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F. The Pronoun (§§41–47)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

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Abstract

§41. The Independent Personal Pronouns in Chichewa may be used instead of the corresponding nouns or may be employed with them, either for emphasis or in apposition. They may be used as either subjects or objects, but cannot take the place of the various concordances. There is a close etymological relationship between the pronouns, both independent and qualificative (possessive), concordances, demonstratives, and, to some extent, the noun prefixes. The plural forms of the second person and of the third person (Class 1) are also employed with singular subjects in references that are formal or polite, the referent being regarded as a person.1

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 13 , Issue 2-Part3 , June 1937, pp. 118 - 126
Copyright
© 1937 Linguistic Society of America

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References

1 Cf. §11.

2 This form is rarely used in Chichewa. It really belongs to Chinyanja proper, as that spoken in the Blantyre district.

3 Cf. §47 and §48.

4 ṃ- (mu-) may also be regarded as originally belonging to the system of subjective concordances by comparing it with the noun prefix of Class 1. The plural concordance α- (βα-) is not exceptional. For an-, I have no explanation worthy of statement.

The use of this system here is an example of the fusion in form of the categories of qualifier or possessor of an object and performer of an action. This phenomenon is said to exist in the language of the Wolof of West Africa, in Maya of Yucatan, in the language of the Lules (extinct) of South America, and in others.

5 Cf. §37, i and §52.

6 Cf. §43.

7 Cf. §34.

8 Cf. §48.