7. Personal Pronouns. The personal pronouns in the nominative and oblique cases are as follows.

There are no enclitic pronouns in Kurmanji.

SINGUL ! N#$. #%L. "LU! L N#$. #%L.

1!. Personal Pronouns. The independent personal pronouns are as follows9

'pl.)

min I

ema we

ez min I tu te &ou 'sin(.) ew ev { {

em me we hun1 we &ou 'pl.) ew wan the&*those ev van the&*these

to &ou 'sin(.)

ewa &ou

w 'm) he*it*that w 'f) she*it*that v 'm) he*it*this v 'f) she*it*this

aw he. she. it aw"n

the& The independent personal pronouns are used as '6) subjects of equational sentences9

There are no third+person pronouns other than the demonstratives. The ew set is the third+person pronoun of default, the ev set is used to direct attention to a nearb& third person. Note that both ew and ev distin(uish (ender onl& in the oblique sin(ular. Subject pronouns are necessaril& e-pressed. as in /n(lish. e-cept in impersonal constructions where /n(lish uses 0it1 'as in 2it1s rainin(3) and occasionall& in connected prose where the referent of a third+person pronoun has alread& been introduced and is obvious from conte-t. The nominative pronouns are used as subjects of equational sentences. present+tense verbs. and past+tense intransitive verbs
Ez kurd im. I1m a Kurd. Ew w mirov dibne. He sees that man. Em rnitin. We sat down.

( .

Min kurdim. #1m a Kurd.

'4) emphatic subjects of verbs and topics of topic+comment sentences9

. . S Aw ht; ewa nhtin. $e came, %ou didn1t. . i Min awim balwa giring
niya. :or me. that1s not important.

and ';) emphatic possessors in an izfa strin(9

boo<

ktwak i min my

S d= !i
nshtimnak i ema our homeland

and '4) as patients of past+tense transitive verbs 'see 567.4).

Min tu dt. I saw you. W em dtin. 8e saw us.

The obli ue pronouns are used as '6) possessors in a construct

1

:or pronominal objects of verbs. see 54;. 1!.1. Possessive Pronouns. The normal possessive pronouns are unstressed enclitics added to the noun. The& ta<e the followin( forms9
:T/! =#NS#N NTS :T/! >#?/LS

In some dialects hun is hn.

kitba min, kitbn min my boo<. my boo<s kitbeke min a boo< of mine kitbeke n %a min a new boo< of mine &ani% me our house

01im 01m"n 01m 01 m"n

"

'4) direct objects of all present+tense verbs 'and all verbs formed from the present stem of the verb)
'u min dibn( @o &ou see meA )z te dibnim. I see you. )w me dibne. 8e sees us. )m nikarin wan bibnin. ?e cannot see them.

01it e 01t"n 01t e 01t"n

01 a 01%"n " 01% a 01%"n /-amples of possessive pronouns with ku 0son1 and ra 0mone&19

';) complements of prepositions and circumpositions

*i min from me *i w from him *i w from her bi wan re with them

n #$ n &$ " n '$

k23im k23it e 4"r5t e k23 a

n 4"r5m %$ n n $ $

k23m"n 4"r5m"n

k23t"n 4"r5t"n

'B) a(ents of all past transitive verbs 'see 567.4 below)

Te ez dtim. You saw me. Min ew dtin. I saw them.

k23%"n 4"r5%"n

4"r5% a

The enclitic possessive pronouns ma& be added to the absolute ' k!im" #$ rm#. the definite '

7.1 'he +e,le&ive Pronoun Xwe. The refle-ive pronoun &we has. in and of itself. no person or number but ta<es its person and number from the subject of the verb in the clause in which it occurs. It can thus mean. as a possessive. 0m& own. 0&our own.1 0his*her own.1 0our own.1 or 0their own1 as well as the objective 0m&self.1 0&ourself.1 0him*herself.1 0ourselves.1 0&ourselves.1 or 0themselves.1 -we must be used as both possessive pronoun and object pronoun to refer to the subject of the verb. i.e. the personal pronouns cannot be so used. =onstructions li<e kitba min 0m& boo<1 and hevaln min 0m& friends1 are viable in an& clause in which 0I1 is not the subject of the verb. but not in sentences li<e 2I see m& boo<3 and 2I went with m& friends.3 where kitba &we and hevaln &we must be used.
.likek teva du /ewrn xwe li ser ri%a min &u%a dibn. bitch used to appear on m& route with her two pups.

# (n #($
indefinite

kuakm" rakm#. or the k!ekim"

ryekim# forms of the noun. ?hen added to the absolute. the noun has a fi(urative meanin(, for actual. concrete meanin(s the definite form is used. :or instance. mone& ' $ ra) &ou can hold in &our hand &ou would call

# ) C n #$

#$ rakm 0m& mone&.1 while #$

ram is fi(urative. more li<e 0m& wealth.1 Someone who writes for a livin( can be said to earn his livelihood b& means of

% k )

$a%am 0his pen.1 but what

SU%ST NTI>/S
6i dora xwe dinrim. I loo< around myself. 7erzende di ran xwe da birn b. :erCende was wounded in his thi(h.

he actuall& holds in his hand is

k )

?ith past transitive verbs 'see 567.4). &we ta<es its person and number from the lo(ical subject 'D a(ent).
)z ve8eri%ama 9am: min hevaln xwe n li wir bidtana. I would have returned to @amascus, I would have seen my friends there. 'e xwe *i br dikir te ;em ba*ar xwe tan bra &we. Eou for(ot yourself" and &ou remembered the river of &our town.

$a%amakay 0his pen.1 =ompare and contrast the followin(9 SU%ST NTI>/S
:IGU! TI>/ =TU L

&$
wealth &our cash

rat &our mone&. &our rakt &our 'real) mone&.

&$ ) | *

kuim m& son. 2sonn&3 kuakm m& 'real) son

#) +| k k

nnmn our livelihood nnakmn our bread m%tn &our home e m%aktn &our house

/-ceptions to the (eneral rule. "rominent e-ceptions to the (eneral formation are the famil& members ' ,

bwk

0father.1 -. dyik 0mother.1 bir 0brother1 and -/

o 0

khwayshk

0sister1) and |nw 0name.1 ?hen modified b& pronominal possessives. these nouns are the reverse of the formation described above.

# .

'irkm and #/ o 0 khwayshkakm are used to address or refer to an&one other than one1s real brothers and sisters. who are

called

birm and #/

khwayshkim. 1 means 0his 'real)

(w

name.1 as opposed to | nwaky. which means 0his name1 in the sense of a label or sobriquet (iven to someone. not his actual name. ?hen possessives are added to the indefinite form of the noun. the& mean 0aF of mine.1 Gc.. e.(.

# C n C '2X )

kuekim 0a son of mine.1 &2

ktwekit 0a

boo< of &ours.1 and . $alamek 0a pen of his.1 Gc.