186 Chapter 7 Nominals and noun phrases
Pronominal possession is discussed in more detail in Chapter 3 section 2.4 and
in section 5.
Plural pronouns, which are not commonly used, are formed either by the
collocation of the singular pronoun with the quantifier kabbi ‘all’ or through
reduplication of aba' ‘body’. The latter can be used for all persons.
(21) sengko' kabbi ‘we’
ba'na kabbi ‘you’
aba'na kabbi ‘they’
ba'-aba' ‘plural human’
Examples of plural pronouns are given in (22-24)
(22) Engko' masala dungeng pole dha' ba'eng kabbi.
I matter story again to you all
‘I have another story for you all.’
(23) Sengko' entar dha' tase' manceng ma'le kake kabbi tao rassa-na
I go to sea AV-fish so.that you all know taste-DEF^
juko' tase'.
fish sea
‘I went to the sea to fish so that you all could experience the taste of fish
from the sea.’
(24) Ba'-aba' bisa a-tanya Tina minggu adha'.
RED-body can AV-ask Tina week front
‘We can ask Tina next week.’
In (22), the form ba'eng kabbi ‘you (pl)’ is used by a narrator to refer to his
audience. In (23), the speaker uses the form kake kabbi ‘you (pl)’ to refer to his
addressees, in this instance his students. And in (24), there is an example of ba'-
aba' used to designate first person plural. Of course, first person plural can also
be expressed by conjunction of first and second person pronouns, as in (25).
(25) Sengko' bi' kake salamet.
I with you safe
‘We are safe.’
Further, Pawitra (2009) cites engko' ban ba'na kabbi as a first person exclusive
form (equivalent to Indonesian kami) and engko' ban sakabbina bareng as an
inclusive form (equivalent to Indonesian kita).
As an alternative, it is possible to simply use the singular form of the pro-