Pronouns
English he, she, it, and they point back to someone or something already named. You already write the endings -l / -m / -n on a citation and on content words. Agebon points back with the fourth ending, -r: write the role letter for the slot the word fills in this sentence (subject, object, and so on), then the earlier word’s whole stem, then -r. For someone in a recent sentence, a shorter role pointer names them by the part they played instead.
On this page
Resume with -r
After you have already named a person or thing, the next sentence can point back instead of naming them fresh. The word you point back to is the antecedent. The new word takes the role letter for the slot you need now (subject, object, and so on), then the antecedent’s whole stem (everything between its role letter and its ending), then -r. The listener takes the most recent word with that same stem. (cue: -r ≈ resume (pick up the earlier word))
zuzozen vowurel. zuzozer vuhohol.z-Uzozen | v-walk . z-←Uzozen | v-sit
"Uzozen walks. Uzozen sits."
Compare with: English often uses the for a kind already in the conversation (A dog walks. The dog sits.). Agebon uses -r for that job, not a separate article.
zudozol vowurel. zudozor vuhohol.z-dog | v-walk . z-←dog | v-sit
"A dog walks. The dog sits."
Compare with: for English the dog that walked, say that the dog walks as its own sentence, then resume the dog with -r in whatever slot you need. Do not attach a who / that / which clause to the noun (which person or thing).
A word built from two roots resumes with its whole stem too. dobahohar is the bedroom; dobahor is the bed, and never points at a bedroom.
zuzozen dobahohal vawebol. zolazun dobahohar vawebol.z-Uzozen | d-bedroom | v-see . z-Olazun | d-←bedroom | v-see
"Uzozen sees a bedroom. Olazun sees the bedroom."
When nothing earlier matches, -r on a word from the lexicon means the one you both already know (the dog, meaning the household’s dog). So -r can appear even in the first sentence of a conversation.
zudozor vowurel.z-←dog | v-walk
"The dog walks." (the dog you both know)
Compare with: a name the lexicon does not list (a new person, a pet’s name) has nothing to fall back on. Its -r needs the name earlier in the conversation.
Role pointers
A resume spells the whole stem again. For someone in a recent sentence, a role pointer is shorter: it names them by the part they played in an earlier event. Write the role letter for the slot you need now, then wa, then a part consonant: the role letter they had in that earlier event. Then a pointer vowel for which event, and -r.
| Part consonant | Part in the earlier event | Where it sat |
|---|---|---|
z | the doer | /z/ |
d | the one it happens to | /d/ |
b | the extra party (the one told) | /b/ |
Pointer vowel a picks the latest sentence that had someone in that part. zwazar is the latest doer, as subject; dwadar is the latest one something happened to, as object. (cue: a ≈ again (the same one again); pointer vowels do not carry the add / pick / order / undo cues of the act words)
The a after w is this episode: the latest act is enough. After the pointer vowel and the ending, the word ends.
zuzozen vowurel. zwazar vuhohol.z-Uzozen | v-walk . z-←episode-agent.same | v-sit
"Uzozen walks. They sit."
The role letter is the slot now, so a pointer can move someone to a new role. Here the one seen becomes the one who runs:
zuzozen dolazun vawebol. zwadar varuvel.z-Uzozen | d-Olazun | v-see . z-←episode-patient.same | v-run
"Uzozen sees Olazun. They run." (Olazun)
zuzozen vezuyel bolazun. zwabar varuvel.z-Uzozen | v-tell | b-Olazun . z-←episode-recipient.same | v-run
"Uzozen talks to Olazun. They run." (Olazun)
A sentence with nobody in that part does not count. It rains has no doer, so zwazar reaches past it:
zuzozen vowurel. verulal. zwazar vuhohol.z-Uzozen | v-walk . v-rain . z-←episode-agent.same | v-sit
"Uzozen walks. It rains. They sit."
A pointer looks back as far as it needs to: across turns and paragraphs, and through what other speakers said. Only a topic change (an /x/ word that says what the talk is about from here on) stops it. Only sentences count, not nouns that name an event: a storm named as a noun gives a pointer no doer to find.
A pointer takes associative -x like a name. If no earlier sentence has someone in that part, the pointer points at nothing, and the whole thing is not a sentence.
Themself (e)
English herself / himself / themself (a reflexive) point back to someone in the same sentence. Pointer vowel e does that: it picks this sentence’s own event, so a pointer in the object slot can name this sentence’s doer. (cue: e ≈ echo (this same sentence))
zuzozen vawebol dwazer.z-Uzozen | v-see | d-←episode-agent.self
"Uzozen sees themself."
A pointer never names its own slot: zwazer as the subject would be the subject pointing at itself, so it is not a sentence.
The other one (o)
English the other one skips the person you just mentioned. Pointer vowel o does the same: it skips whoever had that part last and picks the nearest earlier sentence with someone else in that part. (cue: o ≈ other)
zuzozen vowurel. zolazun varuvel. zolazun vuhohol. zwazor vezuvol.z-Uzozen | v-walk . z-Olazun | v-run . z-Olazun | v-sit . z-←episode-agent.other | v-sleep
"Uzozen walks. Olazun runs. Olazun sits. The other one sleeps." (Uzozen)
Here zwazar would be Olazun, the latest doer.
o goes with the three part consonants above: zwazor, zwador, zwabor.
Whoever it was (u)
Sometimes an earlier sentence has the event but never says who took part. The cookie got eaten has no doer, and naming one would be a guess. Pointer vowel u picks the latest sentence that left that part unsaid and points at whoever filled it, without saying who. English: whoever did it. (cue: u ≈ unsaid)
dugedol vawebol. zwazur varuvel.d-cookie | v-see . z-←episode-agent.unsaid | v-run
"The cookie is seen. Whoever saw it runs."
This is the a rule turned around: a skips a sentence with nobody in that part, and u looks for exactly that sentence. It does not ask whether the verb could have that part: it rains also leaves its doer unsaid, so zwazur right after it is whatever made it rain.
Once used, zwazur fills the subject like any noun, so a later zwazar reaches it (they, still unnamed). u goes with the same three part consonants: zwadur is whatever it happened to, when no sentence said what.
Compare with: umon someone is tied to no event. zwazur is tied to one known event, whoever did that.
A new one (-l)
A pointer with -r is the same one again. To say a new one of the same kind, English uses one (Uzozen sees a cookie. Olazun sees one too.), and the second cookie is a different cookie. Write the same pointer with -l, the ending of a first mention: a new thing, of the kind the pointer reaches.
zuzozen dugedol vawebol. zolazun dwadal vawebol.z-Uzozen | d-cookie | v-see . z-Olazun | d-←episode-patient.same.new | v-see
"Uzozen sees a cookie. Olazun sees one too." (a different cookie)
-l copies only the noun, never the words that described it, so you can change the description. After a red dog, the pointer is just a dog, and a /ɡ/ word after it gives the new property, as in the next example. To keep the old property, say it again on a /ɡ/ word after the pointer.
zuzozen dudozol gerulel vawebol. zolazun dwadal gubulol vawebol.z-Uzozen | [d-dog | g-red] | v-see . z-Olazun | [d-←episode-patient.same.new | g-black] | v-see
"Uzozen sees a red dog. Olazun sees a black one."
In a yes/no question, a pointer works like any other noun and keeps the same meaning:
zuzozen dudozol gerulel vawebol. yol zolazun vawebol dwadal gubulol.z-Uzozen | [d-dog | g-red] | v-see . y-question | z-Olazun | v-see | [d-←episode-patient.same.new | g-black]
"Uzozen sees a red dog. Does Olazun see a black one?"
-l takes pointer vowels a, e and o, and every part consonant: zwazal is another one like the latest doer. It has no reading with u, because an unsaid part has no kind to copy, and none after a special pronoun such as I or you. After a name, -l is a new thing that name applies to, and after a joined list it is a new group of the same make-up.
Compare with: -r is the same one (dwadar); -l is another (dwadal). Writing the noun out (dugedol) says the same as dwadal, and the pointer only saves repeating it.
Share (-m)
English often blurs what they did with who they are. A pointer with -m (a share) names the participant's part in the event, not the participant. That lets you talk about an act, to praise or criticize it, without making it a claim about the person.
zuzozen dolazun vanuvul. zahelan dwazar vawebol.z-Uzozen | d-Olazun | v-punch . z-Ahelan | d-←episode-agent.same | v-see
"Uzozen punches Olazun. Ahelan sees them." (Uzozen)
zuzozen dolazun vanuvul. zahelan dwazam vawebol.z-Uzozen | d-Olazun | v-punch . z-Ahelan | d-←episode-agent.same.part | v-see
"Uzozen punches Olazun. Ahelan sees what they did." (Uzozen's punch, not Uzozen)
Each part consonant names a different part: zwazam is the doing, zwadam what it was for the one it happened to, and zwabam what reached the one told. Pointer vowels a, o and u work as before (zwazom what the other one did; zwazum what was done, by whoever). e and -x have no reading with -m: a share cannot be part of the very event being described (e), and it is not a group of people (-x).
Compare with: a resumed event noun names the whole event with everyone in it (that punch); zwazam names one person's part of it. zwazar is the person.
Special pronouns
Most of the time you name people with a proper name (zuzozen, zolazun) and resume with -r. A few roots from a small fixed set (closed roots) instead name roles in this conversation: who is speaking, who is being spoken to, you-and-I together, or a nonspecific someone. They take the usual role letter for the slot they fill in the clause (subject, object, and so on), and in this use they end in -n, like a name.
Use uwo (speaker) and awa (listener) for I and you. awa is always the person actually listening, never anyone at all: English generic you has its own pronoun.
zuwon vowurel.z-speaker | v-walk
"I walk."
zuwon dawan vawebol.z-speaker | d-listener | v-see
"I see you."
Use your own name where the name is the point: a greeting, introducing yourself, or a mention that has to mean you outside this conversation, such as a note someone reads later. uwon changes with each turn; a name does not.
English we can mean “you and I” or “I and my people, not you.” Inclusive we (you and I) uses aya: the speaker and the people being addressed, together (interlocutors).
zayan vowurel.z-interlocutors | v-walk
"We walk." (you and I)
umo names a nonspecific individual (someone), not a particular person you have already named. Once that person is in the conversation, resume them with whole-stem -r.
zumon vezuvol.z-someone | v-sleep
"Someone sleeps."
| Agebon | Use | English | Same root as | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
uwon | speaker in this conversation (zuwon in subject slot) | I, me | uwol microphone | 🎤: the live voice of the person talking |
awan | listener in this conversation (zawan / dawan in clause) | you | awal headphones | 🎧: the one receiving the sound |
ayan | speaker and addressees together (zayan in subject slot) | we (you and I) | ayal handshake | 🤝: sharing the floor together |
umon | nonspecific individual (zumon in subject slot) | someone | umol neutral | 😐: not a particular person |
eyon | any person, as a rule (zeyon in subject slot) | one, generic you, people | eyol person | 🧑: a person in general |
Compare with: I and my people / you all / Uzozen and associates use -x. Inclusive you and I is aya.
Generic pronoun
English one and generic you (one never knows, you feel awful when that happens) say something about people in general, not about the person listening. Agebon gives that its own pronoun: eyo person with -n, in /z/, /d/, or /b/. It means any person, as a rule, with exceptions allowed. It claims nothing about a particular individual (that is umo) and nothing about the listener (that is awa), so a speaker has to choose between reporting their own experience and making a general claim. (cue: 🧑 is the emoji for a person in general)
zeyon vezuvol.z-ONE | v-sleep
"One sleeps." / "You sleep." (people in general)
The generic pronoun takes no number and no -x, because it already means people at large. eyol a person and eyom humanity keep their own senses.
Practice
Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a kitchen
New words:
| English | Agebon | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| cook | vuguyel | 🧑🍳 from cook, the person at the stove |
| drink | vodudal | 🥤 |
| cookie | ugedol | 🍪 |
| knife | anewul | 🔪 |
| punch | vanuvul | 👊 |
| listener | awan | 🎧 from headphones: the one receiving the sound |
| interlocutors | ayan | 🤝 from handshake: sharing the floor together |
| someone | umon | 😐 from neutral: not a particular person |
| one | eyon | 🧑 from person: a person in general |
Review:
| English | Agebon |
|---|---|
| Uzozen | uzozen |
| Olazun | olazun |
| Ahelan | ahelan |
| speaker | uwon |
| see | vawebol |
| find | vumewol |
| scream | varemul |
| tell | vezuyel |
English → Agebon
1. Uzozen drinks. They cook.
Show answer
zuzozen vodudal. zwazar vuguyel.
z-Uzozen | v-drink . z-←episode-agent.same | v-cook
Also correct: zuzozen vodudal. zuzozer vuguyel.
2. Olazun finds a knife. Ahelan sees the knife.
Show answer
zolazun danewul vumewol. zahelan danewur vawebol.
z-Olazun | d-knife | v-find . z-Ahelan | d-←knife | v-see
Also correct: zolazun danewul vumewol. zahelan dwadar vawebol.
3. I see you.
Show answer
zuwon dawan vawebol.
z-speaker | d-listener | v-see
4. Someone punches Ahelan. They scream. (Ahelan)
Show answer
zumon dahelan vanuvul. zwadar varemul.
z-someone | d-Ahelan | v-punch . z-←episode-patient.same | v-scream
Also correct: zumon dahelan vanuvul. zahelar varemul.
5. Uzozen sees a cookie. Olazun finds one.
Show answer
zuzozen dugedol vawebol. zolazun dwadal vumewol.
z-Uzozen | d-cookie | v-see . z-Olazun | d-←episode-patient.same.new | v-find
6. We cook. (you and I)
Show answer
zayan vuguyel.
z-interlocutors | v-cook
Agebon → English
1. zahelan vuguyel. zolazun vodudal. zwazor varemul.
Show answer
z-Ahelan | v-cook . z-Olazun | v-drink . z-←episode-agent.other | v-scream
Ahelan cooks. Olazun drinks. The other one screams. (Ahelan)
2. dugedol vumewol. zwazur varemul.
Show answer
d-cookie | v-find . z-←episode-agent.unsaid | v-scream
The cookie is found. Whoever found it screams.
3. zolazun duzozen vanuvul. zahelan dwazam vawebol.
Show answer
z-Olazun | d-Uzozen | v-punch . z-Ahelan | d-←episode-agent.same.part | v-see
Olazun punches Uzozen. Ahelan sees what they did. (Olazun's punch, not Olazun)
4. zeyon varemul.
Show answer
z-ONE | v-scream
One screams. / People scream.
5. zuzozen vawebol dwazer.
Show answer
z-Uzozen | v-see | d-←episode-agent.self
Uzozen sees themself.
6. zuzozen vezuyel bahelan. zwabar dugedol vuguyel.
Show answer
z-Uzozen | v-tell | b-Ahelan . z-←episode-recipient.same | d-cookie | v-cook
Uzozen talks to Ahelan. They cook a cookie. (Ahelan)
Pick one
1. Uzozen sees Olazun. They scream. (Olazun) zuzozen dolazun vawebol. zwadar varemul. or zuzozen dolazun vawebol. zwazar varemul.
Show answer
zuzozen dolazun vawebol. zwadar varemul.
z-Uzozen | d-Olazun | v-see . z-←episode-patient.same | v-scream
Olazun was the one seen, part d; zwazar is the doer, Uzozen.
2. Uzozen talks to Olazun. Ahelan sees them. (Olazun) zuzozen vezuyel bolazun. zahelan dwabar vawebol. or zuzozen vezuyel bolazun. zahelan dwazar vawebol.
Show answer
zuzozen vezuyel bolazun. zahelan dwabar vawebol.
z-Uzozen | v-tell | b-Olazun . z-Ahelan | d-←episode-recipient.same | v-see
Olazun was the one told, part b; dwazar is the doer, Uzozen.
Fix it
1. One drinks. (anyone, as a rule) zawan vodudal.
Show answer
zeyon vodudal.
z-ONE | v-drink
Generic you is eyon; awan is always the person actually listening.
See also
- plurality.md: -x; address set vs associative
- Topic: topic.md