 |
l2al2 |
ŋal2 |
2nd person, endearing |
ta |
da |
na |
– |
2nd person, ritual |
ɣwə |
ɣa |
θ2ə |
2nd person, romantic |
θ1ja |
və |
– |
– |
2nd person, dismissive |
ɣə |
2nd person, punitive |
kə |
gə |
ŋə |
3rd person, neutral |
a |
a ~ va |
ŋa |
3rd person, respectful |
al2 |
val2 |
ŋal2 |
3rd person, endearing |
tja |
dja |
l2ja |
– |
3rd person, ritual |
ɣwəθ1 |
ɣwəv |
maŋ |
θ2əŋ |
3rd person, dismissive |
aɣ |
ŋaɣ |
3rd person, punitive |
ka |
ga |
ɰa |
Most of these are pretty self-explanatory. The dismissive pronouns are used when you're talking down to someone, or meaning to imply that they are wasting your time. The punitive pronouns are used when you're reprimanding or punishing someone for something. The ritual pronouns are used in prayer and in ceremonies.
The gaps are mostly pretty logical, as well. There's no such thing as an endearing pronoun for inanimate/abstract nouns, and similarly there's no romantic pronoun for animals or inanimate/abstract nouns, both for obvious reasons. The first- and second-person pronouns of the inanimate/abstract class tend only to be used in folk tales involving anthropomorphised inanimate objects, and are quite rare otherwise, with the exception of the second-person ritual inanimate/abstract pronoun; it's not uncommon to directly address inanimate objects during Ongul ritual or ceremonial procedures. There's also no set of romantic pronouns in the third person, since in Ongul society romantic love is considered to be a feeling exclusive to the people involved and so is fairly private; to refer to a romantic partner in the third person when talking about them with someone else, the endearing pronouns are used instead.
I'll talk soon about the closed class of verbs in Ongul - I could use some advice on whether a language with only six verbs can actually work!