User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/1-6

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Lesson 6| Pronouns

Vocabulary

Lesson Vocabulary
High Valyrian English
kasta (adj. I.) blue, green
gelte (4lun.) helmet, helm
bartos (3sol.) head
morghon (3ter.) wall
perzys (2sol.) fire, flame
perzītsos (3sol.) little flame
qilōnarion (3ter.) punishment, chastisement
raqiros (3sol.) friend
vīlībāzma (1lun.) war, battle
zentys (2sol.) guest
lūs (3sol.) type, kind
verdon (3ter.) sum, figure, amount, number
jelmor (3aq.) north
bianor (3aq.) female sheep
rūklon (3ter.) flower
qilōny (2lun.) whip
jentys (2sol.) leader, ruler, commander
hēzīr (adv.) henceforth, from now on
konīr (adv.) there
gīmigon (v-fin.) to know facts or information
iderēbagon (c-fin.) to choose, decide, select
kustikagon (c-fin.) to strengthen, enable, encouurage
laodigon (v-fin.) to steal, abduct
lykemagon (c-fin.) to silence, calm
onduragon (c-fin.) to grasp, take up, grab, seize
morghūljagon (c-fin.) to die
pryjagon (c-fin.) to destroy, break, strike off
gaomagon (c-fin.) to do, act, perform
pilogon (v-fin.) to hold on(to) (with the hands)

Personal Pronouns

Pronouns are nouns which are used instead of another noun ('pro', in place of 'noun', noun.)

There are three categories of pronouns which are divided up into persons: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In addition, pronouns can be singular or plural. They are declined like all other nouns.

Person Singular Plural
1st I we
2nd you y'all
3rd he/she/it they

Table of Personal Pronouns in all of their cases: I, you, he/she/it, we, y'all, they

Note: you is the singular of the plural y'all, itself a contraction of you all - it is a perfectly grammatically correct second person plural pronoun in English, useful for distinguishing you (singular) from you (plural). After working with folks who spoke the Southern U.S. English regional dialect, the versatility and usefulness of the pronoun y'all became abundantly clear, as the second person plural pronoun is rarely used in standard English.

High Valyrian has two third person personal pronouns: ziry, for lunar and solar nouns and ūja, for terrestrial and aquatic nouns. Generally, ziry is used for animates and ūja for inanimates because this fits the lunar/solar and terrestrial/aquatic paradigm.

Singular Plural
Case 1st Person 2nd Person 3nd Person 3nd Person 1st Person 2nd Person 2nd Person
Nominative nyke I ao you ziry he/she/it ūja he/she/it īlon we jeme y'all pōnta they
Accusative yne me avy you ziry he/she/it ūī he/she/it īlōn us jemī y'all pōnte them
Genitive yno of me aō of you zijo of him/her/it ūō of him/her/it īlo of us jemo of y'all pōnto of them
Dative ynot for me aōt for you zijot for him/her/it ūjōt for him/her/it īlot for us jemot for y'all pōntot for them
Locative nykē on me aō on you zirȳ on him/her/it ūjā on him/her/it īlō on us jemē on y'all pōntā on them
Instrumental ynoma with me aōma with you zijosy with him/her/it josa with him/her/it īloma with us jemme with y'all pōntosa with them
Comitative ynoma with me aōma with you zijomy with him/her/it joma with him/her/it īloma with us jemme with y'all pōntoma with them
Vocative nykys me aōs you zirys him/her/it ūjus him/her/it īlos us jemys y'all pōntus them

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives indicate possession of a participant in a sentence like 'my sister' or 'your bicycle.' These modify nouns; they take the gender of the noun which they modify and agree in case and number.

High Valyrian English
ñuh-a ys on or my
aōh-a ys on or your
zȳh-a ys on or his/hers, its
jāh-a ys on or his/hers, its
īlv-a ys on or our
jev-a ys on or y'alls
pōj-a ys on or their

Examples

High Valyrian English
Ñuhe zokle, ñuhi azanti, ñuhon lenton, ñuhor qintrā jorrāelan I love my wolf, my knight, my house, and my turtle
Ñuhos korzose ziry enkan I owe him my sword

The first sentence shows the first person possessive adjective declined in all four grammatical genders with the coordinative vowel lengthening in the final element of the list to indicate 'and.' The second shows how the possessive adjective declines in case with the noun it is modifying.

Exercise 1

Translate into High Valyrian.

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun means something like 'myself or yourself' and is used to provide added emphasis to a sentence participant. It declines and is used like like a typical first lunar noun; it may be either a subject or an object.

High Valyrian English
nykēla myself
aōla yourself
zirȳla himself/herself/itself
jemēla himself/herself/itself
īlōnda ourselves
jemēla yourselves
pōntāla themselves

Examples

High Valyrian English
Hēzīr, jevī brōza jemēle iderēbilātās. From this day forward, you will choose your own names.

This example uses a possessive adjective to modify the noun brōza "names", as well as a reflexive pronoun jemēle "yourselves" to say 'your own', literally "You will choose your names yourselves".

Three additional examples of reflexive pronouns:

High Valyrian English
Jemēla zȳhys perzī ondurilāt? Will you take up her flames yourselves?
Nykēla avy sēninna. I will kill you myself.
Aōle lykemās, perzītsos. Calm yourself, little flame.

Exercise 2

Translate to High Valyrian.

Demonstrative and Interrogative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns indicate location relative to the speaker; in English are 'this', for that which is near (proximal), and 'that' for that which is far (distal). In High Valyrian, these words are class I adjectives that also distinguish the animacy of a modified noun. Like possessive adjectives they take the gender of the modified noun and agree in case and number like a typical adjective.

There exist two types of demonstrative pronouns, those that look like bisa or kona that are adjectives for all intents and purposes and those that look like bisy or kesir that are nouns (technically substantivized adjectives).

Interrogative pronouns are question words, like 'who, what, when, where, and why.' In High Valyrian, the core interrogative pronouns, from which more interrogative pronouns are derived, behave identically to demonstrative pronouns except as class II adjectives; thusly, it makes sense to learn their forms together.

For animate nouns (like 'this mother' or 'that father') we have:

High Valyrian English
bis-a ys on or (adj. I) this
bon-a ys on or (adj. I) that
spar-e ior (adj. II) which

Note that the animacy of animals is up to the speaker.

For inanimate nouns (like 'this table' or 'that sword') we have:

High Valyrian English
kes-a ys on or (adj. I) this
kon-a ys on or (adj. I) that
skor-e ior (adj. II) which

Examples

High Valyrian English
bisi vali īlvyz zentyssy issi these men are our guests

Bisi is an adjective; it is a plural and nominative demonstrative pronoun that agrees with vali from which it takes both its gender and its animacy.

Īlvyz is an adjective; it is a plural, nominative, and solar possessive adjective; it taking its solar gender from the solar zentyssy.

High Valyrian English
koni sȳz korzi Iōnot jehākos those good-quality swords are cheering up Jon

Here, the demonstrative pronoun koni is plural, nominative, and lunar to modify sȳz korzi from where it takes its number, case, and gender.

Iōnot is locative because the verb jehākogon is one of the verbs that takes locative arguments. Here, the locative specifies who is being cheered up, in this case, Jon is.

High Valyrian English
bonys azantys geltose jomīsos daor that knight is not wearing a helmet

Bonys is a demonstrative pronoun taking animacy, number, case, and gender from azantys. If you recall, jomīsagon, to wear, takes an instrumental, geltose, as the item worn.

This is the first example of a negation thus far; they are simply formed using the subjunctive followed with daor.

Substantive Form

The substantive form is a noun and occurs when no noun is explicitly stated for an adjective to modify; thusly, the adjective must become a noun. Like the adjectival forms above, they also distinguish animacy while adding abstraction. All adjectives may be transformed into nouns via substantive forms; this will be covered later. For pronominal adjectives like the ones discussed here, the corresponding substantive form is a pronoun. For now, recognize that type I substantives convey concrete, countable items and type II substantives convey abstract uncountable items. Type I looks like -y and -ir; type II looks like -os and -ion.

Note that these substantives do not take the gender of a noun, as they are nouns themselves; they only take animacy and abstraction for agreement.

For animates:

High Valyrian English
bisy (2lun. subst. I) this (concrete)
bisir (5aq. subst. II) this (abstract)
bony (2lun. subst. I) that (concrete)
bonir (5aq. subst. II) that (abstract)
sparos (3sol. subst. I) who (concrete)
sparion (3ter. subst. II) who (abstract)

For inanimates:

High Valyrian English
kesy (2lun. subst. I) this (concrete)
kesir (2lun. subst. II) this (abstract)
kony (2lun. subst. I) that (concrete)
konir (2lun. subst. II) that (abstract)
skoros (3sol. subst. I) what (concrete)
skorion (3ter. subst. II) what (abstract)

Examples

High Valyrian English
kesy īlva vīlībāzma sīr issa this is our war now

Kesy is a type I substantive noun that takes its inanimacy and tangibility from vīlībāzma and does not modify another; it stands alone.

Īlva is a possessive adjective declined nominative, lunar, and singular noun to agree with vīlībāzma.

High Valyrian English
kesir gīmī you know this

Kesir is a type II substantive noun that has nothing to base animacy or tangibility on, for it is conveying an abstract concept.

High Valyrian English
Bona vala keja qintra jorrāelza that man loves these turtles

Woah! Where did keja come from? With the aquatic gender, illicit sequences, or letters that cannot appear after each other, occur--this is one such example. Illicit sequences are as follows:

hr that becomes rh like in ñurha.

jr, sr, and zr that become j like keja.

mr that becomes br with a lengthened vowel like jelmor ('north') pluralized becoming jēmbra (with deletion of the l).

nr that becomes dr with a lengthened vowel like bianor ('sheep') pluralized becoming biādra.

Interrogative Pronouns

From the above discussion, we have learned how to derive the core interrogative pronouns, sparos, sparion, skoros, and skorion from taking the type I and type II substantives of the demonstrative adjectives spare -ior and skore -ior.

Lets begin with interrogative pronouns derived from cases of skorion, the type II substantive (or abstract, generic form) of 'what.' To say 'where', take the locative case, skoriot; to say 'why', take the instrumental case, skorȳso.

Next, form the adverb skorī ('when') as we learned in section 1-4; add -ī to the class II adjective, skore.

Skorlūs, 'what kind of,' is a contraction of skore ('what') and lūs ('type'); it takes a genitive argument.

Skorverdon, 'how many,' is a contraction of skore ('what') and verdon ('number'); it takes a plural genitive argument with a verb conjugated as 3rd person singular.

Skoro syt is the first postpositional phrase you have encountered and means 'on behalf of what' that translates as 'why;' postpositional phrases are similar to prepositional phrases except they take a genitive followed with a postposition. They will be covered in more detail later. There are more postpositions than prepositions as High Valyrian is generally a head-final language.

High Valyrian English
sparos (3sol. subst. I) who (concrete)
sparion (3ter. subst. II) who (abstract)
skoros (3sol. subst. I) what (concrete)
skorion (3ter. subst. II) what (abstract)
skoriot (3ter. loc.) where
skorȳso (3ter. inst.) why, because
skorī (adv.) when
skorlūs (3sol.) what kind of → gen.
skorverdon (3sol.) how many → gen.
skoro syt (postp. phrase) why
skorkydoso (adv.) how

Examples

High Valyrian English
Skoroso(1) jemēle brōzāt? What are your names?
Sparos īlōn idakos? Who is attacking us?
  • (1) Recall that the 'name' when using brōzagon is in the instrumental case, skoroso is declined instrumental to reflect this.

Exercise 3

Translate to High Valyrian.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun allows for formation of relative clauses, adjectival phrases that describe a head noun, the noun modified through the relative clause. For examples in English:

The man(1) that(2) spoke to the queen(3) went to the market.

The knight(1) who(2) defends the kingdom(3) is resting at the inn.

  • (1) head noun.
  • (2) relative pronominal adjective.
  • (3) relative clause.

Notice how 'spoke to the queen' and 'defends the kingdom' serve as adjectives to 'the knight.'

Relative clauses in High Valyrian use the relative pronominal adjective, lua, which may be translated as 'that, who, whom, where, or when.' You can think of the relative clause as a long, multi-word, prepositive adjective. Note that adjectives on the head noun appear to be postpositive. See the below diagram.

relative clause
relative pronominal adjective
head noun
main clause

Notice that relative clauses have different syntax in High Valyrian than in English! Like other pronominal adjectives, lua agrees with the modified noun in case, gender, and number. The following declination table shows the forms that lua may assume. Note it generally follows the pattern of a class I adjective with a few irregularities in boldface.

nom. acc. gen. dat. loc. inst. com. voc.
lun. sg. lua lue luo luo luā luos luom lūs
pl. lī lī luo luo luo luos luom lis
sol. sg. lȳs lī luo luo lȳ luos luom lȳs
pl. lȳz lī luo luo lī luos luom lȳz
ter. sg. luon luon luo luo luo luos luom luos
pl. lua lua luo luo luo luos luom luas
aq. sg. luor luor luro luro luro luros lurom luos
pl. lura lura luro luro luro luros lurom luas

If you want to get technical, for the plural solar, the form is lȳz before a vowel or a voiced consonant (otherwise, lȳs). Italics represents a spelling change that requires a '-t' added before a consonant generally in the genitive, locative, and/or dative. For the comitative, the form is -om before a vowel or a labial consonant.

Head Noun is Subject

Relative clauses where the head noun is the subject have clearer English translations, using 'who' as opposed to 'whom.' They are more direct and easier to grasp, so we'll begin here. First, notice that the case of the noun in the relative clause is accusative.

Explanation- The man who encouraged the woman is a friend.
High Valyrian: Ābre kustittas(1) lua vala raqiros issa.
English: [the, a] woman [he] encouraged who [the, a] man [a, the] friend is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) kustikagon, to encourage, strengthen (c-fin.). kustittas, (3s. pfv. ind.).

This example showcases the head noun, vala as both the subject of the main clause and the relative clause. In other words, [lua] vala does the action in the relative clause then does a subsequent action. Vala is singular, lunar, and nominative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lua. Preceding lua is a verbal clause ābre kustittas that serves as an adjective to describe vala.

Explanation- I saw the man who encouraged the woman.
High Valyrian: Ābre kustittas lue vale ūndetan(1).
English: [the, a] woman [he] encouraged who [the, a] man [I] saw.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) ūndegon, to see, to sight (v-fin.). ūndetan, (1s. pfv. ind.).

This example showcases the head noun, vale as the object of the main clause and the subject of the relative clause. In other words, [lue] vale does the action in the relative clause then is the object of a second action. Vale is accusative for it is the object of ūndetan; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lue. Preceding lue is the same adjectival verbal clause ābre kustittas as above.

More Examples

Explanation- Choose the name that your parents gave you or any other.
High Valyrian: Muñar aōt teptas(1) lue brōzi, iā mirre tolie iderēbās.
English: [the] parents [to, for] you [they] gave that [a, the] name or any other [you] choose.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) tepagon, to give (c-fin.). teptas, (3s. pfv. ind.).

This example features a longer main clause than others. The head noun, brōzi is the object of the relative clause per the nominative muñar and also the object of the main clause. Note that brōzi is not duplicated after iā as it is implied.

Head Noun is Object

Relative clauses where the head noun serves as the object in the relative clause translate into English as 'whom' as in 'the man whom the woman encouraged is a friend.' Notice that in High Valyrian the noun in the relative clause is in the nominative case.

Explanation- The man whom the woman encouraged is a friend.
High Valyrian: Ābra kustittas lua vala raqiros issa.
English: [the, a] woman [she] encouraged whom [the, a] man [a, the] friend is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE

This example showcases the head noun, vala as the subject of the main clause; ābra being nominative shows us that vala is now the object of the relative clause. Vala is singular, lunar, and nominative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lua. Preceding lua is a verbal clause ābra kustittas, where the woman is the subject, or the one encouraging that serves as an adjective to describe vala.

Explanation- I saw the man whom the woman encouraged.
High Valyrian: Ābra kustittas lue vale ūndetan.
English: [the, a] woman [she] encouraged whom [the, a] man [I] saw.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE

This example showcases the accusative case head noun, vale as the object of the main clause; ābra being nominative shows us that vale is also the object of the relative clause. In other words, vale was acted upon in the relative clause then is acted upon again through a second verb. Vale is singular, lunar, and accusative; it sets the number, gender, and case of the relative pronominal adjective, lue. Preceding lue is a verbal clause ābra kustittas, where the woman is the subject, or the one encouraging that serves as an adjective to describe vala.

Special Uses

Location- The house where the woman died was destroyed.
High Valyrian: konīr(1) ābra morghūltas luon lenton pryjataks.
English: there [the, a] woman [she] died where [the, a] house was destroyed.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) konīr, to see, to sight (v-fin.). ūndetan, (1s. pfv. ind.).
  • (2) morghūljagon, to die (v-fin.). morghūltas, (3s. pfv. ind.).
  • (3) pryjagon, to destroy (v-fin.). pryjataks, (3s. pfv. ind. pass.).

Konīr is a clue word that luon ought to be translated as 'where.' This sentence introduces the passive voice that translates usually with a form of the verb 'to be' in English; this will be covered later.

High Valyrian relative clauses can also take equative or comparative adjectives.

Comparative Adjective- The man who the woman is happier than is a friend.
High Valyrian: ābra zijosy kirinkte(1) issa lua vala raqiros issa.
English: [the, a] woman [with] him happier is than [the, a] man [the, a] friend is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) kirine, happy (adj. II). kirinkte, (comparative adj. acc.).

This example does not require zijosy, yet including it as the instrumental of comparison improves clarity.

High Valyrian relative clauses can also take prepositional or postpositional phrases; combined, these are called adpositions.

Adposition- The man that the woman walked up to is a friend.
High Valyrian: ābra va zijot dekurūptas(1) lua vala raqiros issa.
English: [the, a] woman to [to, for] him [she] walked that [the, a] man [the, a] friend is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE HEAD NOUN MAIN CLAUSE
  • (1) dekurūbagon, to walk (c-fin.). dekurūptas, (3s. pft. ind.).

This example does not require va zijot that is used to improve clarity.

Substantive Forms

Like the demonstrative pronominal adjectives that may be substantivized into a specific (I) or a generic (II) pronoun, the relative pronominal adjective may be substantivized into two pronouns as well. Thusly, the specific form lȳ generally follows the second lunar declination and the generic form līr mostly follows the fifth aquatic declination; both have irregularities. Think of the relative clause as an adjective for lȳ or līr that takes its case as any ordinary noun and may be modified with an adjective.

Lȳ, the specific or type I substantivized form, means something like 'one who, one which, whoever.'

Līr, the generic or type II substantivized form, means something like 'that which, or whatever.'

Explanation- The one who encouraged the woman is good.
High Valyrian: Ābre kustittas lȳ sȳz issa.
English: [the, a] woman [she] was encouraged one good is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE MAIN CLAUSE

Ābre is in the accusative case to indicate that lȳ, the one (in the nominative and modified with the adjective sȳz), is taking the action to encourage her.

Explanation- I saw the one who encouraged the woman.
High Valyrian: Ābre kustittas lī ūndetan.
English: [the, a] woman [she] was encouraged one [I] saw.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE MAIN CLAUSE

Ābre is in the accusative case to indicate that lī, the one (in the accusative and the object of ūndetan), is taking the action to encourage her and 'I' saw the one.

Explanation- The one whom the woman encouraged is good.
High Valyrian: Ābra kustittas lȳ sȳz issa.
English: [the, a] woman [she] encouraged one good is.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE MAIN CLAUSE

Ābra is in the nominative case to indicate that she is the one encouraging; lȳ is nominative because sagon accepts nominative arguments.

Explanation- I saw the one whom the woman encouraged.
High Valyrian: Ābra kustittas lī ūndetan.
English: [the, a] woman [she] encouraged one [I] saw.
Explanation: RELATIVE CLAUSE RELATIVE PRONOMIAL ADJECTIVE MAIN CLAUSE

Ābra is in the nominative case to indicate that she is the one encouraging; lī is accusative to agree with the transitive verb ūndetan, which accepts accusative arguments.

Below is a table of the declinations of the substantiated relative adjectival pronoun for singular and plural number.

nom. acc. gen. dat. loc. inst. com. voc.
specific sg. lȳ lī luo luot lȳ luomy luomy lȳs
pl. lī lī luoti luoti lī luommi luommi lȳs
generic sg. līr līr lurio luriot līr lurȳsi lurȳmi lȳs
pl. lura lura lurȳti lurȳti lurȳti lurȳssi lurȳmmi luas

Exercise 4

Translate into English.

Translate into High Valyrian:

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to something in particular; 'something' literally is an example of one! Until this point, the paucal and collective numbers were ignored in declination tables; this is to focus attention on the singular and plural, the workhorses of the language! Each case also declines for the paucal and collective, consult the reference tables for their declinations.

There exist six important roots to learn. From these six, additional words can be derived, mostly in placing the singular in adjectival, adverbial, or paucal form:

Daor-, meaning no.

Mirr-, meaning some. Only this stem uses a collective: mirror, meaning 'whatever'.

Olv-, meaning many.

Tolv-, meaning every.

Tol-, meaning other.

Mirt-, meaning someone.

daor- meaning mirr- meaning olv- meaning tolv- meaning tol- meaning mirt- meaning
adj. dōre ior none, no, not olvie ior many tolvie ior every tolie ior other
adv. dōrī never mirrī a bit, somewhat olvī a lot tolī excessively
sg. daorys
daorion 		no one
nowhere 		mirros something tolvys everyone tolys
tolion 		someone else, other
(the other) thing 		mirtys someone
pauc. daorun nothing mirrun some (people) olvȳn many tolvȳn everything
loc. daoriot nowhere mirriot somewhere tolviot everywhere

Examples

High Valyrian English
Tolvȳn sȳri kessi. Everything will be fine.
Azantys tolvi iotāptes. A knight respects everyone.
Daoruni gīmī, Ionos Sōnaro. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Exercise 5

Attribution

"Lesson 6-Pronouns" by S. W. Farnsworth et al is licensed under CC BY 3.0 / This adaptation for High Valyrian aims to retain the format and pedagogy from the original. This chapter in particular deviated from the attributed work.
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