Lesson 3 – Pronouns
The first step to making a sentence in Arrernte is to learn about pronouns.
Pronouns are words which stand for people, animals or things.
Let’s learn the different forms of pronouns in Arrernte: nominative, ergative and accusative.
Let’s start by having a look at singular pronouns. Singular pronouns refer to one person. Singular pronouns in English include ‘I, me, you, he, she, it’. In Arrernte the singular pronouns change form depending on how they are used in a sentence, so you’ll need to learn the different forms and how to pick the right one for your sentence.
Nominative Pronouns
Nominative pronouns are used in sentences which have a subject (a person or thing which is doing the action of the sentence) and a verb (the action of the sentence), or a subject and an adjective (describing word).
Now let’s have a look at these pronouns in some example sentences
Ergative pronouns
Ergative pronouns are used in sentences which have a subject (a person or thing doing the action), a verb (the action of the sentence) and an object (a person or thing that is receiving the action of the sentence). The Ergative is used as the subject of this type of sentence.
Note- ile is the pronoun for both the nominative and the accusative pronoun he/she/it. ile also remains the same regardless of gender.
Sentence examples
kwatye means water and untyeme means drinking
kere means water and interneme means smelling
uteme means am hitting and untenhe means you (accusative)
reke means see and Arrkwetye Akaperte means Arrkwetye Akaperte
raneme means is watching and yengenhe means me
Accusative
Accusative pronouns are used in sentences which have a subject (a person or thing doing the action), a verb (the action of the sentence) and an object (a person or thing that is receiving the action of the sentence). The Accusative is used as the object of this type of sentence.
sentence examples
aweme means understanding
lekere thele means which dog and akarlkweke means bit
ikernante means never and reke means saw
Dual and Plural Pronouns
Here are some examples of dual and plural pronouns. These will be explored fully in future lessons.
Below is a list of Arrernte dual and plural nominative pronouns
Ergative pronouns
Accusative pronouns