Pronouns

Pronouns
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Kūrnū pronouns have several special inflections which are not found in other Australian languages described by me. An entire series of pronouns applies only to transitive verbs, while another series is used only with intransitive verbs. Moreover, these pronouns change as much for the transitive verbs as for the intransitive verbs, according to whether they relate to the present, the past or the future. There are two forms for the first person, according to whether a dual or plural is intended.

Here is a table of nominative pronouns, used with transitive verbs, in each of the three tenses. Apart from their use as pronouns, they express, at the same time, the different forms of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’; for example, ngutthu which not only signifies ‘I’ but also ‘I am’.

		Present	Past	Future
	I	Ngutthu	Wutthu	Gutthu
Singular	You	Ng’irndhu	Wirndu	Girndu
	He	Ngutthera	Wutthera	Gutthera

	We, incl.	Ngulli	Wulli	Gulli
Dual	We, excl.	Nguttherangulli	Wuttherawulli	Guttheragulli
	You	Ngupa	Wupa	Gupa
	They	Nguttherangulu	Wuttherawulu	Guttheragulu

	We, incl.	Nginna	Winna	Ginna
Plural	We, excl.	Dhūndinginna	Dhūndiwinna	Dhūndiginna
	You	Ngurta	Wurta	Gurta
	They	Ngutthē	Wutthē	Gutthē

The pronouns that are used with intransitive verbs differ from the preceding ones, in the first and second person, in the present, past and future, as the following table shows:

		Present	Past	Future
	I	Nguppa	Wuppa	Guppa
Singular	You	Ngimba	Wimba	Gimba
	He	Ngutthera	Wutthera	Gutthera

As intransitive and transitive verbs are conjugated identically in the dual and plural there is no need to repeat the forms here.

The possessive pronouns are as follows:

	1^st person	mine	Ngari
Singular	2^nd person	your	Ngoma
	3^rd person	his	Githuna

	1^st person	our (incl)	Ngullina
		our (excl)	Wuttherangullina
Dual	2^nd person	your	Ngupunna
	3^rd person	their	Wutthawuna

	1^st person	our (incl)	Nginnunna
		our (excl)	Dhūndinginnunna
Plural	2^nd person	your	Ngurtunna
	3^rd person	their	Wutthina

The following are the accusative forms of the singular pronouns:

	1^st person	me	Ngunnha
Singular	2^nd person	you	Ngūmma
	3^rd person	him	Ginnunna

There are other modifications of pronouns, signifying ‘to me’, ‘away from me’ etc. as in the following examples.

	1^st person	to me	Ngunnhari
Singular	3^rd person	to him	Gitthunari

Dual	1^st person	to us, incl	Ngullinari

Plural	1^st person	to us, incl	Nginnanari

Singular	1^st person	of me	Ngunnarndu
	3^rd person	of him	Wutthunardu

Dual	1^st person	of us, incl	Ngullinarndu

		of us, incl	Nginnanarndu
		with me, near me	Ngariri

In each of the above examples the same inflections can be applied to all persons in the singular, dual or plural.

Interrogatives — Who (in the singular) windyaka. Who (dual) windyula. Who (plural) windyiwindyi. What, minnha. What for, minnhamundi.

Demonstratives — The demonstratives are numerous and varied and indicate the position, the distance, the direction, the size, the number, the person, the possession etc. All pronouns in the third person are, in fact, demonstratives, which explains their irregularity and the absence of their etymological connections.

Here are some examples of these demonstratives: This one, ithu. This other one, ithugari.These two, ithuwutu. All these, ithangirnga. That, githu. That other one, wutthagari. That one over there, wurradyalanaga. That one behind me, dhurnangurrina. That one (above me), buringunna. That one (below me), kukuruna. On this side (of the person who is being spoken to), yaumirri. On the other side (of the person being spoken to), wurramungamirri. That big one there, wurtuwurri. Belonging to this one, ithuna. Belonging to these two, ithuwuna. Belonging to all these ones, ithinna.

Many of these demonstratives are modified to adapt them to the accompanying transitive or intransitive verbs and also to adapt them with the tense, as is the case with pronouns.

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