Austronesian personal pronouns

This article describes the personal pronoun systems of various Austronesian languages.

Proto-languages

The Proto-Austronesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian personal pronouns below were reconstructed by Robert Blust.^[1]

Proto-Austronesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	English	Proto-Austronesian	Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
1s.	"I"	*i-aku	*i-aku
2s.	"you"	*i-(ka)Su	*i-kahu
3s.	"he/she/it"	*si-ia	*si-ia
1p. (inclusive)	"we (and you)"	*i-(k)ita	*i-(k)ita
1p. (exclusive)	"we (but not you)"	*i-(k)ami	*i-(k)ami
2p.	"you all"	*i-kamu	*i-kamu, ihu
3p.	"they"	*si-ida	*si-ida

In 2006, Malcolm Ross also proposed seven different pronominal categories for persons. The categories are listed below, with the Proto-Austronesian first person singular ("I") given as examples.^[2]

1. Neutral (e.g., PAN *i-aku)
2. Nominative 1 (e.g., PAN *aku)
3. Nominative 2 (e.g., PAN *=ku, *[S]aku)
4. Accusative (e.g., PAN *i-ak-ən)
5. Genitive 1 (e.g., PAN *=[a]ku)
6. Genitive 2 (e.g., PAN *(=)m-aku)
7. Genitive 3 (e.g., PAN *n-aku)

The following is from Ross' 2002 proposal of the Proto-Austronesian pronominal system, which contains five categories, including the free (i.e., independent or unattached), free polite, and three genitive categories.

Proto-Austronesian Personal Pronouns

	Free	Free polite	Genitive 1	Genitive 2	Genitive 3
1s.	*[i-]aku	-	*=ku	*maku	*n-aku
2s.	*[i-]Su	*[i-]ka-Su	*=Su	*miSu	*ni-Su
3s.	*s(i)-ia	-	(*=ia)	-	*n(i)-ia
1p. (excl.)	*i-ami	*[i-]k-ami	*=mi	*mami	*n(i)-ami
1p. (incl.)	*([i])ita	*[i-]k-ita	*=ta	*mita	*n-ita
2p.	*i-amu	*[i-]k-amu	*=mu	*mamu	*n(i)-amu
3p.	*si-da	-	(*=da)	-	*ni-da

Formosan languages

Rukai

Below are Rukai pronouns from Zeitoun (1997).^[3] Paul Jen-kuei Li's classification of Rukai dialects is given for reference.

• Rukai
  • Mantauran (萬山 Wanshan) - 250-300 speakers
  • (Main branch)
    • Maga-Tona
      • Maga (馬加 Majia)
      • Tona (多納 Duona)
    • Budai-Tanan (Rukai Proper)
      • Budai (霧台 Wutai)
      • Tanan (大南 Danan)

Mantauran Rukai Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique	Genitive
1s.	iɭaə	-ɭao, nao-	-i-a-ə	-li
2s.	imiaʔə	-moʔo	i-miaʔ-ə	-ʔo
3s. (vis.)	ana	-	-i-n-ə	-(n)i
3s. (not vis.)	ðona	-	-i-ð-ə	-ða
1p. (incl.)	imitə, ita	-mita, -ta	-i-mit-ə	-ta
1p. (excl.)	inamə	-nai	-i-nam-ə	-nai
2p.	inomə	-nomi	-i-nom-ə	-nomi
3p. (vis.)	ana-lo	-	-i-l-i-n-ə	-l-i-ni
3p. (not vis.)	ðona-lo	-	-i-l-i-ð-ə	-l-i-ða

Budai Rukai Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique	Genitive
1s.	kunaku	-(n)aku, naw-	nakuanə	-li
2s.	kusu	-su	musuanə	-su
3s. (vis.)	kuini	-	inianə	-ini
3s. (not vis.)	kuiɖa	-	-	-
1p. (incl.)	kuta	-ta	mitaanə	-ta
1p. (excl.)	kunai	-nai	naianə	-nai
2p.	kunumi	-numi, -nu	numianə	-numi
3p. (vis.)	kuini	-	inianə	-ini
3p. (not vis.)	kuiɖa	-	-	-

Maga Rukai Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique	Genitive
1s.	i kɨkɨ	ku-, kɨkɨ	ŋkua	-li
2s.	i musu	su-, musu	sua	-su
3s. (vis.)	i kini	kini	nia	-ini
3s. (not vis.)	i kiɖi	kiɖi	ɖia	-ɖa
1p. (incl.)	i miti	ta-, miti	mitia	-ta
1p. (excl.)	i knamɨ	namɨ-, knamɨ	nmaa	-namɨ
2p.	i mumu	mu-, mumu	mua	-mu
3p. (vis.)	i kini	kini	nia	-ini
3p. (not vis.)	i kiɖi	kiɖi	ɖia	-ɖa

Tsouic

The personal pronouns below are from the Tfuya dialect of Tsou, and are sourced from Zeitoun (2005:277).^[4] Note that third-person pronouns are distinguished between those that are visible (abbreviated vis. below) or non-visible.

Tfuya Tsou Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Free (neutral)	Bound (nominative)	Bound (genitive)
1s.	a'o	-'o/-'u	-'o/-'u
2s.	suu	-su/-ko	-su/-ko
3s. (vis.)	taini	-ta	-taini
3s. (not vis.)	ic'o	-	-si
1p. (incl.)	a'ati	-to	-to
1p. (excl.)	a'ami	-mza	-mza
2p.	muu	-mu	-mu
3p. (vis.)	hin'i	-hin'i	-hin'i
3p. (not vis.)	hee	-	-he

Northwestern Formosan

Pazeh

The Pazeh personal pronouns below are from Li (2000).^[5] (Note: vis. = visible, prox. = proximal)

Pazeh Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Neutral	Nominative	Genitive	Locative
1s.	yaku	aku	naki	yakuan, yakunan
2s.	isiw	siw	nisiw	isiwan
2s. (prox.)	imini	mini	nimini	iminiyan
3s. (vis.)	imisiw	misiw	nimisiw	misiwan
3s. (not vis.)	isia	sia	nisia	isiaan
1p. (incl.)	ita	ta	nita (ta-)	itaan
1p. (excl.)	yami	ami	nyam(i)	yamian, yaminan
2p.	imu	mu	nimu	imuan
2p. (prox.)	yamini	amini	naamini	yaminiyan
3p. (vis.)	yamisiw	amisiw	naamisiw	yamisiwan
3p. (not vis.)	yasia	Asia	naasia	yasiaan

Saisiyat

Saisiyat has an elaborate pronominal system (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).^[6]

Saisiyat Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Possessive	Locative
1s.	yako, yao	yakin, iyakin	ma'’an	'’iniman	'amana'’a	kanman
2s.	So’'o	’'iso’'on	niSo	'’iniSo	’'anso’'o’'a	kanSo
3s.	sia	hisia	nisia	’inisia	'ansiaa	kansia
1p. (incl.)	'’ita	'’inimita	mita’'	'’inimita’'	'anmita’'a	kan’'ita
1p. (excl.)	yami	'’iniya’'om	niya’'om	’'iniya’'om	'’anya'’oma	kanyami
2p.	moyo	'’inimon	nimon	'’inimon	'anmoyoa	kanmoyo
3p.	lasia	hilasia	nasia	'’inilasia	'’anlasiaa	kanlasia

Thao

The Thao personal pronouns below are from Blust (2003:207).^[7] Note that there is only 1 form each for "we (exclusive)," "you (plural)" and "they."

Thao Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Nominative	Accusative	Genitive
1s.	yaku	yakin	nak[8]
2s.	ihu	ihu-n	m-ihu[9]
3s.	cicu	cicu-n	cicu[10]
1p. (incl.)	ita	ita-n	m-ita
1p. (excl.)	yamin	yamin	yamin
2p.	maniun	maniun	maniun
3p.	caycuy	caycuy	caycuy

Favorlang

The following Favorlang personal pronouns are from Li (2003:8). All of them are free forms. All genitive pronouns end with -a.

Favorlang Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Neutral	Genitive	Nominative/Accusative
1s.	ka-ina	na-a	ina
2s.	ijonoë	joa, oa	ijo
3s.	icho	choa	icho
1p. (incl.)	torro	torroa	-
1p. (excl.)	namono	namoa	namo
2p.	imonoë	imoa	imo
3p.	aicho-es dechonoë	choa	decho

Atayalic

The Wulai and Mayrinax Atayal personal pronouns below are sourced from Huang (1995).^[11] In both varieties, the nominative and genitive forms are bound while the neutral and locative ones are free (unbound).

Wulai Atayal

Wulai Atayal Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Nominative	Genitive	Locative	Neutral
1s.	sakuʔ, kuʔ	makuʔ, mu, kuʔ	knan	kuzing, kun
2s.	suʔ	suʔ	sunan	isuʔ
3s.	-	nyaʔ	hiyan	hiyaʔ
1p. (incl.)	taʔ	taʔ	itan	itaʔ
1p. (excl.)	sami	myan	sminan	sami
2p.	simu	mamu	smunan	simu
3p.	-	nhaʔ	hgan	hgaʔ

Mayrinax Atayal

Mayrinax Atayal Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Nominative	Genitive	Neutral
1s.	cu, ciʔ	mu, miʔ	kuing
2s.	suʔ, siʔ	suʔ	isuʔ
3s.	-	niaʔ	hiyaʔ
1p. (incl.)	taʔ, tiʔ	taʔ, tiʔ	itaʔ
1p. (excl.)	cami	niam	cami
2p.	cimu	mamu	cimu
3p.	-	nhaʔ	nhaʔ

Teruku Seediq

Teruku Seediq Personal Pronouns^[12]

Type of Pronoun	Direct	Oblique	Independent possessive	Subject	Genitive
1s.	yaku	kenan	(ne-)naku	=ku	=mu
2s.	isu	sunan	(ne-)nisu	=su	=su
3s.	hiya	hiyaan	ne-hiya	-	=na
1p. (incl.)	'ita	tenan	(ne-)nita	=ta	=ta
1p. (excl.)	yami	menani	(ne-)nami	=nami	=nami
2p.	yamu	munan	(ne-)namu	=namu	=namu
3p.	dehiya	dehiyaan	ne-dehiya	-	=deha

East Formosan

Siraya

The Siraya personal pronouns below are from Adelaar (1997).^[13]

Siraya Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Free	Actor or Possessive	Topic	Oblique
1s.	ĭau	-(m)au	-koh	ĭau-an
2s.	ĭmhu	-(m)uhu, -(m)oho	-kow	ĭmhu-an
3s.	teni	tĭn	teni	tĭni-än (tĭni-an)
1p. (incl.)	ĭmĭtta	-(m)ĭtta, -(m)eta	-kĭtta	ĭmittä-n
1p. (excl.)	ĭmi-an	-(m)ian, -(m)iän	-kame	mian-än (mian-an)
2p.	ĭmumi	-(m)umi	(-)kamu	ĭmumi-än (ĭmumi-an)
3p.	ta neini	nein	neini	neini-än (neini-an)

Kavalan

The Kavalan personal pronouns below are from Li (2006:30).^[14]

Kavalan Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Nominative	Genitive	Oblique	Locative
1s.	aiku, =iku	zaku, -ku	timaiku	tamaikuan
2s.	aisu, =isu	zasu, -su	timaisu	tamaisuan
3s.	aizipna tiyau	zana, -na	timaizipna tiyau	tamaizipan tiyauan
1p. (incl.)	aita, =ita	zata, -ta, -kita	timaita	tamaitan
1p. (excl.)	aimi, =imi	zanyaq, -nyaq	timaimi	tamaimian
2p.	aimu, =imu	zanumi, -numi	timaimu	tamaimuan
3p.	qaniyau	zana, -na	qaniyau	taqaniyauan

Basay

The Basay personal pronouns below are from Li (1999:639).^[15]

Basay Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Neutral	Nominative	Genitive	Oblique
1s.	yaku	kaku, -ku	maku-, -aku; naku, -ak	yakuan, kuan, kuanan
2s.	isu	kisu, -su	misu, -isu; nisu, -su ~ -is	isuan, suan, isuanan, suanan
3s.	-	-ia	-	-
1p. (incl.)	mita	kita, -ita	mita, -ita; nita, -ta	...., ...., tianan
1p. (excl.)	yami	-mi	yami, -ami; nami, -am	yamian, mian, mianan
2p.	imu	kimu, -mu	-imu; nimu, -im	imuan, ...., imuanan
3p.	-	-ia	-	-

Bunun

Takivatan Bunun personal pronoun roots are (De Busser 2009:453):^[16]

• 1s: -ak-
• 2s: -su-
• 3s: -is-
• 1p (incl.): -at-
• 1p (excl.): -ðam-
• 2p: -(a)mu-
• 3p: -in-

The tables of Takivatan Bunun personal pronouns below are sourced from De Busser (2009:441).

Takivatan Bunun Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Root	Foc. Agent (bound)	Non-Foc. Agent (bound)	Neutral	Foc. Agent	Locative	Possessive
1s.	-ak-	-(ʔ)ak	-(ʔ)uk	ðaku, nak	sak, saikin	ðakuʔan	inak, ainak, nak
2s.	-su-	-(ʔ)as	-	suʔu, su	-	suʔuʔan	isu, su
1p. (incl.)	-at-	-	-	mita	ʔata, inʔata	mitaʔan	imita
1p. (excl.)	-ðam-	-(ʔ)am	-	ðami, nam	ðamu, sam	ðamiʔan	inam, nam
2p.	-(a)mu-	-(ʔ)am	-	muʔu, mu	amu	muʔuʔan	imu, mu

Takivatan Bunun
Third-Person Personal Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
[Root]	-is-	-in-
Proximal	isti	inti
Medial	istun	intun
Distal	ista	inta

Iskubun Bunun personal pronouns are somewhat different (De Busser 2009:454).

Iskubun Bunun Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Agent	Undergoer	Possessive
1s.	saikin, -ik	ðaku, -ku	inak, nak
2s.	kasu, -as	su	isu, su
3s.	saia	saiʤa	isaiʤa, saiʤa
1p. (incl.)	kata, -ta	mita	imita
1p. (excl.)	kaimin, -im	ðami	inam
2p.	kamu, -am	mu	imu
3p.	naia	inaiʤa	naiʤa

Paiwan

The Kuɬaɬau Paiwan personal pronouns below are from Ferrell (1982:14).

Paiwan Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Equational	Genitive	Non-Eq., Non-Gen.
1s.	-aken, ti-aken	ku-, ni-aken	tjanu-aken
2s.	-sun, ti-sun	su-, ni-sun	tjanu-sun
3s.	ti-madju	ni-madju	tjai-madju
1p. (incl.)	-itjen, ti-tjen	tja-, ni-tjen	tjanu-itjen
1p. (excl.)	-amen, ti-amen	nia-, ni-amen	tjanu-amen
2p.	-mun, t-mun	nu-, ni-mun	tjanu-mun
3p.	ti-a-madju	ni-a-madju	tjai-a-madju

Puyuma

The Nanwang Puyuma personal pronouns below are from Teng (2008:61-64).

Puyuma Personal Pronouns (Free)

Type of Pronoun	Nominative[17]	Oblique: Direct	Oblique: Indirect	Oblique: Non-Subject	Neutral
1s.	nanku	kanku, kananku	draku, drananku	kanku	kuiku
2s.	nanu	kanu, kananu	dranu, drananu	kanu	yuyu
3s.	nantu	kantu, kanantu	dratu, dranantu	kantaw	taytaw
1p. (incl.)	nanta	kanta, kananta	drata, drananta	kanta	taita
1p. (excl.)	naniam	kaniam, kananiam	draniam, drananiam	kaniam	mimi
2p.	nanemu	kanemu, kananemu	dranemu, drananemu	kanemu	muimu
3p.	nantu	kantu, kanantu	dratu, dranantu	kantaw	-

Puyuma Personal Pronouns (Bound)

Type of Pronoun	Nominative (Subject)	Nominative (Possessor of subject)	Genitive
1s.	=ku	ku=	ku=
2s.	=yu	nu=	nu=
3s.	-	tu=	tu=
1p. (incl.)	=ta	ta=	ta=
1p. (excl.)	=mi	niam=	mi=
2p.	=mu	mu=	mu=
3p.	-	tu=	tu=

Philippine languages

Ilokano

Ilokano personal pronouns distinguish three cases: absolutive, ergative, and oblique. They also distinguish three numbers: singular, dual and plural.

Accent marks in the following table are not written, but given here for pronunciation purposes.

Ilokano Personal Pronouns

	Absolutive		Ergative	Oblique
	Disjunctive	Enclitic (-ak)[18]	Enclitic (-ko)[19]	Disjunctive
1st person singular	siák [20]	-ak [21]	-k(o) [22][23]	kaniák
1st person dual	datá, sitá [20]	-ta	-ta	kadatá
2nd person singular	siká [20]	-ka	-m(o) [22]	kenká
3rd person singular	isú(na)	-Ø [24]	-na	kenkuána
1st person plural inclusive	datayó, sitayó [20]	-tayó	-tayó	kadatayó
1st person plural exclusive	dakamí, sikamí [20]	-kamí	-mi	kadakamí
2nd person plural	dakayó, sikayó [20]	-kayó	-yo	kadakayó
3rd person plural	isúda	-da	-da	kadakuáda

Tagalog

Like nouns, Tagalog personal pronouns are categorized by case. As above, the indirect forms also function as the genitive.

Tagalog Personal Pronouns

	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)
1st person singular	akó	ko	akin
1st person dual	kitá/kata[25]	nitá/nata[25]	kanitá/kanata (ata)[25]
1st person plural inclusive	tayo	natin	atin
1st person plural exclusive	kamí	namin	amin
2nd person singular	ikáw (ka)	mo	iyó
2nd person plural	kayó	ninyó	inyó
3rd person singular	siyá	niyá	kaniyá
3rd person plural	silá	nilá	kanilá

Cebuano

Like nouns, Cebuano personal pronouns are categorized by case.

Cebuano Personal Pronouns

	Kinsa	Tag-iya (primary)	Tag-iya (modifier)	Oblique
1st person singular	ako	akoa	nako	kanako
2nd person singular	ikaw	imoha	nimo	kanimo
3rd person singular	siya / sya	iyaha /iya	niya	kaniya
1st person plural inclusive	kita	atoa / ato	nato	kanato
1st person plural exclusive	kami	amoa / amo	namo	kanamo
2nd person plural	kamo	inyoha	ninyo	kaninyo
3rd person plural	sila	ilaha	nila	kanila

*The two sets of tag-iya case function similarly except that the primary tag-iya would need the unifying linker nga and the modifier tag-iya cannot be used as complementary adjective.
**The final syllable of a primary tag-iya pronoun is mostly dropped.

When the pronoun is not the first word of the sentence, the short form is more commonly used than the full form.

Cebuano Enclitic Personal Pronouns

	Kinsa	Tag-iya (primary)	Tag-iya (modifier)	Oblique
1st person singular	ko	ako	ko	nako
2nd person singular	ka	imo	mo	nimo
3rd person singular	siya	iya	niya	niya
1st person plural inclusive	ta	ato	nato	nato
1st person plural exclusive	mi	amo	namo	namo
2nd person plural	kamo	inyo	ninyo	ninyo
3rd person plural	sila	ila	nila	nila

*When the object is a second person pronoun, use ta instead of ko.

Malayo-Sumbawan languages

Malay

The informal pronouns aku, kamu, engkau, ia, kami, and kita are indigenous to Malay.

Malay Personal Pronouns

Person	Malay	English
First person	saya (standard, polite), aku (informal, familiar)	I, me
	kami	we, us: they and me, s/he and me
	kita	we, us: you and me, you and us
Second person	anda (polite, formal), kamu (familiar, informal)	you, thou, thee
	anda sekalian (formal), kalian (informal)	you, y'all
Third person	ia ~ dia, dia orang	he, she, him, her
	ia ~ dia, mereka, dia orang	they, them

Possessive pronouns

Aku, kamu, engkau, and ia have short possessive enclitic forms. All others retain their full forms like other nouns, as does emphatic dia: meja saya, meja kita, meja anda, meja dia "my table, our table, your table, his/her table".

Possessed forms of meja "table"

Pronoun	Enclitic	Possessed form
aku	-ku	mejaku (my table)
kamu	-mu	mejamu (your table)
engkau	-kau	mejakau (your table)
ia	-nya	mejanya (his, her, their table)

Javanese

The informal pronouns aku and kowe, are inherited from Austronesian.

Javanese Personal Pronouns

Person	Javanese	English
First person	aku (standard, informal), kula (formal), dalem/ kawula (more formal/ humble)	I, me
	dhewe/ awake dhewe (informal), kita (formal)	we, us: they and me, s/he and me and also you and me, you and us
Second person	kowe (informal), sampeyan (formal), panjenengan (more formal)	you, thou, thee
	kowe kabeh (informal), sampeyan sedaya (formal), panjenengan sedanten (more formal)	you, you all
Third person	dheweke/ wonge (informal), piyantune, panjenengane (formal), panjenengipun (more formal)	he, she, him, her
	dheweke kabeh (informal, but rarely), wong-wong iku (informal) panjenenganipun sedanten, tiyang-tiyang/ piyantun-piyantun puniku (more formal)	they, them

Javanese lacks of personal pronouns. For first person plural, Javanese use awake dhewe that means "the body itself" (cf. Malay : badannya sendiri) or just dhewe, that originally means "itself" or "alone". For third person singular, Javanese use dheweke that means "itself" (cf. Malay : dirinya), from dhewe (self, alone) + -k-(as euphony) + -(n)e (3rd person possessive enclitic), or wonge (cf. Malay : orangnya) that means "the person", from wong (person)+ -(n)e (3rd person possessive enclitic, that is also used for demonstrative). The rest of plural pronouns uses words kabeh/ sedaya/ sedanten that all means "all" after the singular form.

Possessive pronouns

Aku, kowe, and dheweke have short possessive enclitic forms. All others retain their full forms like other nouns : griyane kula, omahe awake dhewe, dalemipun panjenengan "my house (formal), our house (informal), your house (more formal)".

Possessed forms of omah/ griya/ dalem "house"

Pronoun	Enclitic	Possessed form
aku	-ku / -(n)e kula / -ipun dalem	omahku/ griyane kula/ dalemipun dalem (my house)
kowe	-mu/ -(n)e sampeyan/ -ipun panjenengan	omahmu/ griyane sampeyan/ dalemipun panjenengan (your house)
dheweke	-(n)e/ -ipun	omahe/ griyane/ dalemipun (his, her, their house)

Polynesian languages

Tongan

The Tongan cardinal pronouns are the main personal pronouns which in Tongan can either be preposed (before the verb) or postposed (after the verb). The first are the normal pronouns, the latter the stressed pronouns, which are also used as reflexive pronouns.

Tongan Personal Pronouns

		Position	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	exclusive (I, we, us)	preposed	u, ou, ku	ma	mau
		postposed	au	kimaua	kimautolu
	inclusive (one, we, us)	preposed	te	ta	tau
		postposed	kita	kitaua	kitautolu
2nd person		preposed	ke	mo	mou
		postposed	koe	kimoua	kimoutolu
3rd person		preposed	ne	na	nau
		postposed	ia	kinaua	kinautolu

Samoan

Like many Austronesian languages, Samoan has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we, and distinguishes singular, dual, and plural. The root for the inclusive pronoun may occur in the singular, in which case it indicates emotional involvement on the part of the speaker.

Samoan Personal Pronouns

	singular	dual	plural
First person exclusive	a‘u, ‘ou	mā‘ua, mā	mātou
First person inclusive	tā	tā‘ua, tā	tātou
Second person	‘oe, ‘e	‘oulua	‘outou, tou
Third person	ia / na	lā‘ua	lātou

In formal speech, fuller forms of the roots mā-, tā-, and lā- are ‘imā-, ‘itā-, and ‘ilā-.

Hawaiian

Hawaiian Personal Pronouns

			Singular (1)			Dual (2)				Plural (3+)
			1st	2nd	3rd	1st incl.	1st excl.	2nd	3rd	1st incl.	1st excl.	2nd	3rd
Case	Nominative		au	ʻoe	ia	kāua	māua	ʻolua	lāua	kākou	mākou	ʻoukou	lākou
	Genitive	a-class	kaʻu	kāu	kāna	kā kāua	kā māua	kā ʻolua	kā lāua	kā kākou	kā mākou	kā ʻoukou	kā lākou
		o-class	koʻu	kou	kōna	kō kāua	kō māua	kō ʻolua	kō lāua	kō kākou	kō mākou	kō ʻoukou	kō lākou
		affectionate	kuʻu	kō	Only used in 1st and 2nd person singular.
	Accusative, Dative		iaʻu	iā ʻoe	iā ia	iā kāua	iā māua	iā ʻolua	iā lāua	iā kākou	iā mākou	iā ʻoukou	iā lākou

The a-class possessive pronouns refer to alienable possession, as with boats, children, clothing, and spouses. The o-class possessive pronouns refer to inalienable (incapable of being begun or ended) possession, as with parents and body parts.^[26]

See also

• Category:Pronouns by language
• Fossilized affixes in Austronesian languages

Notes and references

1. Blust, Robert A. 2009. The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0-85883-602-5, ISBN 978-0-85883-602-0.
2. Ross, Malcolm (2006). Reconstructing the case-marking and personal pronoun systems of Proto Austronesian. In Henry Y. Chang and Lillian M. Huang and Dah-an Ho, eds, Streams Converging into an Ocean: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Jen-kuei Li on His 70th Birthday, 521-564. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
3. Zeitoun, Elizabeth. 1997. The Pronominal System of Mantauran (Rukai). Oceanic Linguistics, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Dec., 1997), pp. 312-346.
4. Zeitoun, Elizabeth. 2005. "Tsou." In Adelaar, K. Alexander and Nikolaus Himmelmann, eds. 2005. The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. Psychology Press.
5. Li, Paul Jen-kuei. 2000. Some Aspects of Pazeh Syntax. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, No. 29, Grammatical Analysis: Morphology, Syntax, and Semantics (2000).
6. Hsieh Fuhui and Huang Xuanfan. 2006. "The Pragmatics of Case Marking in Saisiyat." Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 45, Number 1, June 2006, pp. 91-109.
7. Blust, Robert (2003). Thao dictionary. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica. ISBN 9789570147858.
8. PAN *ni-ku
9. PAN *ni-Su
10. PAN *ni-a
11. Huang, Lillian M. (1995). The syntactic structure of Wulai and Mayrinax Atayal: a comparison. Bull. National Taiwan Normal University, Vol. 40, pp. 261-294.
12. Tsukida, Naomi. 2005. "Seediq." In Adelaar, K. Alexander and Nikolaus Himmelmann, eds. 2005. The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. Psychology Press.
13. Adelaar, K. Alexander. 1997. Grammar Notes on Siraya, an Extinct Formosan Language. Oceanic Linguistics, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Dec., 1997), pp. 362-397.
14. Paul Jen-kuei Li (李壬癸) and Shigeru Tsuchida (土田滋) (2006) Kavalan Dictionary Archived November 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. Language and Linguistics Monograph Series A-19. ISBN 978-986-00-6993-8.
15. Li, Paul Jen-kuei (1999). Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: Some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Zeitoun, E., & Li, P. J-K., Selected Papers From the 8th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. Taipei, Taiwan: Academica Sinica.
16. De Busser, Rik. 2009. Towards a Grammar of Takivatan: Selected Topics. PhD dissertation at the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
17. Possessor of subject
18. The series of absolutive enclitics is sometimes referred to as the -ak series, a name derived from the form of the first person singular.
19. The series of ergative enclitics series is sometimes referred to as the -ko series, a name derived from the form of the first person singular.
20. These forms are a combination of the obsolete variant of the personal article si and the absolutive enclitic form.
21. When the enclitic particle -(e)n is attached, the form becomes -akon indicating that it once was -ako in the history of the language. (cf. Tagalog)
22. The final o is lost when the preceding word ends in a simple vowel and when there are no following enclitics. Compare the following:
    • Asom Your dog
    • Asomonto It will be your dog.
23. When attaching to either of the suffixes, -en or -an, the -n of the suffix is lost.
24. The 3rd person singular has no ending or form; it is inferred by context.
25. Kata, nitá and kanita is not widely used. Kitá was the alternative pronoun for first person dual.
26. Schütz, Albert J. 1995. All About Hawaiian, U. of Hawaii Press.

Further reading

• Li, Paul Jen-kuei. 1997. "A Syntactic Typology of Formosan Languages — Case Markers on Nouns and Pronouns." In Li, Paul Jen-kuei. 2004. Selected Papers on Formosan Languages. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.