Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that can stand in for a noun or a whole noun phrase.

For example, instead of repeating “the dog,” a language can use “it.” Instead of repeating “Phil and I,” a language can use “we.”

In Maþal, pronouns do not take articles. They can, however, take the same case prefixes as nouns.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns show who or what is involved in a sentence.

The most important categories are:

Category	Meaning
person	whether the pronoun refers to the speaker, the listener, or someone/something else
gender/class	whether the pronoun refers to a common-gender being or a neuter thing/entity
number	whether the pronoun is singular or plural

Person means:

Person	Meaning
1st person	the speaker: I, we
2nd person	the listener: you
3rd person	someone or something else: he, she, it, they

Maþal also distinguishes common and neuter pronouns.

Common pronouns are used for persons and beings.

Neuter pronouns are used for things, abstract entities, and also when directly addressing magic or other non-personal forces.

Personal pronouns

Person	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
1st	common	singular	I	míne
1st	common	plural	we	vído
2nd	common	singular	you	dúle
2nd	common	plural	you	týro
2nd	neuter	singular	you, addressed to one neuter or magical entity	kóri
2nd	neuter	plural	you, addressed to several neuter or magical entities	gainu
3rd	common	singular	he / she / this person	reise
3rd	common	plural	they, people or beings	nágo
3rd	neuter	singular	it	púvi
3rd	neuter	plural	they, things	lábu

Personal pronouns with case

Case prefixes attach directly to pronouns.

Example with míne:

Case	Maþal	Meaning
nominative	míne	I
accusative	ei:míne	me
genitive	ai:míne	of me
dative	øi:míne	to me / for me
locative	oi:míne	at me / near me
ablative	yi:míne	from me
instrumental	ou:míne	with me / by me
causative	ui:míne	because of me
temporative	au:míne	at my time / during my time

Personal pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
Míne a’nektame ei:dúle.	I see you.
Dúle a’nektade ei:míne.	You see me.
Reise a’nektare ei:púvi.	He/she sees it.

Dummy pronoun

Maþal also has a dummy pronoun:

Maþal	Meaning
ðása	it

A dummy pronoun is used when a sentence needs a grammatical subject, but there is no real person or thing doing the action.

English does the same in sentences like:

English
It rains.
It is cold.
It seems late.

In “it rains,” the word “it” does not refer to an actual object. It is only there because English grammar needs a subject.

Maþal uses ðása in this kind of sentence.

Maþal	Meaning
Ðása a’fjúnip.	It rains.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace a possessed noun phrase.

They do not stand before a noun.

So they mean:

English
mine
yours
his / hers
ours
theirs

They do not mean:

English
my
your
his/her + noun
our
their

Those are possessive determiners and belong to a different section.

In Maþal, possessive pronouns are formed with the genitive case prefix ai:.

Possessive pronouns

Person	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
1st	common	singular	mine	ai:míne
1st	common	plural	ours	ai:vído
2nd	common	singular	yours	ai:dúle
2nd	common	plural	yours	ai:týro
2nd	neuter	singular	yours, addressed to one neuter or magical entity	ai:kóri
2nd	neuter	plural	yours, addressed to several neuter or magical entities	ai:gainu
3rd	common	singular	his / hers	ai:reise
3rd	common	plural	theirs, people or beings	ai:nágo
3rd	neuter	singular	its	ai:púvi
3rd	neuter	plural	theirs, things	ai:lábu

Possessive pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
Fageng a’bener ai:míne.	The dog is mine.
Fageng a’bener ai:dúle.	The dog is yours.
Fageng a’bener ai:reise.	The dog is his/hers.

In these examples, ai:míne, ai:dúle, and ai:reise replace a full possessed noun phrase.

They do not stand before the noun.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the same clause.

English uses reflexive pronouns in sentences like:

English
I see myself.
You hurt yourself.
She knows herself.
They helped themselves.

In Maþal, reflexive pronouns are formed by adding -s to the personal pronoun.

Reflexive pronouns

Person	Gender / Class	Number	English	Maþal
1st	common	singular	myself	mínes
1st	common	plural	ourselves	vídos
2nd	common	singular	yourself	dúles
2nd	common	plural	yourselves	týros
2nd	neuter	singular	yourself, addressed to one neuter or magical entity	kóris
2nd	neuter	plural	yourselves, addressed to several neuter or magical entities	gainus
3rd	common	singular	himself / herself	reises
3rd	common	plural	themselves, people or beings	nágos
3rd	neuter	singular	itself	púvis
3rd	neuter	plural	themselves, things	lábus

Reflexive pronouns with case

Reflexive pronouns can also take case prefixes.

Maþal	Meaning
ei:mínes	myself, as direct object
ei:dúles	yourself, as direct object
ei:reises	himself/herself, as direct object
øi:mínes	to myself / for myself
ou:mínes	with myself / by myself
ai:mínes	of myself / my own

Reflexive pronoun examples

Maþal	Meaning
Míne a’nektame ei:mínes.	I see myself.
Dúle a’nektade ei:dúles.	You see yourself.
Reise a’nektare ei:reises.	He/she sees himself/herself.