Pronouns in Mon

Inventory of pronouns

There are several words for 'you':

• Cakaw is mainly appropriate between two males of about the same age.
• Pèh is used between a male and female of about the same age or between females of about the same age.
• Manè is a polite way of addressing a male who is unknown to you. It is the same as the the word for 'person, man'.²

In addition to these words, there is fairly extensive use of kinship terms when talking to a person of a substantially different age. A speaker of Mon will address such a person with the term that most appropriate in gender and age.

The following kinship terms are also used as second and third person pronouns:

• kaw klù 'older brother'
• amù 'uncle (by marriage)'
• kon plày 'son'
• 7ibua 'older sister'
• 7ici 'aunt'
• kon wut 'daughter'

• acù 'male older than amù
• acù 7anow 'male older than acù
• 7icù 'female older than icì
• 7icù 7anow 'female older than icù

These pronouns do not vary their form in different syntactic contexts; they may be used as subjects, objects, and possessors:

1. 7ua	ce	dè7	toa	rà
   I	see	he	com	aff
   'I see him'

2. Dè7	ce	7ua	toa	rà
   he	see	I	com	aff
   'He saw me.'

3. 7ua	mò'ng	ka'	roa	7ua
   I	live	prep	friend	I
   'I live with my friends.'

   Reflexives

   Reflexives are expressed both through the use of special reflexive pronouns and through the use of the reflexive adverb ket ket.

   The reflexive adverb

   Use of the reflexive adverb ket ket is shown in the following example:

4. 7ua	sapa	ket ket
   I	wash	[ self ]
   'I wash myself.'

   It is possible to use both a reflexive adverb and a reflexive pronoun in the same sentence:

5. 7ua	kratkraw	cakaw	7ua	ket ket
   I	wash	self	I	[ self ]
   'I wash myself.'

   Formation of reflexive pronouns

   Reflexive pronouns are formed with the element cakaw 'self', which precedes the appropriate pronoun, as in the following examples:

6. 7ua	kratkraw	cakaw	7ua	toa	ra
   I	wash	self	I	com	aff
   'I washed myself.'

7. Dè7	kratkraw	cakaw	dè7	toa	ra
   he	wash	self	he	com	aff
   'He washed himself.'

   When kinship terms are used as pronouns, their reflexives may be formed in one of two ways:

8. 7icì	pà7	tèa	tua	7icì	ket ket	ha?
   aunt	cut	hit	hand	aunt	[ self ]	qm
   'Did you cut yourself?' (said to an older woman)

9. 7icì	pà7	tèa	tua	nyeh	ket ket	ha?
   aunt	cut	hit	hand	she	[ self ]	qm
   'Did you cut yourself?' (said to an older woman)

   Restrictions on coreference

   In Mon, pronouns may be coreferent with another pronoun in the same clause -- use of the reflexive in such cases is not obligatory:

   
   

10. 7ua	kratkraw	7ua	toa	ra
    I	wash	I	com	aff
    'I washed myself.'

11. Pèh	kratkraw	pèh	toa	ra
    you	wash	you	com	aff
    'You washed yourself.'

12. Dè7	kratkraw	dè7	toa	ra
    he	wash	he	com	aff
    'Hei washed himi,j.'

    However, the sentences are not grammatical if a non-pronominal NP is the antecedent:

13. Tala Ong kratkraw dè7.
    Tala Ong wash he
    
    'Tala Ong_i washed him_j,*i.'

    Binding of full NPs

    It is ungrammatical for a full NP to be bound by either a pronoun or another full NP.

14. Saik Chan kratkraw Saik Chan
    Saik Chan wash Saik Chan
    
    * 'Saik Chan_i washed Saik Chan_i.'

15. Dè7	kratkraw	Saik Chan	toa	ra
    He	wash	Saik Chan	com	aff
    'Hei washed Saik Chanj,*i.'

Footnotes

2.However, Pan Hla (1989:23) says that manè is only used in literature, but not in the spoken language.