I, Us, Them

Here's another tidbit about my conlang... personal pronouns. This is still
somewhat sketchy, but I think the main points are set down now.

Pronouns are grouped into three groups: self, intimate, and distant
(impersonal?).

Self is basically first person singular. There is no first person plural
in the language; that is referred to using the "intimate" pronouns
(explained further down). Here are the locative forms of the self
pronouns:
        Masc. loc.:     e'bi    /&bi/ (Kirsch)
        Fem. loc.:      ybi'    /ybi/
        Epi./neut. loc: ibi'    /ibi/

The epicene/neuter forms are used mainly when quoting fictional characters
in narratives. (such as "the tree says to the river, I am thirsty"). You
will never hear a Bisedi* use the epicene/neuter pronoun to refer to
him/herself! :-)

[*Note: Bisedi = speaker of my conlang; plural = Ebisedi. From the
singular and plural forms of the poly-gender noun "bis33'di" (/bisV":di/),
"person".]

The intimate pronouns are used to refer to the part of his/her audience
that he feels he's part of. Here are the locative forms of the intimate
pronouns: (I hesitate to give the full list of forms, because there are
too many of them)
        Masc.                   Fem.                    Epi./Neut.
Sing.   co'mi   /comi/          jubi'   /Jubi/          jumi'   /Jumi/
Plur.   3cu'mii /@cumi:/        3jubii' /@Jubi:/        3jumii' /@Jumi:/
Nul.    myycii' /my:ci:/        myyju'b /my:Jub/        myyju'm /my:Jum/

The intimate pronouns can act either as second person, third person, or
even the first person plural. Before we can discuss how this works, we
need to look at the distant pronouns as well:

The distant pronouns are used when referring to someone who is not
intimate to the speaker. Here are the locative forms:
        Masc.               Fem.                     Epi./Neut.
Sing.   chi'di   /Cidi/     jhiti'   /C<vcd>iti/     jhidi'   /C<vcd>idi/
Plur.   3chii'di /@Ci:di/   3jhitai' /@C<vcd>ita?i/  3jhidai' /@C<vcd>ida?i/
Nul.    myychai' /my:Ca?i/  myyjhi't /my:C<vcd>it/   myyjhi'd /my:C<vcd>id/

The distant pronouns can act either as second person or third person
pronouns. How does this work?

Basically, the speaker regards a certain group of people to be his "kin"
or his "close friends" -- which may or may not be the ones he's addressing
-- and everyone else as "the others". The close friends/kin are always
referred to by the intimate pronouns, and "the others" are always referred
to by the distant (formal) pronouns. So, in the following examples, you
could translate the intimate pronouns as "us" or "one of us", or "you who
are one of us", depending on context; and the distant pronouns "you who
are from the others", "one of the others", or "the others".

Let's take a look at som example scenarios:

Three people, P, Q, and R, are conversing. P is currently speaking, and
directly addressing Q, whilst R is listening. What pronouns would P use?
Here are the possible cases:

1) P, Q and R are close friends, and they are right now planning to do
  something together. So, P would address Q with an intimate pronoun. P
  would also refer to R with an intimate pronoun -- but with a clarifying
  particle to the effect of "the other", to clarify that he/she is
  referring to R, not to Q, the current person being addressed. A plural
  intimate pronoun (3jumii') would mean "us" -- an *inclusive* first
  person plural. If P talks about someone else, he/she would use the
  distant pronoun.

2) P and Q are close friends, while R is a guest or someone P and Q feel
  is outside their "circle". P would address Q with an intimate pronoun,
  and refer to R with a distant (formal) pronoun. A plural intimate
  pronoun here would mean P and Q -- a first and second person plural that
  excludes the third person.

3) P and R are close friends, while Q is a guest. P would then address Q
  with a distant (formal) pronoun, and refer to R with an intimate
  pronoun. Furthermore, if P uses the *plural* intimate pronoun (3jumii'),
  it would refer to P and R -- i.e., it's an exclusive first person
  plural.

4) P is not close to either Q or R. In this case, P would address Q using
  a distant pronoun, and also refer to R using a distant pronoun. The
  "other" clarifying particle is used when referring to R, to avoid
  ambiguity. If the plural distant pronoun (3jhidai') is used, it would
  refer to both Q and R.

Finally, in each of these cases, any of the pronouns may be used in
combination to carry a more inclusive meaning. For example, in case (4),
"3jhidai' e'bi" would mean "we all"; literally, "you(pl) and me". In case
(3), if you wanted an inclusive first person plural, you'd say "jhidi'
3jumii'" to mean "we(incl)" -- literally, "you(distant) and us(intimate)".

And of course, the compound plural pronoun "3jhidai' 3jumii'" means "all
of us", or "everybody".


T