Lesson 4 – Pronouns and Question Words
In this lesson we will be learning pronouns in Nukunu such as ‘I, you, he, we, they’, and question words like ‘who, what, where’. Learn the words and then practice the sentences below. Click on the icon next to the words and sentences so you can listen to a voice recording to hear how they are said.
These pronouns are the building blocks of your sentences, as you familiarise yourself with them understanding Nukunu sentences and also forming your own sentences will become easier.
Here is a list of a few different pronouns to get started:
Pronouns
My, your, his, her, its
Here are the possessive pronouns in Nukunu ‘my, your, his, her, its’
Question words
Here are a couple of question words to learn.
Nukunu has a different word order to English, and question words can come after the words they relate to.
For instance, let’s look at the sentence Nhungku ngami ngana? which translates to Who is your mother, but is literally translated as Your mother who? Nhungku means your, ngami means mother and ngana means who.
Sentences using pronouns and question words
Let’s dive in to some really handy sentences that use pronouns ‘I, you, he, we, they’ and some question words like ‘who, what, where’.
If you wanted to find out if someone can speak Nukunu you could ask Nhiina Nukunu wangkatya? Nhiina means you and wangkatya means speak.
Let’s hope the response to that is Ngayi Nukunu wangkatya. Ngayi means I and wangkatya means speak.
If you’re talking about someone you might say something like Patnha mayi ngalkutya. This translates to She is eating bread. Patnha means she, mayi is the word for any non-meat food (including bread) and ngalkutya means eating.
If a few people, including yourself, are sick you might say something like Ngatli mingka. Ngatli means we and mingka means sick.
If you’re in a classroom and someone is playing up a bit, you might say Nhiina kaltitya? Nhiina means you and kaltitya means listening.
If you’re sitting around a fire and someone is cooking some food, you might say Thatna partu kampatya. This translates to They are cooking the meat. Thatna means they, partu means meat and kampatya means cooking.
If you’re chatting to someone and want to find out who their mother is you could ask Nhungku ngami ngana? Nhungku means who, ngami means mother and ngana means who.
An answer to this might be Ngatyu ngami Beth. Ngatyu means my and ngami means mum and of course Beth is your mothers name.
Let’s keep going with a few more sentence to keep practising pronouns and question words.
If your friend’s dog is a bit sick you might say Patnhu katli mingka which translates to Her dog is sick. Patnhu means her, katli means dog and mingka means sick.
If you’re looking for the creek to grab some water or have a swim you might want to ask something like Paṛi wanhanga? Paṛi means creek and wanhanga means where.
Let’s say you’re trying to find out someones name. You might say Patnha mityi wanhanga? This translates to What is her name? Patnha means her, mityi means name and wanhanga means how or in this case what.
A really broad question might be something like Ngana kinhi? This translates to What is this? Ngana means what and kinhi means this one or in this case this.
An answer to this question might be along the lines of Kinhi ngatyu partu. This translate to This is my food. Kinhi means this, ngatyu means my and mayi means any food that isn’t meat.