ini he/she, him/her, it: 3 singular personal pronoun / he/she/it: [...]

Part of Speech pers. pronoun
Phonetic Form ini
Tanema Equivalent nini
Lovono Equivalent ngani
    • he/she, him/her, it: 3 singular personal pronoun
      • Gram
    • he/she/it: stressed pronoun, co-occurring with subject prefix i-
      • Syntactic Restriction topic
      • Example 497:
        In’ ne me in’ re, da menuko.
        This man here, and that one there, they are friends.
      • Example 890:
        Ini i-lebie men’ iape.
        She's bathing her child.
    • he/she/it: subject of non-verbal predicates
      • Example 891:
        Momoso iono, ini bworobworo, we koro?
        Your wife, is she black or white?
      • Example 892:
        Jeboro ini tongolukilo iote.
        Wild basil (it) is a medicinal plant.
    • him/her/it: object of verb or preposition
      • Encyclopedic Info Phraseol.: A 3rd singular anaphoric object is sometimes expressed by ini, but most often is left implicit (zero anaphora). This is especially true for inanimate referents: ‘I saw it’ would be Ka ni-romo. (rather than ?Ka ni-romo ini.)
      • Example 893:
        Ai’ one i-ovei piene Tetevo ka ni-ko u-vagasi ini pon ta.
        My father knows the language of Utupua, I suggest you contact him.
    • his/her/its: possessive after directly possessed noun (e.g. body parts)
      • Syntactic Restriction after directly possessed noun
      • Example 894:
        enga ini
        his/her name
      • Example 895:
        Awa ini i-viane.
        [his neck/mind hits it] He wants it.
      • Example 896:
        Die ini i-meli.
        [Her back hurts.] She's having labour contractions.
    • (it is) him/her/it
      • Syntactic Restriction predicate
      • Example 897:
        Ini ta!
        That's it!
        Example Comment
        with focus [ta](ta_1)

Related entries

  • See also:
    • iape1 his, her, its: form of the general possessive classifier (enone*), with a 3 singular possessor (see ini)
    • i- Realis prefix for 3rd singular subject of verbs / Irrealis prefix for 3rd singular subject of verbs