Old Nindic Object Pronouns

Old Nindic, the cousin of Silindion was quite
different in many respects from its more ...
Latin/Greek/Finnishesque cousin. It had a lot in
common with Old Irish and Old Welsh.

One big feature that I derived with inspiration from
older Celtic languages was the placement of its object
pronouns.

Like older Celtic languages, Old Nindic has what is
known as "infixed" pronouns. These get inserted
between some element and the verb:

 [X] [OBJECT PRONOUNS] [VERB]

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The "x" can be any of 4 things:

1) phrasal particle
2) verbal prefix
3) perfect reduplication
4) subject (in certain situations)

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1) The phrasal particles that pop up a lot are:

ny "not"
y  (dummy pronoun holder for declarative sentences
    with non-compound verbs)
nyd(e) "not" (in imperative sentences)
da  "that"

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The form of the personal pronouns that occur with
these particles are:

1S -i, -0
2S -th
3S -s (him,it), -0
3S -d (her)
1P -n
2P -nat
3P -t

-----------------------------------------------
Examples:
nyth uaur connalot cwechi
ny-th   bau-r       connal-ot   cwech-i
not-you LEN-can-3s. doctor-def. heal-inf.

(LEN = lenition, "b" becomes "u" /v/)
"The doctor can't heal you"

ys        gochour           menid connalot
y-s       coch-ou-r         menid conal-ot
DECL.-him LEN-heal-fut.-3s. now   doctor-def.

(LEN, "c" becomes "g" /g/)
"The doctor will heal him now"

Nyd      berreci! "Don't protect him"
nyd-0    perrec-i
not-him  LEN-protect-inf.

(LEN, "p" becomes "b" /b/. Lenition after "nyd"
indicates the presences of the pronoun)

Noruuiti    dan      diler
noruui-t-i  da-n     til-e-r
say-past-1s that-us  LEN-see-subj-3s.

"I said that he would see us"
(lenition: "t" becomes "d" /d/)
-------------------------------------

2) With verbal prefixes, the pronoun goes between the
prefix and the verb, separating them, when they would
normally be inseparable. Sometimes, the form of the
prefix slightly changes as the pronouns are added, but
that's a more complicated issue.

The main forms of the pronouns in this case are:

1S -i
2S -th (-t)
3S -0  (him, it)
3S -id (her)
1P -n
2P -nait
3P -t

----------------------------------------------------
EXAMPLES:

pern-rech hy toim gwauairet
per-n-rech              hy   toim       gwauair-et
surround-us-STEM(PAST)  dem. yesterday  enemy-def.

"The enemy surrouned us yesterday"

(infinitive: perreci "to surround")

oiduid-peliau hy new
oidu-id-peli-au        hy   new
awaken-her-STEM-fut1s. dem. tonight

"I will awaken her tonight"

(infinitive: oidpeli "to awaken")
--------------------------------------------------
3) The same pronoun forms are used after the
reduplicated syllable of the perfect tense, in older
texts, before other sound changes made this tense
obscure.

Examples (no pronouns):

pata /pada/  "he makes"
pepat "he has made" /pebad/  (later on: peit)

tili "he sees"
tetil "he has seen"     (later on: teil)

With pronouns:
penpatant rannot neit
pe-n-pat-ant   rann-ot   neit
make-u-STEM-2P king-def. your(2s)

"You have made us your king"
------------------------------------------------

4) Some subjects are preposed, rather than following
the usual VSO order. One such subject is the relative
subject marker: ed(o)-

This subject marker takes the pronouns used for
phrasal particles

nedtiu        uornot          edus   ethais   nost
nedtiu        born-ot         edu-s  ethais   nos-t
thank.fut.1s  LEN-taylor-def. who-it sew-PAST for-you

"I will thank the taylor who sewed it for you"

-------------------------------------------------

Anyways, other places (as with gerunds and
infinitives) other object pronouns are used, which are
not bound forms. These free forms eventually become
the only forms used in Modern Classical Nindic.

Please comment and I hope you enjoy :)

Elliott
































		
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