The pronominal system of Odual

Abstract

This paper discusses the pronominal system of Odual, which has five subsets of pronouns: personal, reflexive, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite. A noteworthy feature of the system is the distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural personal pronouns. Reflexivity is marked by a noun meaning 'self plus a possessive pronoun, the noun varying in form depending on the singularity or plurality of the antecedent. It is noted that tense/aspect markers in Odual show limited agreement for person and number, and in some cases they do not have distinct forms to reflect the differences in the forms of pronouns occasioned by differences in person and number. Also noted is the fact that the basic word order in Odual simple clauses is SVO, and that word order in NPs to a large extent is typologically consistent with the basic word order, as many of the pronouns that function as modifiers follow the noun they modify.

Keywords

• Odual
• pronouns
• inclusive
• exclusive
• reflexive
• agreement