Part 3: Ea, ipe i lea. Yes, that's him
3.1: Personal Pronouns Stand in for Nouns which Need Rest, and They Are Grateful
So, you've already been properly introduced to two pronouns, Iko and Ipe, and I must say, they're rather fond of you. ~:) They talk about you all the time. Now, though, you'll be introduced (by me) to some more pronouns which we use all the time: Personal Pronouns. (By the by, do you like my haiku, dedicated to personal pronouns? It's not in Japanese, true, but in another more meaningful way, it is.)
Personal pronouns come in four forms: Singular, Dual, Trial and Plural. In English we're familiar with the first and the last. The dual and trial aren't that difficult to get a grasp of, though (they move very slowly). What they indicate is that the pronoun in question refers to two people (for the dual), and three people (for the trial). So let's do this thing.
The singular will be the easiest to deal with, so we'll start with them:
First Person: ei, "I" Second Person: ia, "you" Third Person Masculine: lea, "he" Third Person Feminine: nea, "she" Third Person Neuter: amo, "it" Third Person Non-gender Specific: pea, "s/he" Third Person General: kou, "one, you, they"
Now I'll open it up for a little Q & A. Yes, you, Ma'am.
Lady with Blue Hat: What's a neuter?
David: It's not a thing, Ma'am, but I think what you're asking is, to what does it refer? What it refers to is any inanimate thing, such as a toaster, a tree, or even a TV. It can also refer to animals and ideas--even award-winning plays. Next question.
Gentleman with Green Jacket: So what's that other one, the...gender something?
David: Ah yes, the non-gender specific pronoun. This is derived from an older pronoun referring to animate, non-human nouns. It's still used for that purpose, though "amo" can also be used. What it does primarily now is it refers to a person which can either be male or female. So, in an English sentence where we would say, "A president should be underconfident. He should never take action on his own", one would replace that "he" with "pea" and that "his" with...something related to pea; we'll get there. Next question.
Iko, Disguised as a Teenager: Like, what is the general pronoun for, yo?
David: <laughs> Ahh, Iko! Your antics bring a smile to my heart!
Iko Unmasked: How did you know it was me? Uh, I mean, like, you know, whatever.
David: You're too much! But to answer your question, the general pronoun is used where either "one", "you" or "they" is used in the following contexts: "One shouldn't horde one's money; it's inherently evil"; "You can't go into the kitchen and expect to come away without having eaten at least seven cakes"; "A poet can't honestly expect to make any money since they don't really do anything at all ever". Dig? It's when you want to refer to a general someone out there. And who knows? It could be you! Thank you for asking your question, Iko.
That should take care of the semantics of the person designations. Now onto the dual forms:
First Person Exclusive: eika, "s/he/it and I" First Person Inclusive: eya, "you and I" Second Person: iaka, "you two" Third Person Masculine: leaka, "they two men" Third Person Feminine: neaka, "they two women" Third Person Neuter: amoka, "they two things" Third Person Non-gender Specific: peaka, "they two" Third Person General: kouka, "they two (general)"
The new forms are the inclusive and exclusive in the first person. These are translated as I've translated them above. So, the exclusives excludes the person one is speaking two. So, when you tell your friend "Me and my girlfriend, we went to the picture show this afternoon", you certainly don't mean to include the person you're speaking to. In English we don't make this distinction, which makes the language inferior. (Ha, ha, ha! I bet you thought I was serious for a moment, didn't you? ~;) No, no language is superior to another language. All languages are merely different, like ice cream. Wonderful, wonderful ice cream...) In the exclusive, however, you're including the person you're speaking with, so, "Hey, why don't we go to the box social this evening?" when speaking to one person would take the dual, inclusive, first person pronoun "eya" in Kamakawi. It's a fun pronoun. Now for the trial:
First Person Exclusive: eino, "they two and I" First Person Inclusive: taea, "you two and I" or "you, him/her/it and I" Second Person: iano, "you three" Third Person Masculine: leano, "they three men" Third Person Feminine: neano, "they three women" Third Person Neuter: amono, "they three things" Third Person Non-gender Specific: peano, "they three" Third Person General: kouno, "they three (general)"
The same thing applies for this as the previous, except that "taea" can mean either "me and both of you to whom I speak", or "me, you to whom I speak, and one other person with whom I associate". It's an old pronoun that looks kind of funny, but it's a survivor. Be sure to introduce yourself to him at the mixer this evening; he's full of stories. Now the plural:
First Person Exclusive: uei, "all of them and I" First Person Inclusive: ue, "all of you and I" or "all of you, them and I" Second Person: uya, "you all" Third Person Masculine: ulea, "they men" Third Person Feminine: unea, "they women" Third Person Neuter: uamo, "they things" Third Person Non-gender Specific: upea, "they" Third Person General: ukou, "they (general)"
That completes our tour of the personal pronouns. So, whenever one of your nouns calls for a sub, be sure to think about the following: Is the noun singular, dual, trial, or plural? Is the noun masculine, feminine, neuter, general or non-gender specific? Or is the noun just you, me and us? (Funny that "you", "we" and "I" are considered pronouns, since they don't stand in for any noun... Or are our names the nouns?) So now onto--hey, wait a minute... Where are my exercises!? Geez, this is so embarrassing! I'll be right back!
Ipe: Psss! Hey, you! Yeah, how's it goin'? Listen, let's be honest with each other, huh? You can tell your ol' buddy Ipe, the truth. Now, you're not EVER going to use those dual or trial pronouns, are you? Are you! Heh, heh, heh! Who would? To tell you the truth, all the kids over in Kamakawi land--and, hey, keep this quiet, because I'm not supposed to tell you this!--they don't even use 'em! The only one they use is "eia" to mean "you and I". Hee, hee, hee! David would be so ticked off if he knew what I was tellin' you! Tryin' to teach you that uppity, fancy way of talkin', for some language-perservation reason, or other. You know what I say? I say that, language changes, just like Einstein and magazine covers. So let it go! What can you do, anyway? So listen, this pronoun list may look daunting, but here are the ones you should know; the rest, you know, bring 'em out to show your auntie when she visits on Christmas, or something, then stuff 'em back in the attic where they belong! Heh, heh, heh... All right, here's the skinny. You need to know ei (I), ia (you), pea (s/he) and amo (it), in the singular. The kids nowadays, they just use "pea" for "he" and "she" 'cause they're too lazy, or something. Same thing, they use it for "kou", too. The adults still use "lea" for "he" and "nea" for "she", but even they're starting to say "pea" for "kou", too. Anyway, then in the dual, all you need to know is "eya" (you and I). In the trial you don't need to know nothin', and that's the truth! And then in the plural, you need to know all the same ones as the singular. And you know, it's pretty easy, 'cause you just stick a "u" on the front. That's what you REALLY need to know. The rest... Well, you just go sell 'em for some...some money, you know? Buy some stuff, like...a lamp, or a...brick, or somethin', and--oh, shoot, he's coming back! Remember: This is our little secret. Don't you tell him anything I said! <scoots out through the back entrance>
Okay, I'm back. It appears someone took my exercises and shoved them underneath my bed along with all my Journey albums. Huh. Joke's on them. Now I'm going to play every single one of them from start to finish!
Ipe: <groans from another part of the house> He nemilele'u ei!
David: <sings> "When the lights, go down, in the sit-ay... And the suuuuun shiiiiiiines oooooon the bay-yay...!" Sing it, Iko!
Iko: <sings> "Ooh, I want to be theh-airy-ere, in my sit-ay... Oh-oo-whoa..."
Iko & David: <sing> "Whooooooooooooa-oo-whooooooooooooa, whoa-oo-ohhh!"
Ipe: <mutters from afar> I'm gonna go use the bathroom and then drink the water in the toilet...
Ahhh, Journey... There's nothing better. Except, of course, for Kamakawi exercises!
3.2: Ex? Her Size Is...
Translate from Kamakawi to English: 1.) Pea i mali. 2.) Ia ioku mala. 3.) Ei i fala! 4.) Leaka iu apeteke. 5.) Neano iu mali'a. 6.) Eia iu kamali'a. 7.) Uamo iu mumu. 8.) Kou i mali'a ipuke. 9.) Ue iu kakavaka. 10.) Eino iu kavikavi.
Translate from English to Kamakawi: 1.) You three are doctors. 2.) It isn't a shark. 3.) They three women are mothers. 4.) One is not an island. 5.) I am a cat. 6.) You and I are humans. 7.) They two men aren't professors. 8.) They women (more than three) are professors. 9.) You, me and he aren't lunatics. 10.) That's him.
3.3: This Just In...
Oops! Forgot to give you a valuable piece of information which may or may not have been intuitive. These pronouns I just gave you don't change when they occupy different parts of the sentence. So, in English, we'll say "HE's a good sport", but "That's HIM". In Kamakawi, the form of the pronoun does NOT change. So, you have:
Nea i mali'a. She's a student. And...
Iko i nea. This is her.
This information may or may not help you with the tenth problem of some exercise or other in some language you may or may not be reading about at this moment...
3.4: But That's Not All!
There is EXACTLY ONE CRUCIAL EXCEPTION to the above rule about how the pronouns don't change. That exception is with the pronoun "ei" (I). So, you say:
Ei i kamali'a. I'm a teacher. BUT...
Ipe i'i. That's me.
REMEMBER THIS!!! Actually, you don't need to, really. Why? Simple. Have you ever heard of subliminal messages? Good. Have you ever heard of breaking-and-entering? Well, pretend you haven't. Tonight, and every night for the next three weeks, I will come to your house and whisper into your ear, "The pronoun 'ei' changes to 'i'i' when it comes in the object position! This is simply a standard contraction of the predicate marker 'i' and the first person pronoun 'ei'! This happens with no other pronoun!" I will continue to whisper this until you wake up, at which point I will vanish in a puff of smoke, and you will awaken with no other thought than, "Ah, yes. It's 'ei' in the subject position, but 'i'i' in the object position. Shall I have eggs or potatoes...?" Or, if you're a college student, "Ah, yes. It's 'ei' in the subject position, but 'i'i' in the object position. Wow... My ten am class started three and a half hours ago... Was there a midterm today...?" Okay, that last one may only be pertinent if you're me, and taking introductory Russian exactly one year ago (and that's irrespective of whatever year it may or may not be now). But no matter. Onward!
3.5: "Wo?", "Cab!", "YOU!", "Larry?"
Those are things you might here on the streets of New York City (the first, of course, being spoken by a German tourist).
apeteke (n.) alphabet, or an elementary school student from grades K-2. amo (pro.) it amoka (pro.) they two (neuter) amono (pro.) they three (neuter)
pea (pro.) s/he peaka (pro.) they two (non-gender specific) peano (pro.) they three (non-gender specific)
taea (pro.) you, me and s/he/it, or you two and me, or you and us two (inclusive)
kaneko (n.) cat kakavaka (n.) writer kamali'a (n.) teacher, professor kavikavi (n.) important person keva (n.) shark kou (pro.) one, you, they (general) kouka (pro.) they two (general) kouno (pro.) they three (general)
ei (pro.) I eya (pro.) you and I eika (pro.) us two (exclusive) eino (pro.) us three (exclusive)
mali'a (n.) student mumu (n.) sea otter
nea (pro.) she neaka (pro.) they two (feminine) neano (pro.) they three (feminine)
ia (pro.) you iaka (pro.) you two iano (pro.) you three ipuke (adv.) always, forever (I realize we haven't discussed adverbs yet, but I couldn't resist!) ileleia (n.) island i'i (contr.) a contraction of "i" (predicate marker) and "ei" (first person pronoun)
lea (pro.) he leaka (pro.) they two (masculine) leano (pro.) they three (masculine)
fala (n.) father
uamo (pro.) they (neuter plural) upea (pro.) they (non-gender specific plural) ukou (pro.) they (general plural) ue (pro.) we all (plural inclusive) uei (pro.) us all (plural exclusive) unea (pro.) they (feminine plural) uya (pro.) you all (plural) ulea (pro.) they (masculine plural)
Leap to Part 4!