The demonstrative and possessive personal pronouns are alike in form,
and, as in other American languages, are intimately incorporated with
the words with which they are construed. A single letter is the root of
each: _d_ I, mine, _b_ thou, thine, _l_ he, his, _t_ she, her, it, its,
_w_ we, our, _h_ you, your, _n_ they, their; to these radical letters
the indefinite pronoun _ükküahü_, somebody, is added, and by
abbreviation the following forms are obtained, which are those usually
current:
dakia, dai, I.
bokkia, bui, thou.
likia, he.
turreha, she, it.
wakia, wai, we.
hukia, hui, you.
nakia, nai, they.
Except the third person, singular, they are of both genders. In
speaking, the abbreviated form is used, except where for emphasis the
longer is chosen.
In composition they usually retain their first vowel, but this is
entirely a question of euphony. The methods of their employment with
nouns will be seen in the following examples:
_üssiquahü_, a house.
dássiqua, my house.
bússiqua, thy house.
lüssiqua, his house.
tüssiqua, her, its house.
wássiqua, our house.
hüssiqua, your house.
nássiqua, their house.
_uju_, mother.
daiju, my mother.
buju, thy mother.
luju, his mother.
tuju, her mother.
waijunattu, our mother.
hujuattu, your mother.
naijattu, their mother.
waijunuti, our mothers.
hujunuti, your mothers.
naijunuti, their mothers.
Many of these forms suffer elision in speaking. _Itti_ father, _datti_
my father, _wattínatti_ our father, contracted to _wattínti_ (_watti_
rarely used).
When thus construed with pronouns, most nouns undergo some change of
form, usually by adding an affix; _báru_ an axe, _dábarun_ my axe,
_iulí_ tobacco, _dajulite_ my tobacco.