VTA You-Me and Me-You Forms, more properly called local forms, allow one to say things like “I love you” and “You love me.”
These local forms, unlike the direct and inverse modes which have one mandatory 3rd person participant, do not involve any third person participants. Obviative markings therefore are never present in local forms.
Overview of Local Forms
| Me-You Forms | You-Me Forms | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg Subject | 1st pl Subject | 2nd sg Subject | 2nd pl Subject |
| I —- you | We —- you | You —- me | You (pl) —- me |
| I —- you (pl) | We —- you (pl) | You —- us | You (pl) —- us |
These are formed using the general template :
(prefix)-(stem)-(theme sign)-(endings)
The ‘you-me’ theme sign is (ii)
‘Me-you’ uses (un)
All local forms use the (ku) prefix except local conjunct forms because conjunct forms do not use prefixes. (to be described later)
You-Me Forms
You-me forms in the indicative mode add m endings to the (ii) direction marker. The (m) is omitted in Mahican so the final long vowel (ii) becomes (ih)
VTA Indicative You-Me Forms
| Participants | Paradigm |
|---|---|
| You —- me | ku-(stem)-ih |
| You (pl) —- me | ku-(stem)-íhmah |
| You —- us | ku-(stem)-íhnah |
| You (pl) —- us | ku-(stem)-íhnah |
Kŭnaawih.
You see me.
Kuyah kiisih-naawih?
Are you able to see me?
Kŭnaawíhmah.
You (pl) see me.
Kŭnaawíhnah.
You or you (pl) see us. You-me negatives
(ku)-(stem)-(ii)-(wii)-(m ending)
VTA Indicative You-Me Negative Forms
| Participants | Paradigm |
|---|---|
| You —- me not | ustah ku-(stem)-iiw |
| You (pl) —- me not | ustah ku-(stem)-iiwíhmah |
| You —- us not | ustah ku-(stem)-iiwíhnah |
| You (pl) —- us not | ustah ku-(stem)-iiwíhnah |
Kuyah ustah kunaawíiw.
You see me not.
Ustah kunaawiiwíhmah.
You (pl) see me not.
Kŭnaawiiwíhnah.
You or you (pl) see us.
Me-You Forms
Me-you forms in the indicative mode add m endings to the (un) theme sign.
VTA Indicative Me-You Forms
| Participants | Paradigm |
|---|---|
| Me, I —- you | ku-(stem)-un |
| Me, I —- you (pl) | ku-(stem)-unohmah |
| We —- you | ku-(stem)-unhnah |
| We —- you (pl) | ku-(stem)-unhnah |
Wąąk=chih kŭnaawun.
I'll see you later.
Kŭnaawunohmah.
I see you (pl).
Kŭnaawunhnah.
We see you or you (pl).
Ktúnun. I told you so. Negative Me-You Forms
These form as if AI stems ending in –un
(ku)-(stem)-(un)-(oowii)-(ending)
VTA Indicative Me-You Negative Forms
| Participants | Paradigm |
|---|---|
| Me, I —- you not | ustah ku-(stem)-unóow |
| Me, I —- you (pl) not | ustah ku-(stem)-unoowíhmah |
| We —- you not | ustah ku-(stem)-unoowíhnah |
| We —- you (pl) not | ustah ku-(stem)-unoowíhnah |
Ustah kŭnaawunóow.
I see you not.
Ustah kŭnaawunoowíhmah.
We see you (pl) not.
Ustah ktunŭnóowih.
I did not tell you so.
VTA Indicative Me-You Special Cases
| Structure | Form |
|---|---|
| ku-(stem-aw)-un | ku-(stem)-aan |
| ku-(stem-uw)-un | ku-(stem)-oon |
| ku-(stem-x)-un | ku-(stem)-xoon |
| ku-(stem-h)-un | ku-(stem)-hoon |
Examples:
wunuθtawaaw vta believe s.o.
paasuwaaw vta bring s.o. (paashuwaaw)
kwxaaw vta fear s.o.
anihaaw vta treat s.o. so
Koonθutaan.
I believe you.
Kpaasoonhmah.
I brought you (pl).
Kwaxoonhnah.
We fear you.
Ktunihoon.
I treated you so. Subordinatives
Subordinatives form as if AI stems in –ii and in –un
Nan kŭnaawiin.
Then you saw me.
Nan kŭnaawiinaawah.
Then you (pl) saw me.
Nan kŭnaawíinaanah.
Then you saw us.
Nan ustah kŭnaawíiwun.
Then you saw me not.
Nan kunaawŭnun.
Then I saw you.
Nan kunaawununaawah.
Then I saw you (pl).
Nan kunaawunúnaanah.
Then we saw you.
Yahah ustah kunaawunoowun.
Then I saw you not.
Stems ending in (aw) contract with (un) to (aan) then (un) is added to form (aanun)
Nan koonθutóonun.
Then I believed you.
(ku)-(wunuθtaw)-(un)-(un)