VTA You-Me and Me-You Forms, also 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. No obviative markings therefore are 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)-(direction marker)-(endings)
The ‘you-me’ direction marker 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 |
Kŭnāāwih.
You see me.
Kuyah kiisih-nāāwih?
Are you able to see me?
Kŭnāāwíhmah.
You (pl) see me.
Kŭnāāwíhnah.
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 kunāāwíiw.
You see me not.
Ustah kunāāwiiwíhmah.
You (pl) see me not.
Kŭnāāwiiwíhnah.
You or you (pl) see us.
Me-You Forms
Me-you forms in the indicative mode add m endings to the (un) direction marker.
VTA Indicative Me-You Forms
| Participants | Paradigm |
|---|---|
| Me, I —- you | ku-(stem)-un |
| Me, I —- you (pl) | ku-(stem)-unhmah |
| We —- you | ku-(stem)-unhnah |
| We —- you (pl) | ku-(stem)-unhnah |
Wąąk=chih kŭnāāwun.
I'll see you later.
Kŭnāāwunhmah.
I see you (pl).
Kŭnāāwunhnah.
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 kŭnāāwunóow.
I see you not.
Ustah kŭnāāwunoowíhmah.
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)-āān |
| ku-(stem-uw)-un | ku-(stem)-oon |
| ku-(stem-x)-un | ku-(stem)-xoon |
| ku-(stem-h)-un | ku-(stem)-hoon |
Examples:
wunuθtawāāw vta believe s.o.
pāāsuwāāw vta bring s.o. (pāāshuwāāw)
kwxāāw vta fear s.o.
anihāāw vta treat s.o. so
Koonθutāān.
I believe you.
Kpāāsoonhmah.
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 kŭnāāwiin.
Then you saw me.
Nan kŭnāāwiināāwah.
Then you (pl) saw me.
Nan kŭnāāwíināānah.
Then you saw us.
Nan ustah kŭnāāwíiwun.
Then you saw me not.
Nan kunāāwŭnun.
Then I saw you.
Nan kunāāwununāāwah.
Then I saw you (pl).
Nan kunāāwunúnāānah.
Then we saw you.
Yahah ustah kunāāwunoowun.
Then I saw you not.
Stems ending in (aw) contract with (un) to (āān) then (un) is added to form (āānun)
Nan koonθutóonun.
Then I believed you.
(ku)-(wunuθtaw)-(un)-(un)