User:Aegon/High Valyrian Tutorial/1-6
Lesson 6| Pronouns
Vocabulary
| Lesson Vocabulary | |
|---|---|
| High Valyrian | English |
| gelte (4lun.) | helmet, helm |
| 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 |
| hēzīr (adv.) | henceforth, from now on |
| 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 |
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. However, there is flexibility and ūja may be used for animates as well. This linguistic feature is useful for sentences where you are keeping track of two generic participants like the following example:
| Explanation- Should he steal something from him, his punishment will be death. | |||||||||
| High Valyrian: | Ūja | hen | zirȳ | mirros | laodios(1), | jāhon | qilōnarion | morghon | kesos(2). |
| English: | He | from | him | something | [if, should] [he] steal | his | punishment | death | [will] be. |
- (1) laodigon, to steal (v-fin.). laodios, (3s. prs. subj.).
- (2) sagon, to be. kesos, (3s. fut. subj.).
In English, who is being executed? The thief or the one who had something stolen? Your brain knows even though the sentence doesn't! If there was a passage written like this, you would likely be confused. In High Valyrian, it is clear ūja is the thief to be executed.
Zirȳ is in the locative because of the preposition hen; hen zirȳ constitutes a prepositional phrase.
Jāhon is a singular and nominative possessive adjective in agreement with the terrestrial qilōnarion, from which the possessive adjective takes its gender.
The subjunctive will be covered later. For now recognize that it may be translated as 'should' or 'if' and conveys a hypothetical action or an action that may not occur. The future subjunctive can be used in tandem with the present subjunctive to convey a cause → effect (present subjunctive → future subjunctive) flow like this sentence.
| 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 |
This 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.'
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, brōza jevi jemēle iderēbilātās. | From this day forward, you will choose your own names. |
This example uses a possessive adjective to modify a reflexive pronoun to say 'your own.'
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. |
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 kesa that are adjectives for all intents and purposes and bisy or kesy that are nouns (technically substantivized adjectives).
interrogative pronouns are question words, like 'who, what, when, where, and why.' In High Valyrian, the interrogative pronouns 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 a plural and nominative demonstrative pronoun that agrees with vali from which bisi takes both its gender and its animacy. It acts like an adjective.
Īlvyz is plural, nominative, and solar; it taking its solar gender from the solar zentyssy. It also acts like an adjective.
| High Valyrian | English |
| Iōnos kono qubo korzoti hakos | Jon is annoyed because of those low-quality swords |
Here, the demonstrative pronoun kono is plural, locative, and lunar; it takes its number, case, and gender from qubo korzoti, the poor-quality swords that annoy Jon, to agree.
Korzoti is locative because the verb hakogon is one of the verbs that takes locative arguments. In this case, the locative specifies what is bothering the subject, Jon.
| High Valyrian | English |
| bonys azantys geltose jomīsos daor | that knight is not wearing a helmet |
Bonys is a demonstrative adjective taking animacy 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 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 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.
Interrogative Pronouns
| 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) |
| skorī (indeclinable) | when |
| skoriot (3ter. loc.) | where |
| skoro syt (postp. phrase) | why |
| skorȳso (3ter. inst.) | why, because |
| skorkydoso (indeclinable) | how |
| skorlūs (3sol.) | what kind of → gen. |
| skorverdon (3sol.) | how many → gen. |
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. |
| notice how 'spoke to the queen' serves as an adjective to 'the man.' |
| The knight(1) who(2) defends the kingdom(3) is resting at the inn. |
| notice how 'defends the kingdom' serves as an adjective to 'the knight.' |
- (1) head noun.
- (2) relative pronominal adjective.
- (3) relative clause.
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. 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!
| Explanation- The man who encouraged the woman is a friend. | |||||||||
| High Valyrian: | Ābre | kustittas(1) | lua | vala | raqiros | issa. | |||
| English: | [the, a] woman | [she] was 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. 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 | [she] was 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. Vale is singular, lunar, and accusative; 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.
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 | luon | lūs |
| pl. | lī | lī | luo | luo | luo | luos | luon | lis | |
| sol. | sg. | lȳs | lī | luo | luo | lȳ | luos | luon | lȳs |
| pl. | lȳz | lī | luo | luo | lī | luos | luon | lȳz | |
| ter. | sg. | luon | luon | luo | luo | luo | luos | luon | luos |
| pl. | lua | lua | luo | luo | luo | luos | luon | luas | |
| aq. | sg. | luor | luor | luro | luro | luro | luros | luron | luos |
| pl. | lura | lura | luro | luro | luro | luros | luron | 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.
Substantive Form
Like the demonstrative pronominal adjectives that may be substantivized into a specific (I) or a generic (II) noun, the relative pronominal adjective may be substantivized into two nouns 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.
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.'
| 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 |