Lesson 15

Lesson 15

This lesson deals with the plural personal pronouns and their corresponding verb endings on conjugated verbs.

This conversation includes the greeting in the plural. Two of you are greeted by two others in this way.

The Others:	Mal yɛn, nyi̲ti̲? or Maalɛ nyi̲ti̲? Are you at peace, girls? Is it at peace girls?
You Two:	Ɣɔ̲ɔ̲n, mal nɛy. (E. Nuer) or Malkɔ (W. Nuer) Yes, we are at peace. (same)
The Others:	Yɛn a thï̲̩n? Are you present?
You Two:	Ɣɔ̲ɔ̲n, kɔn a thï̲̩n. Yes, we are present.
The Others:	Kä̲ nyiɛɛmuɔɔri̲, kɛn a thï̲̩n, malkɛ bä̲? And yours sisters are they present, are they at peace also?
You Two:	Ɣɔ̲ɔ̲n, kaa thï̲̩n, malkɛ. Yes, they are present, they are at peace.
The Others:	Ɣɔ̲ɔ̲, yɛn diaal, mal yɛn? Oh, all of you, you are at peace?
You Two:	Mal nɛy pa̲ny. We are at peace really.
The Others:	Gɔaaɛ ɛlɔ̲ŋ. It is very good.

Note: [kaa thï̲̩n] is a contraction of [kɛn a thï̲n].

PHONETICS

-iɛ̲- Pratice these diphthongs in the next drill.

-iɛ- Be careful that you pronounce [diaal] with a front -l. Continue to drill previous drills.

SYNTAX

The 1st Person plural of the Personal Pronoun can be expressed in 3 ways:
1. [kɔ́n] -- inclusively -- this means the one who is peaking is including the one to whom he is speaking when he says "we" or "us" or "our".
2. [kɔ̩̀n] -- exclusively -- this means the one who is speaking is not including the one to whom he is speaking when he says "we" of "us" or "our".
3. [kɔn] -- dual -- this menad that two people are speaking about themselves.

When one is praying it is important that he differentiates between the inclusive and exclusive else he will attribute to God that which shouldn't be -- for example, if he said, "We have all sinned" using the inclusive "we".

THE PERSONAL PRONOUN
Subjective Case

ɤä̲n	I	maalä̲
jï̲n	you	maali̲
jɛn	he, she, it	maɛ̲lɛ

kɔ́n (inc)	we	malnɛ
kɔ̩̀n (ex)	we	malkɔ
kɔ́n (dual)	we	malnɛ
yɛn	you	malɛ
kɛn	they	malkɛ

Note: The differentiation between the inclusive and exclusive "we" -- [kɔn] is simply length and tone. The dual form is the same length as the inclusive. The verb helps to distinguish the meanings.

There is another common word meaning the exclusive "we" in E. Nuer. It is [nɛy]. It has no other form but it occurs in both subject and object positions. However it can never initiate a sentence.
- Subject -- Ci̲ nɛy wä̲. -- We went. (E. Nuer)
- Object -- Cɛ nɛy luä̲k. -- He helped us. (E. Nuer)
[diaal] cannot stand alone but occurs with the plural personal pronouns, with plural nouns and with the demonstrative pronoun. It always follows the word it is accompanying.
- K̂n diaal -- all of us.
- ney diaal -- all of the people, everybody.
- Yɛn diaal -- all of you.
- Kɛn diaal -- all of them.
- Ti̲ diaal ti̲ti̲ -- all of these.
- wu̲tni̲ diaal -- all of the men, all men.
Note: these forms are both subjective and objective.