Personal Pronouns, Case Markers & Verb Focus System
The grammatical structure of the Tao (Yami) language, categorized as a Philippine-type Austronesian language, is shaped by the close interaction among its personal pronouns, case markers, and the verb focus system. These three components collectively determine which noun phrase becomes the grammatical Subject (marked by the Nominative case) and how semantic roles are assigned within a clause.
I. Personal Pronoun System
Tao personal pronouns form a closed grammatical class and are inflected for case, person, and number. The system distinguishes four grammatical cases parallel to the case markers.
Case Categories for Pronouns
- Nominative (NOM): Marks the Subject — the NP selected by verb focus.
- Genitive (GEN): Marks possession, or the Agent in transitive clauses.
- Locative (LOC): Marks location, setting, time, or spatial domains.
- Oblique (OBL): Marks non-Subject participants such as Patients in AF clauses.
Forms and Usage
- Free vs. Bound Pronouns: Free forms occur independently, while bound forms (short, enclitic) must attach to a verb or auxiliary.
- Inclusivity Distinction:
- ta — 1PL INCL (“we, including you”)
- namen — 1PL EXCL (“we, excluding you”)
- Pronoun Fronting and Aspect:
An exceptional grammatical pattern occurs when the Nominative Agent pronoun
(e.g., ko “I.NOM”) moves to sentence-initial position.
This signals either:
- Progressive aspect (ongoing action), or
- Recent past (just completed action)
ko koman so wakay.
“I am eating sweet potato.”
II. Case Marker System
Case markers in Tao are obligatory particles that precede a noun phrase to identify its grammatical function. Forms differ between common nouns and personal names/kinship terms.
| Case | Common Noun | Personal Name / Kin Term | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (NOM) | o | si (SG), sira (PL) | Marks the Subject. |
| Genitive (GEN) | no | ni (SG), nira (PL) | Marks possession or the Agent of transitive verbs. |
| Locative (LOC) | do | ji (SG), jira (PL) | Marks location, time, or setting. |
| Oblique (OBL) | so | sya (SG) | Marks indefinite arguments or Patients in AF clauses. |
The Ergative Alignment Pattern
- In Non-Agent Focus clauses (PF, LF, IF): The Agent is marked with the Genitive case (no / ni), while the focused NP (Patient, Location, Instrument) receives the Nominative marker.
- In Agent Focus clauses (AF): The Agent becomes the Subject and takes the Nominative marker (o / si), while the Patient is marked with the Oblique case (so).
III. Verb Focus System
The Focus System is the core mechanism through which the verb determines the grammatical role promoted to Subject (the pivot). Focus morphology encodes which thematic role the Nominative NP plays in the clause.
Main Focus Types & Corresponding Affixes
| Focus Type | Affix | Nominative Role | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent Focus (AF) | <om>, m-, mi-, ma-, maN- | Agent | koman — “eat” |
| Patient Focus (PF) | -en | Patient | kan-en — “eat (something specific)” |
| Locative Focus (LF) | -an | Location / Goal | nyakan-an — “place eaten from” |
| Instrument Focus (IF) | i- | Instrument / Beneficiary | i-akan — “used to eat” |
Grammatical Patterns Determined by Focus
1. Agent Focus (AF):
“Salang eats sweet potato.” (NOM = Salang, OBL = wakay)
2. Patient Focus (PF):
“The sweet potato is eaten by Salang.” (NOM = wakay, GEN = Salang)
This system demonstrates that Tao does not assign subject based on a fixed SVO ordering, but instead relies on verb morphology to determine which participant receives the Nominative case.
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