Abbreviation ofEnglishTswana orTswanaSetswana.
tn
tn
tn (notcomparable)
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f sgproximaldemonstrative determiner
This demonstrative was originally a determiner but could later be used alone, like a pronoun. When used as a determiner it follows the noun it describes.
It forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrativetf, in whichtn isproximal.
| determiners | pronouns1 | adverbs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | dual | plural | unmarked | |||||
| masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |||
| proximal to speaker | pn | tn | *jpnj | jptnj,jptntj | jpn | jptn | nn | — |
| distal | pf | tf | *jpfj | *jptfj,*jptftj | jpf | jptf | nf | — |
| proximal to spoken of | pj,pw,p | tj,tw | jpwj | jptwj,jptwtj | jpw | jptw,jptwt | nw | — |
| vocative | pꜣ | tꜣ | — | — | — | — | nꜣ | ꜥꜣ |
1 Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.
| determiners and pronouns | adverbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural1 | |||
| masculine | feminine | |||
| proximal | pn | tn | nn | ꜥn |
| distal | pf,pfꜣ | tf,tfꜣ | nf,nfꜣ | ꜥf |
| ‘copula’ and vocative | pw,pwy | tw,twy | nw | — |
| anaphoric | pꜣ | tꜣ | nꜣ | ꜥꜣ |
1 Joined byn(j) to nouns they modify.
| masculine | feminine | plural | adverb | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronoun | pꜣw | dj | |||
| determiners and pronouns | pꜣj | tꜣj | nꜣj | ||
| possessive determiners1 | pꜣy | tꜣy | nꜣy | ||
| relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’) | p-n,pꜣ | t-nt,tꜣ | nꜣyw,nꜣ | ||
| definite articles | pꜣ | tꜣ | nꜣ2 | ||
| indefinite articles | wꜥ2 | nhꜣy2 | |||
1 Used with suffix pronouns.
2 Originally joined byn(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.
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pl andf sg2. enclitic (‘dependent’) pronoun
tn
