3.2.1 - The Basic Pronouns
| Person | Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st exclusive | oe | moe | pxoe | ayoe |
| 1st inclusive | oeng | pxoeng | ayoeng, awnga | |
| 2nd | nga | menga | pxenga | aynga |
| 3rd animate | po | mefo | pxefo | ayfo, fo |
| 3rd inanimate | tsa'u, tsaw | mesa'u | pxesa'u | aysa'u, sa'u |
| Reflexive | sno | |||
| Indeterminate | fko |
3.2.1.1
In everyday speech, when the first person root oe does not occur at the end of the word, its pronunciation changes to we, as in oel pronounced wel, oeru as weru. However, this pronunciation does not happen to the dual and trial forms, moe and pxoe, which would result in illegal consonant clusters at the start of a word, such as *mwel. This pronunciation is indicated with the accenting underline on the e.
If oe occurs after a word ending in -u, then oe is pronounced like we, with, for example, 'efu oe pronounced like 'efu we.
3.2.1.2
The non-singular first person pronouns are either exclusive (excluding the person addressed) or inclusive (including the person addressed). The inclusive ending, -ng, is from nga, which reappears in full when a case ending is added. The agentive of oeng is oengal, not *oengìl.
3.2.1.3
Ayoeng has the short form awnga. Both may be used freely with any case ending, though awnga is more common.
3.2.1.4
There are separate third person pronouns for animate and inanimate objects. Animals may be referred to with the animate pronoun po, but bugs are not. The more important the speaker’s relationship to the animal, the more likely a form of po is used.[1]