Manchu/Lesson 3 - Pronouns
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Dialogue & Translation
[edit | edit source]| Baturu............: si saiyvn? | Baturu............: How are you? |
| Zhang Min......: bi umesi sain. sini beye dursun sain nio? | Zhang Min......: I am very good, how is your health? |
| Baturu............: umesi sain, baniha. | Baturu............: Very good, thank you. |
| Zhang Min......: gucu, si oci manju niyalma inuo? | Zhang Min......: Friend, are you Manchu? |
| Baturu............: inu, bi oci manju niyalma. sini aiman ai? | Baturu............: Yes, I am Manchu. What is your nationality? |
| Zhang Min......: bi oci nikan niyalma, damu mini sargan oci monggo niyalma. sinde sargan bio? | Zhang Min......: I am Chinese, but my wife is Mongolian. Do you have a wife? |
| Baturu............: minde sargan akv. sini sargan ai gebu ai hala? | Baturu............: No. What is your wife's first and last names? |
| Zhang Min......: mini sargan gebu Bing Bing, hala Wang inu. si imbe takambio? | Zhang Min......: My wife's first name is Bing Bing and her surname is Wang. Do you know her? |
| Baturu............: takarakv. bi ubade juwe biya oho, kemuni tokso i labdu niyalma be takarakv. | Baturu............: I don't know her. I have been here for 2 months, I still don't know many people. |
| Zhang Min......: si tokso de minci tulgiyen we takambi? | Zhang Min......: In the village apart form me who do you know? |
| Baturu............: bi Xiao Zhang jai Xiao He takambi. | Baturu............: I know Xiao Zhang and Xiao He |
| Zhang Min......: si ai erin de Xiao Wang be takaha? | Zhang Min......: When did you meet Xiao Wang |
| Baturu............: bi cembe emu biya onggolo takaha. | Baturu............: I met him one month ago |
| Zhang Min......: aibade? | Zhang Min......: Where? |
| Baturu............: xiao Zhang i boode. | Baturu............: At Xiao Zhang's house |
| Zhang Min......: tuttu oci si Xiao Zhang i boo de genehe. | Zhang Min......: In that case you have been to Xiao Zhang's house? |
| Baturu............: genehe. bi te xolo akv, bi neneme genembi. | Baturu............: I have been. I don't have time, I will go first |
| Zhang Min......: sain, sirame acaki! | Zhang Min......: Okay, see you later |
| .............................................................................................................................................. | .............................................................................................................................................. |
Vocab
[edit | edit source]| ............................................................ | ............................................................ | ............................................................ | ............................................................ |
| Manchu Vocabulary | English Translation | Manchu Vocabulary | English Translation |
| ai | What | aibade | Where |
| aiman | Nationality | baniha | Thankyou |
| beye dursun | Health | biya | Month |
| boo | Home/house | cembe | Them accusative case |
| damu | But/only | emu | One |
| erin | Time | gebu | Name |
| genehe | To have gone (past tense of genembi) | genembi | To go |
| gucu | Friend | hala | Surname |
| imbe | Him/her accusative case | inu | Is/also |
| jai | And | juwe | Two |
| kemuni | Still | minci | From me |
| minde | At me | monggo | Mongol |
| neneme | First (before ...) | -o | Suffix indicating a question |
| oho | To have become | ombi | To become |
| onggolo | Before | sain | Good |
| sargan | Wife | si | You |
| sinde | At you | sini | Your |
| sirame acaki | See you later | takambi | To know (someone) |
| takarakv | To not know (someone) | tokso | Village |
| tulgiyen | Apart from | tuttu oci | In that case |
| ubade | Here | umesi | Very |
| we | Who | xolo | Free time |
| ............................................................ | ............................................................ | ............................................................ | ............................................................ |
Grammar
[edit | edit source]Pronouns
[edit | edit source]Personal pronouns
[edit | edit source]As with nouns, personal pronouns in Manchu also have different cases. The normal form of Manchu personal pronouns is expressed by using the nominative case. See following table for list of all personal pronouns in the 5 different cases:
| ..................................................... | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
| Personal Pronoun | Nominative | Genitive | Dative/Locative | Accusative | Ablative |
| Singular | |||||
| 1st Person | bi | mini | minde | mimbe | minci |
| 2nd Person | si | sini | sinde | simbe | sinci |
| 3rd Person | i | ini | inde | imbe | inci |
| Plural | |||||
| 1st Person (incl.) | muse | musei | musede | musebe | museci |
| 1st Person (excl.) | be | meni | mende | membe | menci |
| 2nd Person | suwe | suweni | suwende | suwembe | suwenci |
| 3rd Person | ce | ceni | cende | cembe | cenci |
| ..................................................... | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
- The personal pronoun in the nominative case is the ordinary form of the pronoun, e.g. bi = I, si = you, i = he/she/it, be = we (excl.), muse = we (incl.), suwe = you (plural), ce = they/them
- For the singular first personal pronoun "I" the different forms are: nominative bi "I"; genitive mini "my"; dative/locative minde "to/at me"; accusative mimbe "me"; ablative minci "from me". All the other personal pronouns follow the same pattern.
- As with Chinese, Manchu has two versions of the 1st plural personal pronoun: an exclusive version ‘be’, and an inclusive version ‘muse’.
- To express the idea of oneself, you would use the genitive form of the personal pronoun and follow it with the word ‘beye’ (body). E.g. mini beye (myself), sini beye (yourself).
- The possessive pronoun is formed by adding the suffix ‘-ngge’ after the genitive form of the personal pronoun. E.g. mini-ngge (mine). Ere bithe miningge (this book is mine).
- The suffix '-ngge' is a possessive suffix which does not change with the rules of vowel harmony. When written it is proceeded by the genetive case and therefore becomes one of '-ingge' or '-ningge'. In the case of use with personal pronouns, it is already proceeded by the genitive form of the pronoun so remains '-ngge'. It can be translated as belong to, and is often written separately from the noun. E.g. ejen ningge - belonging to the master.
Now for some examples of the different cases:
Nominative
- bi manju gisun be tacimbi - I study the Manchu language
- i oci manju niyalma - He is Manchu
Genitive
- mini gucu oci manju niyalma - My friend is Manchu
- meni eme oci mafa gurun - Our mother is the fatherland
Dative/Locative
- sinde ai baita bi? - What issue do you (at) have?
- tere emu debtelin (mw for book) bithe be minde buki (to give imp) - Can you please give (to) me this book
Accusative
- mafa gurun membe ujime hvwaxabuha - The fatherland raised us (object)
- bi cembe emu biya onggolo takaha - I met him (object) one month ago
Ablative
- i minci juwe se ajige - He is two years younger than me
- si minci tulgiyen we takambi? - Apart from me who do you know?
Demonstrative pronouns
[edit | edit source]The demonstrative pronouns in Manchu are:
| ............................................ | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
| Case | This | These | That | Those |
| Nominative | ere | ese | tere | tese |
| Genitive | erei (ereni) | esei | terei | tesei |
| Dative/locative | erede (ede) | esede | terede (tede) | tesede |
| Accusative | erebe | esebe | terebe | tesebe |
| Ablative | ereci | eseci | tereci | teseci |
| ............................................ | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
Interrogative pronouns
[edit | edit source]The main interrogative pronouns in Manchu are (note the cases):
| ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
| Manchu | English | Manchu | English |
| we | Who | aibide, yabade | At/to what place |
| ai | What | adarame | How |
| ya | What, who | aici | What type |
| ainu | Why | udu | How many |
| aibi, yaba | What place/where | aba | Where |
| ................................. | ................................. | ................................. | ................................. |
Lesson 2 (Nouns) ---- Contents ---- Lesson 4 (Numerals)