Re: demuan 101: pronouns

>> I       king
>> thou    ling
>> he      wing    (also she)
>> we      sking
>> you     sling
>> they    xwing
>>
>> it      tam
>> them    stam
>
>Why do articles change number according to ablaut variations
>(i.e., that between i and e) plus <s-> or <x->, but pronouns don't?  That
is,
>why not <king> for "I" and <skeng> for "we"?

Because the s/x- prefix is modifying the pronoun itself, whereas the ablaut
change found in the possessive articles marks a plural owned noun, not a
plural owning noun. Note that the s/x- prefix is found in teh possessive
articles, and there, the change is from my->our, just as teh prefix in
pronouns marks a change from I->we. See? It is regular after all!

Incidentally, the s/x- prefix is a result of the 'xe' pronoun being placed
in front of the words, and then the sounds collapsing into eachother. There
is a fair number of such examples in Demuan.

---
Fabian
Rule One: Question the unquestionable,
ask the unaskable, eff the ineffable,
think the unthinkable, and screw the inscrutable.