Livonian grammar
Livonian is a Finnic language, and, as such, is closely related to both Estonian and Finnish.
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
| Singular | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person ("I") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("He" or "She") | |
| Nominative | mina/ma | sina/sa | täma/ta |
| Genitive | mīn | sīn | täm |
| Dative | minnõn | sinnõn | tämmõn |
| Translative | minkõks | sinkõks | tämkõks |
| Partitive | mīnda | sīnda | tǟnda |
| Inessive | mins/minšõ | sins/sinšõ | täms/tamšõ |
| Elative | minst/minstõ | sinst/sinstõ | tämst/tämstõ |
| Illative | minnõ | sinnõ | tämmõ |
| Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person ("We") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("They") | |
| Nominative | mēg | tēg | ne |
| Genitive | mäd | täd | nänt |
| Dative | mäddõn | täddõn | näntõn |
| Translative | mätkõks | tätkõks | näntkõks |
| Partitive | mēḑi | tēḑi | nēḑi |
| Inessive | mēšši | tēšši | nēšši |
| Elative | mēšti | tēšti | nēšti |
| Illative | mēži | tēži | nēži |
Note: the third person pronouns do not possess a gender in the singular or the plural.
Demonstrative Pronouns
| Singular ("this, this one") | Plural ("these, these ones") | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | sīe/se | ne |
| Genitive | sīe/se | nänt |
| Dative | sīen | näntõn |
| Translative | sīeks/sīekõks | näntkõks |
| Partitive | sīeda | nēḑi |
| Inessive | sīes/sīessõ | nẽšši |
| Elative | sīest/sīestõ | nēšti |
| Illative | sīezõ | nēži |
Note: The plural demonstrative pronoun is the same as the third person plural personal pronoun.
Reflexive Pronouns
| Singular ("myself, yourself, oneself") | Plural ("ourselves, yourself/ves, themselves") | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | iž | iž |
| Genitive | eņtš | eņtš |
| Dative | eņtšõn | eņtšõn |
| Translative | eņtšõks | eņtšōdõks |
| Partitive | eņtšta | eņtšidi |
| Inessive | eņtšõs | eņtšis |
| Elative | eņtšõst | eņtšist |
| Illative | eņtšõ(z) | eņtšiz |
Note: The usage of the reflexive pronoun is broad. Of course, it is used as a reflexive pronoun as in "minnõn eņtšõn um vajag...," meaning "I need..." [lit: to myself is necessary...]. However, the pronoun can also express possession; it frequently replaces the genitive forms of the personal pronouns. For example: "ma sīeda kūliz eņtš izast," or "I heard it from my father." Also, reflexive pronouns can be used in adverbial expressions: "täm eņtš ie," "this same night."
Bibliography
- Fanny de Siviers. 2000. Parlons Live: une langue de la Baltique. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-1337-8.
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