UNIT EIGHT
    
    Pronouns: Personal, reflexive, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite, negative, personal possessive, and other pronominal words.
    
    Personal Pronouns
    
     The general declensional pattern of the pronouns is similar to that of the nominal declension. There is a stern, fairly consistent in form, to which the relational morphemes previously given are added to indicate the various cases. The greatest disparity occurs between the absolute or nominative case and the oblique cases (including all others).
     In the case of the 1st p., for instance, the allomorph /epĕ/ occurs only in the nominative, and in all other cases, the suppletive form /man-/, to which the regular case morphemes are added, is used, thus:
    

		epĕ
		manăn
		mana
		manra
		manran
		manpa

    The same pattern is followed in the second person singular, employing esĕ in the nominative, and san- in the oblique. In the 3rd p., văl “he, she, it, that, this“ is opposed to un- of the oblique, except that a form ăn- is used before the dative ending -a. The plural of văl employs an allomorph vĕ- to which -sem is added, viz., vĕsem ‘they.‘ The remaining forms of the 1st and 2nd p. pl. may be similarly analyzed. All forms are presented herewith in tabular arrangement.
    

	epĕ			esĕ			văl
	man(ăn)			san(ăn)			un(ăn)
	mana			sana			ăna
	manra			sanra			unra (unta)
	manran			sanran			unran (untan)
	manpa			sanpa			unpa

	epir			esir			vĕsem
	pirĕn			sirĕn			vĕsen(ĕn)
	pire			sire			vĕsene
	pirĕnte (pirte)		sirĕnte			vĕsenche
	pirĕnten (pirten)	sirĕnten		vĕsenchen
	pirĕnpe			sirĕnpe			vĕsempe

     In addition to the above, some other forms are occasionally found, as for the nominative, ep, es, ul, epĕr, esĕr and vălsem. The locative and ablative of esir may also use sirte and sirten like epir does.
     Some examples of their use are the following ones.
    

	ku brigadir – pirĕn			This team-leader is ours.
	pire puhura yrlarĕş			We were praised at the meeting.
	pirĕn brigada malta pyrat		Our team goes forward.
	epĕ kolhozra ĕşletĕp			I work on the kolkhoz.
	văl şyn					that man
	văl şynsem				those people
	văl sire pallarĕ			he has recognized you
	Tură ăna kalană				God said to him
	man hĕrsene				my girls (acc.)

    
    Reflexive Pronouns
    
    In Chuvash, the words for myself, yourself, himself, herself, and so on, are expressed with possessive forms of the morpheme ha ‘self.‘ To this morpheme may be added morphemes of possession and of case. From the following table the student can easily determine the similarity of these endings to those already learned. The reflexives are usually used with a personal pronoun to strengthen or intensify them, hut may also be used alone.
    

	ham			hu			hăj(ĕ)
	hamăn			hăvăn			hăjĕn
	hama			hăvna			hăjne
	hamra			hăvănta			hăjenche
	hamran			hăvantan		hăjenchen
	hampa			hupa			hăjpe

	hamăr			hăvăr			hăjsem
	hamărăn			hăvărăn			hăjsen(ĕn)
	hamăra			hăvăra			hăjsene
	hamărta			hăvărta			hăjsenche
	hamărtan		hăvărtan		hăjsenchen
	hamărpa			hăvărpa			hăjsempe

    Some examples of use of the reflexive pronouns are the following:
    

	văl hăj				he himself
	esir hăvăr			you yourselves
	hăjsen tăvan jal		their own native village
	ham pyrap			I am coming myself
	hăjsem kilchĕş			they came themselves
	epĕ hama şăvatăp		I wash myself
	hăvah				Go yourself!
	hăvăr Tură hĕrĕsem		you are God‘s daughters
	hăvăn upashku			your own husband
	hăjĕn ashshĕ kilne pynă		he came to his own father‘s house

    
    Demonstrative Pronouns
    
     Like other languages, Chuvash too has words used to point out things or persons at near or far distances, as “these, those, this, that.“ It is not always possible to equate Chuvash usage exactly with English usage, because much depends on the circumstances: whether the speaker envisages something as near or far in relation to him, or whether it is near or far in relation to some other person.
     Some of these words are the following: ku ‘this,‘ şak, şakă ‘that,‘ şav, şavă “that one (more distant that şak)", văl ‘that one, he,‘ lesh ‘that one at some distance,‘ leshĕ id., haj, hajhi (NB: xăj!) ‘that selfsame one, that very one, the aforementioned,‘ apla‚ kapla., şapla ‘such a one, one like that, that sort of one.‘ Also used are un pek, şavăn pek, şakăn pek “the like of it, the like of that“ meaning ‘similar, that sort of.‘
     The declensions of these words follow previously established patterns:
    

	ku		şak(ă)		lesh(ĕ)		haj, hajhi	şav(ă)
	kun(ăn) 	şakăn		leshĕn		hajhin		şavăn
	kuna		şakna		leshne		hajhine		şavna
	kunta		şakănta		leshĕnche	hajhin~e	şavănta
	kuntan		şakăntan	leshĕnchen	hajhin~en	şavăntan
	kunpa		şakănpa		leshpe		hajhipe		şavănpa

    When it is necessary to use the plural forms of these words, they employ their basic stem plus the regular endings of the plural (viz. —sem, sen(ĕn), —sene, —senche, —senchen and -sempe), namely,
    

	kusem		şaksern 	leshsem 	hajhisem 	şavsem

     Some examples of the demonstrative pronouns are the following:
    

	kunta			here (lit. ‘in this‘)
	kuntan			hence, for this reason, therefore
	unta			there (‘in that‘)
	untan			from that = thereupon, thence, then
	şaka kĕneke		this book
	un pek şyn		such a man
	şakă kĕneke		This is a book.

	hajhine asturăm			I remembered that (that thing which you were talking about previously)
	pirĕn shuhăsh şapla		Our opinion is thus and so.
	ku pioneer lajăh vĕrenet	This Pioneer (Boy Scout) studies well.
	lesh achan kĕnekesem numaj	That child has a lot of books (that child‘ s books are many)

	acha kĕneke ănlanmalla vulat	The boy reads the book clearly.
	şapla vulani mana savăntarat	Such a reading (a reading like that) delights me

    
    
    Interrogative Pronouns
    
     The words for "what, who, which“ etc are interrogative pronouns, and like the preceding pronouns, follow the Same general pattern of formation. Their use is essentially that of their English counterparts. In Chuvash, these words are kam ‘who,‘ mĕn ‘what, hăsh(ĕ) ‘wich, which one" mişe "how many" (of numbers), mĕn chuhlĕ, mĕn chu1 how many, of what quantity", and mĕnle "what sort, of what kind.‘ Note that, unlike their English equivalents Chuvash kam and mĕn may be used in the plural: kamsem ‘what persons, what ones, who?‘, or mĕnsem "what things, what objects, what ones.‘
     Their declension is as follows.
    

	kam			mĕn			hăsh(ĕ)
	kamăn			mĕnĕn			hăshĕn
	kama			mĕne			hăshne
	kamra			mĕnre			hăshĕnche
	kamran			mĕnren			hăshĕnchen
	kampa			mĕnpe			hăshinpe (!)

	mişe			mĕn chuhlĕ		mĕn chul
	mişe(ĕn)		mĕn chuhlĕn		mĕn chulăn
	mişene			mĕn chuhle		mĕn chula
	mişere			mĕn chuhlĕre		mĕn chulra
	mişeren			mĕn chuhlĕren		mĕn chulran
	mişepe			mĕn chuhlĕpe		mĕn chulpa

    
     Some other interrogative words are: ăşta ‘where;‘ mĕnsker, mĕsker, ‘what‘; jeple, mĕnle "what sort;‘ mĕnshĕn "why,‘ "owing to what.‘
     Examples of their usage may be found in these phrases.
    

	pajan mĕn kun?			Today, what day? = What day is today?
	mĕn tyra			What crop? = What is the crop like (this year)?
	ku japalana mĕne iltĕn?		Why did you buy this thing?
	jeple şyn văl?			What sort of a person is he? (What man he?)
	hăshĕ asli, hăshĕ kĕşĕnni	I shall hire (you) to know which is the eldest
	pallama tytăp	 		and which is the youngest (Folktale)

     The student must note carefully the fact that Chuvash does not have a relative pronoun such as “that, which“ in English. Sentences of the types “The man who did it came yesterday“ or “The book that he bought was stolen“ are expressed in Chuvash in a completely different way (viz., approximately “The having-done-it man came yesterday,“ “His bought book was stolen“).
     Occasionally, however, in imitation of Russian usage, the words kam or mĕn will be found in a relative usage.
    

	kam tărăsa ĕşlet,		Who works. assiduously will succeed at this task 
	unăn ĕşĕ ănsa pyrat.		(lit. Who works trying, his affair succeeds‘).

    
    Indefinite Pronouns
    
     Indefinite pronouns may be formed from interrogative pronouns by:
    
     1. Adding the morpheme ta-/te- ‘some‘ before them:
    

	takam			someone
	temĕn			something
	temĕsker		someone, a certain one, someone, a certain which one
	temĕnle			some sort
	temişe			somewhat, to some amount

     2. Adding the particle ta and the words pulin or pulsan (lit. "let it be‘ or "if it is‘), in a manner reminiscent of the Russian formations kto-nibud‘ "who it may be‘ = whoever, someone, and so on.
    

	kam ta pulin		anyone, whoever it may be
	rnĕnte pulin		anything, whatever it may be
	mĕnle te pulin		anyhow, however

     3. By adding the word kirek before them
    

	kirek kam		somebody
	kirek mĕn		something
	kirek mĕnle		somehow

    
    Negative Pronouns
    
    Negative pronouns are formed from interrogatives by adding the prefix morpheme ni before them, and the particles ta, te after the stem.
    

	nikam ta		no one
	nimĕn te		nothing
	nimĕske te 		no sort
	nihăshĕ te		no one
	nijeple te		nothing
	nimĕnle te		nothing
	nimĕn 	te		seldom

    Personal Possessive Pronouns
    
     Chuvash also has formations like English “mine, yours, his“ which can be used as nouns. This usage is similar in formation to the German das meinige or French le mien "the one which is mine.‘ These are formed in Chuvash by adding the possessive –ni to the genitive forms of the personal pronouns, viz.:
    

	manni, manănni 		sanni, sanănni 		unni, unănni
	pirĕnni			sirĕnni			vĕsenni (vĕsenĕnni)

    The reflexive pronouns may also be used this way:
    

	hamănni			the one which is my own
	hăvănni			your own
	hăjĕnni			his own
	hamărănni		our own
	hăjsenni		their own
	hăvărănni		your own

     These forms, being nouns, may also occur in all cases, and since their formation is perfectly regular and predictable, all forms will not be given here.
    

	manni			sanni			unni
	mannin			sannin			unnin
	manne			sanne			unne
	manninche		sanninche		unninche
	manninchen		sanninchen		unninchen
	mannipe			sannpe			unnipe

	mannisem		sannisem		unnisem
	(and so on)

    Both short and long forms may serve as the base:
    

	manănni			sanănni			unănni
	manănnisem		sanănnisem		unănnisem
	(and occur in all cases)

    Further, the forms may refer to the plurals “our, your, their,“ viz.:
    

	pirĕnni			sirĕnni			vĕsenni
	pirĕnnisem		sirĕnnisem		vĕsennisem
	(oblique cases as usual)

     In general these forms are but little used, as the circumstances calling for their use infrequently arise. Their formation poses no problems. One example from the Reader is:
    

	yran kĕşĕnnine pallama kil	Come to recognize the youngest one tomorrow! 

(Folktale), lit. ‘its young one."
    
    
    
    Other Pronominal Words
    
     There are also some other words of pronominal character, expressing accumulation and generalization.
    

	kashni			each
	purte			all, every
	pur, pĕtĕm		all
	harpărhăj		each himself
	urăh			other, another
	tepĕr			other