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Lesson2Lesson3Lesson4Lesson5Lesson6Lesson7Lesson8Lesson9Lesson10Lesson11Lesson12introverbsconjugationmergedpronounsmergedpronouns2mergedpronouns3mergedpronouns4mergedpronouns5|
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| Foreigners attempting to learn to speak Kapampangan would find the pronouns of the language to be the most problematic. A slight change in their sound and spelling results in a different thought being conveyed. But once one becomes familiar with them, he would find it easy to construct sentences correctly. The Kapampangan language is unique on account of its "merged pronouns". These are a kind of pronouns the English language does not have. Tagalog has got one, and it is "kita" (I - you), which is an abstract combination of "ko" and "ikaw". (BTW, I'll be using the K-orthography here.) Just what is a "merged pronoun"? One would already more or less have an idea on what it is just by looking at its name. But let us define it after first studying samples of it in sentences. Let's begin with the English pronoun "you". If you ask any Kapampangan to translate the word, you will get the answer, "ika". If I point at you and say, "Ika", I would mean "you", of course. That's just simple usage. Now if you are a non-Kapampangan the following would confuse you: (And so, let me first address it to fellow Kapampangans who are already skilled in their own language: Choose the correct word in the parentheses: 1. Bisa (ka, mu) kanine? (Do you want some of this?) 2. Buri (ka, mu) ine? (Do you like this?) In the first sentence, the correct word is "ka", which is actually short for "ika". If you say "Bisa ika kanine?", everybody would understand you, no doubt about that, but it is wrongly expressed. The correct way to say it is "Bisa ka kanine?" Now, let's go to the second sentence. A true Kapampangan would choose "mu", of course. But one that is just trying to learn the language might make the error of using "ka". After all, in what he has learned, "ka" stands for the pronoun "you". So, why do we have to use "mu" in this sentence that does not look very much different from the first one? It's because, in the first sentence, we need a pronoun in the nominative case for a subject. "Ka" (or "ika") is such a pronoun. To explain this further, "bisa" is a transitive verb, with "kanine" as its object. In the second sentence, the situation is slightly different. What we need is a pronoun that can serve as "both subject and antecedent of the object". "Mu" fulfills this requirement. Why? Because "mu" does not just translate to the word "you" in English. It means more than that. It means "you - it". In "Buri mu ine?", the predicate is the verb, "buri", with the demonstrative pronoun "ini" as its object. The subject is "mu", but it is also partly the antecedent of the object "ini". If we expand the sentence and say, "Buri mu ining gatas?", "gatas" becomes the object of "buri", and "ini" (ining) is relegated to just becoming a modifier or determiner. In this case, "mu" will be referring to both you and the milk. In other words, "mu" in this sentence actually expresses a combination of "ika and gatas". Now, let's have other examples. Select the correct word in the parentheses: 1. Bisa (kang, mong) mangga? (Do you want some mangoes?) 2. Buri (ka, mo) reng mangga? (Do you like mangoes?) In the first one, the correct word answer is "kang". We say, "Bisa kang mangga?" We only need the simple pronoun "ka" (short for "ika" as already mentioned), plus the suffix "ng". In Tagalog, as you may know, the "ng" is a separate word and thus, to Tagalogize it, it will be "Bisa ka ng mangga?" In the second sentence, it gets a little complicated. For here, as well as in the first one, we are dealing with what are countable items, as against non-countable items such as milk. That's why it is a choice between "ka" and "mo", instead of between "ka" and "mu". You then say, "Buri mo reng mangga?" "Mo" is both the subject of the sentence as well as antecedent of the object, "mangga". "Mo" translates to "you - them" Let's have another sentence: Buri (ka, me) ing pakwan? (Do you like the watermelon?) Yes, it should be "Buri me ing pakwan?" Why do we use "me" instead of "mo"? Because watermelon is singular. Why do we use "me" instead of "mu"? Because watermelons can be counted. "Me" in this sentence translates to "you - it". The word refers to both you and the watermelon. The words "mu", "mo" and "me" are what we call "merged pronouns". A merged pronoun is one containing a pronoun in the nominative case and a pronoun in the objective case put together as one word. These are but a few examples of merged pronouns. Let's have a few more examples to finish this lesson: As you already know, "ya" means "he", "she" or "it". Let's just use "he" here. 1. Bisa (ya, na) kanine? (Does he want some of this?) 2. Buri (ya, na) ine? (Does he like this?) In the first one, it should be "Bisa ya kanine?" Could you give the reason why? In the second one, it should be "Buri na ine?" Do you know why it should be "na"? What pronouns are merged to form it? 1. Buri (no, ya) reng mangga? (Does he like mangoes?) 2. Buri (ne, ya) ing mangga? (Does he like the mango?) In the first one, it should be, "Buri no reng mangga?" In the second one, it should be, "Buri ne ing mangga?" Both "no" and "ne" are merged pronouns. Do you know the difference between the two? What pronouns is each composed of? Try using all these merged pronouns in sentences, using verbs other than buri and bisa, and objects other than gatas, mangga and pakwan. |
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