This section covers the remaining major pronoun types in Maþal:

Type	Function
demonstrative pronouns	point to someone or something
interrogative pronouns	ask questions
relative pronouns	introduce relative clauses
indefinite pronouns	refer to someone or something unspecific

These forms are pronouns, not determiners. That means they replace a noun phrase instead of standing before a noun.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to someone or something.

Maþal distinguishes:

Category	Meaning
proximal	close to the speaker: this, these
distal	farther away from the speaker: that, those
common	persons or beings
neuter	things, abstract entities, non-personal referents
singular	one
plural	more than one

Demonstrative pronouns

Distance	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
proximal	common	singular	this one, this person	híne
proximal	common	plural	these ones, these people	híno
proximal	neuter	singular	this, this thing	híni
proximal	neuter	plural	these, these things	hínu
distal	common	singular	that one, that person	þáne
distal	common	plural	those ones, those people	þáno
distal	neuter	singular	that, that thing	þáni
distal	neuter	plural	those, those things	þánu

Demonstrative pronouns with case

Demonstrative pronouns take case prefixes directly.

Maþal	Meaning
híne	this one
ei:híne	this one, as direct object
ai:híne	of this one
øi:híne	to this one / for this one
yi:híne	from this one

Demonstrative pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
Híne a’nektare ei:púvi.	This one sees it.
Míne a’nektame ei:þáne.	I see that one.
Þáni a’bener brínsri.	That is bright.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions.

English has forms like:

English
who?
what?
where?
when?
why?
how?

In Maþal, interrogative pronouns can be general or domain-specific.

General interrogatives ask broad questions like “who?” or “what?”

Domain-specific interrogatives ask what kind of thing is meant: a place, plant, action, concept, natural phenomenon, object, and so on.

General interrogative pronouns

Function	English	Maþal
person	who?	hjåka
thing / general neuter	what?	hjåða
manner	how?	hjå
time	when?	hjånta
reason	why?	hjåspa

Interrogative pronouns with case

The case prefix shows the grammatical role of the interrogative pronoun in the sentence.

Case	Maþal	Meaning
nominative	hjåka	who?
accusative	ei:hjåka	whom? / who as direct object?
genitive	ai:hjåka	whose? / of whom?
dative	øi:hjåka	to whom? / for whom?
locative	oi:hjåka	at whom? / near whom?
ablative	yi:hjåka	from whom?
instrumental	ou:hjåka	with whom? / by whom?
causative	ui:hjåka	because of whom?
temporative	au:hjåka	at whose time?

Domain-specific interrogative pronouns

Domain	English meaning	Maþal
action / movement	what action? what kind of action?	hjåra
constructed place	which built place?	hjåmfa
plant	which plant?	hjåpa
natural phenomenon	what natural phenomenon?	hjåna
body / anatomy	which body part?	hjåkta
social / cultural thing	what social or cultural thing?	hjåla
crafted object / artifact	what object?	hjåma
measurement / maths	what measurement?	hjåmta
relationship / kinship	which relation?	hjålta
tool	which tool?	hjårma
clothing / food	what clothing or food?	hjåmpa
direction / spatial relation	whereto? whence? which direction?	hjåfsa
cognition / perception	what thought? what perception?	hjåsa
time / cycle	when? which time?	hjånta
number / counting	which number?	hjåtla
emotion	what emotion?	hjåha
sensory quality	what sensory quality?	hjånsa
sound	what sound?	hjårna

Interrogative pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
¿Hjåka a’garer?	Who walks?
¿Míne a’nektame ei:hjåka?	Whom do I see?
¿Ai:hjåka a’bener fageng?	Whose is the dog?
¿Hjånta a’nårjer dúle?	When do you come?
¿Hjåspa a’garer reise?	Why does he/she walk?

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses.

A relative clause gives more information about a noun.

English examples:

English
the person who walks
the thing that I saw
the place where we met
the time when it happened

In Maþal, the relative pronoun agrees with the kind of referent and takes the case required inside the relative clause.

This means the case of the relative pronoun depends on its role in the relative clause, not on the role of the noun in the main clause.

Core relative pronouns

Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
common	singular	who, that	åke
common	plural	who, that	åko
neuter	singular	which, that	åði
neuter	plural	which, that	åðu

Relative pronouns with case

Example with åke:

Case	Maþal	Meaning
nominative	åke	who
accusative	ei:åke	whom / who as direct object
genitive	ai:åke	whose / of whom
dative	øi:åke	to whom / for whom
locative	oi:åke	at whom / near whom
ablative	yi:åke	from whom
instrumental	ou:åke	with whom / by whom
causative	ui:åke	because of whom
temporative	au:åke	at whose time

Domain-specific relative pronouns

Some relative pronouns are built for a specific semantic domain, especially when the meaning is closer to “where,” “when,” “why,” or “what kind of thing.”

Function	English	Maþal
place, common singular	where / which place	åfe
place, common plural	where / which places	åfo
place, neuter singular	where / which place	åfi
place, neuter plural	where / which places	åfu
direction, common singular	whereto / whence	åfse
direction, neuter singular	whereto / whence	åfsi
time, neuter singular	when	ånti
time, neuter plural	when / which times	åntu
reason, common singular	why / for which reason	åspe
reason, common plural	why / for which reasons	åspo
reason, neuter singular	why / for which reason	åspi
reason, neuter plural	why / for which reasons	åspu
manner	how / in which way	å

Relative pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
nóteng åke a’garer	the person who walks
nóteng ei:åke míne a’nektame	the person whom I see
fageng åke míne a’nektame	the dog that I see
ráfing åfi vído a’garon	the place where we walk

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to someone or something without naming a specific person or thing.

English examples are words like:

English
someone
something
anyone
anything
everyone
everything
no one
nothing

In Maþal, indefinite pronouns are built from roots of the grammatical -þ domain.

They already function as full pronouns, so they do not take an extra article.

They can take case prefixes like other pronouns.

Core indefinite pronouns

Type	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
some	common	singular	someone	páþeþ
some	neuter	singular	something	páþiþ
no	common	singular	no one	fríþeþ
no	neuter	singular	nothing	fríþiþ
any	common	singular	anyone	gráþeþ
any	neuter	singular	anything	gráþiþ
every	common	singular	everyone	vǿþeþ
every	neuter	singular	everything	vǿþiþ

Quantity indefinite pronouns

Type	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
several	common	plural	several people / several beings	dráþoþ
several	neuter	plural	several things	dráþuþ
many	common	plural	many people / many beings	móþoþ
many	neuter	plural	many things	móþuþ
few	common	plural	few people / few beings	líþoþ
few	neuter	plural	few things	líþuþ
all	common	plural	all people / all beings	háþoþ
all	neuter	plural	all things	háþuþ

Comparative indefinite pronouns

Type	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
less	common	plural	fewer people / fewer beings	líþosoþ
less	neuter	plural	fewer things / less	líþusuþ
least	common	plural	the fewest people / beings	líþostoþ
least	neuter	plural	the fewest things / least	líþustuþ
more	common	plural	more people / beings	móþosoþ
more	neuter	plural	more things	móþusuþ
most	common	plural	the most people / beings	móþostoþ
most	neuter	plural	the most things	móþustuþ

Other indefinite pronouns

Type	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
other	common	singular	another person / another being	knáþeþ
other	common	plural	other people / other beings	knáþoþ
other	neuter	singular	another thing	knáþiþ
other	neuter	plural	other things	knáþuþ
such	common	singular	such a person / such a being	súþeþ
such	common	plural	such people / such beings	súþoþ
such	neuter	singular	such a thing	súþiþ
such	neuter	plural	such things	súþuþ

Indefinite pronouns with case

Maþal	Meaning
páþeþ	someone
ei:páþeþ	someone, as direct object
ai:páþeþ	of someone
øi:páþeþ	to someone / for someone
yi:páþeþ	from someone

Indefinite pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
Páþeþ a’garer.	Someone walks.
Míne a’nektame ei:páþiþ.	I see something.
Fríþeþ a’garer.	No one walks.
Vǿþeþ a’nektare ei:púvi.	Everyone sees it.
Móþoþ a’garon.	Many people walk.