46 a. ki
ili b. ku
lingi I
big.m we
big.md I am big.
We are big. male speaker
male speaker about 2 men
c. ki
ine d. ku
limi e.
ku lipi
I big.f
we big.fd
we big.p
I am big. We are big.
We are big. female speaker
female speaker about 2 women
2.3.2.4 Numerals
Olo has three basic numerals, one, two, and five. All other numerals are built as additives of this base system. The largest of the three forms is given first, then the next largest, and finally the smallest.
The numbers are added together. So three is rendered as ‘two one’. The numerals for one and two differ depending on the gender of the noun counted. Table 2.7 gives the numerals in Olo from one to ten, for
both the masculine and feminine genders.
Table 2.7. Olo numerals from 1 to 10 Numeral
Masculine Feminine
1 niliye
ninpiye 2
wingestwinges wiem
3 winges niliye
wiem ninpiye 4
winges winges wiem wiem
5 eti plen
eti plen hand side 6
eti plen eti plen ninpiye
7 eti plen winges
eti plen wiem 8
eti plen winges niliye eti plen wiem ninpiye
9 eti plen winges winges
eti plen wiem wiem 10
eti plen eti plen eti plen eti plen
many wuru
The number system can be extended to include feet. I have heard eti plen eti plen uro plen uro plen ‘hand side, hand side, foot side, foot side’ for 20. This is very unusual. In many areas the numbering
system above 2 or 3 has fallen out of use in favor of Tok Pisin numbers. When an Olo speaker counts on his fingers, he uses the reverse process to mark a counted number. Five fingers spread wide is not 5, but
0. As something is counted one finger is clasped into the palm. A fist means 5.
2.3.2.5 Free Pronouns
Pronouns in Olo are generally straightforward. The language distinguishes three persons and three levels of number, and masculine and feminine gender. The free pronouns are given in table 2.8.
2.3 Grammatical Characterization 19
Table 2.8. Olo free pronouns ki
first-person singular ‘I’
ku first-person plural
‘we ye
second-person singular ‘you’
ise second-person plural
‘you’ le
third-person masculine singular ‘he’
te third-person masculine dual
‘they two males’ ne
third-person feminine singular ‘she’
me third-person feminine dual
‘they two females’ pe
third-person plural ‘they’
Besides these full pronouns there are two other dual pronouns, rounge ‘two males’ and roum ‘two fe- males’. These do not provide person distinctions, but only number and gender information. These can
be used to make number and gender distinctions if they are needed, as in 47. 47 a.
ku rounge
w-e we
md 1d-go
We two m go. b. ise
roum y-au
you.
PL
two.fd 2p-come
You two f come. The free dual pronouns, te ‘they two masculine’ and me ‘they two feminine’, are often combined with
rounge ‘masculine dual’ and roum ‘feminine dual’. When they are combined the pronoun which has the person information comes first. No meaning difference has been detected, and referentially they are
identical. Examples are given in 48.
48 a. te
rounge t-a
te t-a
3md two.m
3md-die 3md
3md-die They two m die.
They two m die. b. me
roum m-a
me m-a
3fd two.f
3fd-die 3fd
3fd-die They two f die.
They two f die. A chart is given in table 2.9 showing the pronominal distinctions.
Table 2.9. Olo pronouns by person and number singular
dual plural
first person masculine
ki ku rounge
ku feminine
ku roum second person
masculine ye
ise rounge ise
feminine ise roum
third person masculine
le te rounge
pe feminine
ne me roum
There is also an unusual exclusive for first and second person. It involves first-person plural exclud- ing the speaker, and second-person plural excluding the audience. This can happen when the chain
20 The Olo Language
topic is not coreferential with the subject of the first clause in the chain. In 49, from the text ‘Amerika’, the chain topic is ku, the first-person plural pronoun. In the text, this refers to the people of
Sipote Village circa 1944. The subject of the first clause is shown on the verb as p, the third-person plu- ral. In the text this includes some of the people of Sipote Village, but not the speaker. The subject of the
verb is a subset of the free pronoun. The combination of the two gives a form of first-person plural, ex- cluding the speaker. The speaker is excluding himself since he did not actually participate in the event.
49 ku
p-uluw-epe m-antutu
m-ire fla-ye
we 3p-see-3p
1p-run.
CNT
1p-with scattering-
EMP
Some of us, but not me, saw them, and we ran really scattering about. The same type of exclusion can be achieved with the second person. In response to hearing 49, the
question in 50 can be asked. 50
ise p-uluw-epe
lom we
3p-see-3p
YNQ
Did some of you see them? A construction of this type allows the speaker to differentiate what he personally witnessed versus
what occurred around him. Genitive pronouns
Olo also has an unusual genitive pronoun system. It is formed by using a pronoun which agrees with the gender and number of the possessed item which is also the head noun in the noun phrase fol-
lowed by a pronoun which agrees with the person, number, and gender of the possessor. The two pro- nouns are combined into a single word. These pronouns are very similar to the free pronoun set.
Simple examples are given in 51–53 with these pronouns in italics.
51 ila
le-ne knife
m-3f her knife
52 ki k-ulu-wo
ninge le-iki
I 1s-see-3m son
m-1s I see my son.
53 ki k-ulu-wenge
eple te-ne
I 1s-see-3md
children md-3f
I see her two sons. The forms of the possessed pronoun in the feminine and plural are identical, 54.
54 a. ki
k-ulu-ene ningio
pe-iki I
1s-see-3m daughter
f-1s I see my daughter.
b. ki k-ulu-wepe
eple pe-iki
I 1s-see-3p
children
PL
-1s I see my children.
There is also an allomorphic alternation involving the possessed marker. When it is immediately fol- lowed by a stop the ng also causes this alternation, the forms end in l 55.
2.3 Grammatical Characterization 21
55 winem le-iki
winem lel-pe
winango pel-nge
house m-1s
house m-3p
houses
PL
-3md my house
their house the two of their m houses
Finally, if one of the possessed markers is followed by uku ‘our’ the e in the possessed form assimi- lates to a backed position becoming an o. So le + uku becomes louku, as in 56.
56 winem
lo-uku house
m-1p our house
The full paradigm for the genitive pronouns is given in table 2.10. The first column is the form for the possessed marker. The second column is the possessor marker. The possessor has forms for first,
second, and third person, while the possessed has only third person. Table 2.10. Olo genitive pronouns
possessed possessor
iki first-person singular
‘my’ uku
first-person plural ‘our’
iye second-person singular
‘your’ ise
second-person plural ‘your’
le le singular masculine
le third-person singular masculine
‘his’ pe pel
singular feminine ne
third-person singular feminine ‘her’
te tel dual masculine
nge third-person dual masculine
‘their’ me mel
dual feminine me
third-person dual feminine ‘their’
pe pel plural
pe third-person plural
‘their’ Reflexive pronouns
Olo forms reflexive pronouns based on the free pronoun set and one of three variations of -otei ‘self’. The complete set is given in table 2.11.
Table 2.11. Olo reflexive pronouns kutei
first-person singular reflexive ‘myself’
kutou first-person plural reflexive
‘ourselves’ yotei
second-person singular reflexive ‘yourself’
isotei second-person plural reflexive
‘yourselves’ lotei
third-person masculine singular reflexive ‘himself’
totei third-person masculine dual reflexive
‘themselves, two males’ notei
third-person feminine singular reflexive ‘herself’
motei third-person feminine dual reflexive
‘themselves, two females’ potei
third-person plural reflexive ‘themselves’
The reflexive pronouns function much like one would expect. An animate Agent implies volitionality in all Olo transitive clauses; this is an absolute requirement with a reflexive. If a speaker
says “He hit himself” he can only mean he did this intentionally. This is shown in 57.
22 The Olo Language
57 le
l-eilu l-otei
l-asi era
he 3m-cut 3m-self
3m-with.
CK
rocks He cut himself with rocks.
He cut himself on the rocks accidentally. The intent of the unacceptable translation of 57 “He cut himself on the rocks” can only be achieved
by casting the instrument as the Agent, making it the primary cause. Once the instrument is cast as the Agent there is no longer any reflexive.
58 era
p-alowi metine
rocks 3p-cut.3m
man The rocks cut him. He cut himself on the rocks.
A further complication in the picture of reflexives is that these same morphological forms can be used in a similar semantic, but nonreflexive, sense. The central semantic idea is one of exclusivity. In
57 he cut only himself, not anyone else. In 59 the “reflexive” pronoun limits the subject to exclu- sively the third-person masculine referent.
59 l-otei
l-au 3m-self 3m-come
He himself came, he did not bring anyone or thing with him. Reciprocal pronouns
Olo marks reciprocal action by using a combination of three devices. First, there is no patient affix on the verb. Second, the root form of the verb is the same as when the verb is inflected for a first or
second-person objects. And finally, the lexical object position in the clause is filled by the properly in- flected form of nele ‘other.m’. Since a reciprocal must involve two or more participants, the form of nele
must be either dual or plural. An example of the reflexive is given in 60.
60 a. pe
p-alpo metine
they 3p-shoot.3m
man They shoot the man.
b. pe p-eipo-iki
they 3p-shoot-1s
They shoot me. c.
pe p-eipo
nemple they
3p-shoot other.
PL
They shoot each other.
2.3.2.6 Demonstratives