



































Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji


 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

56 

 

PRONOUNS IN ETULO 

                                                   

Adaobi Ngozi Okoye 

Department of Linguistics, 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 

ifynoels@gmail.com 

 

Abstract 

This study is a preliminary investigation of Etulo pronominal system. The purpose 

of the study is to identify the different types of pronouns in Etulo, their tone 

patterns as well as their functions in simple sentences. Data for the study was 

collected from Etulo informants resident in Adi, Buruku Local Government Area 

of Benue State.  Five classes of pronoun are identified and they are the personal, 

demonstrative, interrogative, reflexive and indefinite pronouns. Our findings 

reveal that to a large extent, the personal pronouns are identical in their segmental 

and tonal composition. Reflexivity is expressed by attaching a noun àbuwò ‘self’ 

to the object form of the pronoun while possession is marked by a prefixation to 

the object form of the pronoun. The demonstrative pronouns comprise two 

proximal and two distal demonstratives that maintain an inherent tone pattern 

within a noun phrase. 

Keywords: pronoun, Etulo, language 

1.0 Introduction 

Pronouns in most languages occur as independent word forms and usually have 

the same distribution as a full noun phrase. To use a pronoun effectively, it is 

often needful to identify the noun that the pronoun is standing in for i.e. the 

antecedent. Pronouns also agree with the antecedent in number, person, etc.  

This study provides an account of the types, forms and functions of pronouns in 

Etulo, the language of a minority group in Benue State. Etulo language belongs to 

the Idomoid group of the West Benue Congo languages of the Niger Congo 

language family. Etulo like most African languages is a tone language and in this 

study, high tones are left unmarked, low tones are marked with a grave accent (`), 

mid tones are marked with a macron     ( ¯ ) while the rising falling tones are 

marked with a circumflex accent (^). 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

57 

 

1.1 Pronouns 

Yule (1995:88) defines pronouns as words used in place of noun phrases typically 

referring to things already known. This lexical category according to him is often 

described in terms of person and number in the English language. Pronouns 

substitute for noun and noun phrases. Pronouns also refer directly to some aspect 

of the situation surrounding the speaker or writer. 

Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams (2011:167) see pronouns as lexical items that can 

get their meaning from other NPs in the sentence or in the larger discourse. There 

are subclasses of pronoun. Such sub classes include the personal pronouns which 

are the main means of identifying speakers’ addressees and others. In the English 

language, mine, yours, hers etc are the possessive pronouns. They express 

ownership as in’ it is hers.’ Other sub classes include demonstrative, reflexive and 

interrogative pronouns 

For Bloomfield (1933:249), a pronoun is a grammatical element of variable 

reference which stands for some noun previously given, explicitly or implicitly in 

the context. He describes the pronoun in the light of its function in ‘derived 

sentences’ that is sentences within which nouns have been replaced with pronoun 

(masculine, feminine etc) as appropriate. For example, the utterance in  

1.He will be here in a moment, presupposes the previous occurrence of some 

masculine noun or noun phrase to which the pronoun ‘he’ refers. 

Hatch and Brown (1995:234) opine that pronouns refer to nouns that have already 

been mentioned in the discourse or points ahead to a noun that is about to be 

mentioned. They distinguish between anaphoric and cataphoric reference. 

Anaphoric points back in the discourse to a noun that has already been established 

while cataphoric reference points forward to its referent. For example in  

2. Christy Essen is called the lady of songs, she sings traditional African music’. 

The pronoun ‘she’ is anaphoric.  

Ruying (2005:1906) in his study on the pronominal system of English and 

Mandarin observes that substantial differences exist in the morphology, syntax 

and semantic/pragmatic functions of the pronominal systems of both languages. 

He claims that Mandarin personal pronoun forms are simpler than their English 

counterpart because there are no gender, animacy and case contrast in forms. Also 

each person consistently shares the Mandarin phonetic core and informaton such 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

58 

 

as plurality and possessive case are all encoded by one common morpheme 

attached to the stem. This, contrasts the English pronominal paradigm where a 

common phonetic core cannot be extracted.  Syntactically, English has obligatory 

subject and uses co referential pronouns while Mandarin is null subject ( or pro 

drop) and prefers zero anaphora. 

Edo, a Niger Congo language spoken in Benin city distinguishes three persons 

(first, second and third) and two numbers (singular and plural) in its pronominal 

system. The language also has four series of pronouns which are the subjective, 

objective, emphatic and copulative series (Uchihara 2010:1). Edo distinguishes 

pronouns according to the grammatical function of subject and object as well as 

the contrast between the non emphatic forms (subjective /objective) and emphatic 

forms. Uchihara (2010:11) also claims the existence of logophoric pronoun and 

general person pronoun. The latter corresponds to impersonal or indefinite 

pronouns in other languages and is used when the speaker cannot or does not want 

to specify the human subject of a sentence as in      

3        ā          )          ōkpıa         nī             mà 

         Gp        (3.pl)       COMP        man         DET          be good 

It is said that the man is good. 

The former however are special pronouns used to refer to person whose words, 

thoughts, knowledge or emotions are being reported in a stretch of discourse. Edo 

uses the strong form of 3SG pronoun ((ı) yen) for logophoric reference as in 

4   Osagie              ı yēn                         y(o)         evbā 

     Osagie          COMP      3sg EMPH               went         there 

     Osagie said hei went there. 

In (3) above, ā is not specific on the human subject of the sentence  while in (4), 

the person referred to with the pronoun  ‘iyēn is understood to be the same as the 

subject of the main verb ‘say’ which is Osagie. 

Kari (2007:94) highlights a three way distinction in the pronominal system of  

Odual,  a language spoken in Cross river state. He points out that an interesting 

and distinguishing feature of Odual pronominal system especially as regards the 

personal pronoun is the distinction the language makes between inclusive and 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

59 

 

exclusive first person plural. Kari (2007:95) citing Givon (1984:354) claims that 

the inclusive and exclusive pronouns pertain to the hearers’ inclusion in or 

exclusion from the referential scope of ‘we’ either dual or plural. This inclusion or 

exclusion according to him is not directly predictable from the speaker and hearer 

rather they are potentially ambiguous and it is only natural that they are given 

overt specification. He exemplifies as follows 

 

5     èzìrǝ            noò                                       -ru 

      1PLS          1pl PRES PERF                come 

      We (incl)  have come 

 

6   èzǝǝr                        noò                           -ru 

     1PLS                 1pl.PRES PERF            come 

     We (excl) have come 

 

The first person plural subject ‘èzìrǝ’ is used when the hearer is included within 

the referential scope while ‘èzǝǝr’ is used when the hearer is excluded.          

 

1.2 Pronouns in Etulo 

1.2.1 Personal Pronouns 

Etulo distinguishes three types of personal pronouns. The three types of personal 

pronoun are the subject, object and possessive pronouns. Etulo does not make any 

gender distinction in its pronominal system. It distinguishes between the first, 

second and third person. The first person is used by the speaker to refer to himself 

or to a group which the speaker is part of. The second person is used to refer to 

the hearer or to a group which the hearer is part of while the third person refers to 

persons or things excluding the speaker and hearer. In respect of number in the 

personal pronoun, the language distinguishes between the singular and plural 

pronouns. The language however lacks any overt distinction between the second 

person singular and the second person plural. 

1.2.1.1 Subject Pronouns 

 Subject pronouns occur before the verb and function as the subject of a sentence. 

In isolation, the pronouns are produced in the following forms 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

60 

 

Table 1 

Singular 

1st  m/anî                                    I 

2nd abû                                       you 

3rd  ò                                          he/she/it 

Plural 

1st   èjî                                       we 

2nd   emâ                                    you 

3rd    a                                         they 

Segmentally, all subject pronouns begin with a vowel. The first and second person 

singular subjects have the same tone pattern (i.e.) starting with high tone and 

ending with a rising falling tone. In Etulo /m / and /anî / are used interchangeably 

as the subject forms of pronoun. 

7 illustrate the use of these pronouns in the subject position. 

 anî                   bâ                 wà 

1sgS               come            1sg pres perf             

I have come 

 

abû               bâ                     wà 

2sgS              come              2sg pres perf        

you(sg) have come 

 

O                     bâ                     wà 

3sgS                come              3sg pres   perf     

He/she has come 

 

 

èjî                     bâ                     wà 

1pl                   come               1pl pres perf       

We have come 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

61 

 

 

emâ                    bâ                     wà 

2pl                    come               2pl pres perf      

You(pl) have come 

 

a                          bâ                     wà 

3pl                     come                 3pl pres perf     

They have come. 

 

In 7, all subject pronouns maintain their inherent tone patterns in sentences except 

the pronoun that refers to the third person singular subject which has a low tone in 

isolation and becomes high when used in a sentence. It is also observed that the 

present perfect marker is CV. The vowel of the verb stem agrees with the vowel 

of the present perfective marker.  The form /wa/ is associated with the first, 

second and third person’s singular subjects as well as the plural subject pronouns. 

This is opposed to what obtains in the English language where the third person 

singular subject has a different form of present perfective marker. 

1.2.1.2 Object Pronouns 

Object pronouns occur after the verb, and function as the object of a sentence. 

These pronouns, in their isolation forms are identical with their subject 

counterparts both segmentally and tonally except the object pronoun referring to 

the third person singular and plural objects. Object pronouns are also consistent in 

their tone patterns when used in a sentence. 

Forms of Object Pronoun 

Table 2 

Singular 

1st anî                     me 

2nd abû                    you 

3rd n                       him/her 

plural 

1st  èjî                        us 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

62 

 

2nd emâ                       you(pl) 

3rd amâ                      they 

8 illustrates the use of these pronouns in object positions 

   ò                  kà                dı         anî                    

  3sgS          3sg fut        -see        1sgO     

  He will see me 

 

  m                 kà                dı         abû 

  1sgS        1sg fut           -see       2sgO   

  I    will see you 

 

  m                kà                dı          n 

  1sgS         1sg fut         -see       3sgO       

  I     will see him 

 

 ò                  kà             dı        èjî 

 3sgS            3sg fut     -see       1plO          

 he will see us 

 

èjî                   kà              dı        ma 

1plS          1pl fut          -see       3plO      

we will see them. 

 It is observed that the future marker has a CV form. /ka /the future marker remain 

the same and does not distinguish between number and person in the object forms 

of Etulo pronouns. 

 

 1.2.2 Possessive Pronouns  

Ownership in Etulo is expressed by the use of possessive pronoun. This is 

achieved by prefixing ‘mgba’ to the form of the object pronoun. When the 

possessive marker ‘mgba’ is in associative construction with the object forms of 

pronoun, the last sound segment (a) is elided.  

Forms of possessive pronoun: 

Table 3 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

63 

 

Singular 

1st mgbanî            mine 

2nd mgbabû        yours(sg) 

3rd mgban           his/hers 

plural 

1st mgbejî           ours 

2nd mgbemâ        yours(pl) 

3rd mgbamâ       theirs 

9 illustrates the use of these pronouns in possessive noun phrases 

ìgbe     mgbanî 

bag      1sgPOSS                   

my bag 

 

ìgbe      mgbabû 

bag      2sgPOSS                  

your (sg) bag 

 

 

 ìgbe    mgban 

bag     3sgPOSS                     

his/her bag 

 

ìgbe    mgbejî 

bag    1plPOSS                    

 our bag 

 

ìgbe   mgbemâ 

bag    2plPOSS                    

 your(pl) bag 

 

 ìgbe   mgbamâ 

bag      3plPOSS                  



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

64 

 

their bag 

 

In a possessive noun phrase, the possessive pronouns retain their inherent tone 

pattern. Also the possessive noun phrases do not undergo any alteration in 

segments. 

 

Table 4: Summary of Etulo personal pronouns 

                   Subject                  Object                       Possessive 

 1SG        m/anî  ‘I’               anî    ‘me’                    mgbanî  ‘mine’ 

  PL         ejî    ‘we’               ejî       ‘us’                   mgbejî    ‘ours’ 

2SG       abû  ‘ you’              abû    ‘you’                 mgbabû  ‘yours’ 

PL          abû    ‘you’           abû     ‘you’                 mgbemâ  yours 

3SG       o    ‘he/she ‘            n       him/her               mgban  ‘his/hers 

PL        a       ‘they’               emâ   ‘them’                 mgbamâ  ‘theirs 

 

1.2.3 Reflexive Pronouns  

Reflexivity in  Etulo  is expressed by the use of a construction which involves the 

combination of a noun ‘àbuwò’ and the object forms of the pronoun. The 

pronouns always succeed the noun as shown in the table below. 

Table 5 

àbuwò  anî 

self       1sgO       

myself 

 

àbuwò  abû 

self     2sgO   

 yourself 

 

àbuwò     n 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

65 

 

self         3sgO      

himself/herself 

 

àbuwò èjî 

self    1plO      

ourselves 

 

 àbuwò abû 

 self      2plO  

  yourselves 

 

àbuwò  emâ 

self       3plO   

 themselves 

 

 Below are sentence examples of the reflexive pronouns  

10.m                fo                 àbuwànî 

    1sgS           hear              1sgPOss               

    I    heard myself 

 

abû             fo             àbuwabû 

2sg S          hear            2sgPOSS           

 you heard yourself 

 

O                fo              àbuwon 

3sgS           hear           3sgPOss           

He heard himself 

 

 

èjî              fo            àbuwèjî  

1plS         hear           1plPOSS             

we heard ourselves 

 

a                  fo           àbuwèmâ 

3plS             hear      3plPOss            

 they heard themselves 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

66 

 

The noun /àbuwò/ ‘self’ remains the same for both singular and plural antecedent. 

It is also observed that the last sound segment of this form meaning self is elided 

except for the 3SG possessive pronoun where the last sound segment is retained.   

 

1.2.4 Demonstrative Pronoun 

Etulo has four demonstrative pronouns. These pronouns express contrast between 

distant and near and both substitute for objects which are known to both speaker 

and hearer.The four demonstrative pronouns in Etulo are divided into two 

proximal demonstratives /nenì/’this’ and/nanì/’that’ and two distal demonstratives 

/tenenì/’these’ and /tananì/’those’. Forms of demonstrative pronouns are shown 

below 

Table 6 

nenì    this 

nanì    that 

tenenì   these 

tananì  those 

 

In  isolation, the proximal demonstratives /nenì/’this’ and/nanì/ ’that’ have high-

low tone pattern. This tone pattern is maintained when they co-occur with other 

words. This is also true of the distal demonstratives tenenì/’these’ 

and/tananì/’those’. 11 illustrates demonstrative pronouns in noun phrases 

 

11.òzû     nenì   

    house   sg.prox        

    this house 

 

  òzû    nanì    

  house sg dist         

  that house 

 

òzû     tenenì  

house  pl. prox     

these houses 

 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

67 

 

òzû      tananì      

house   pl.dst       

those houses 

In the above construction, the demonstratives follow the nouns they modify. 

1.2.5 Interrogative Pronoun: 

 Some of the interrogative pronouns identified in the study include:  

Table7 

lème           who  /what 

mòle              how 

mt∫osìnè        why 

làlʊnwʊᴐ       why 

zòle               where 

Some illustrative examples of interrogatives are 

lème   ze  menâ 

who        there           

who is there? 

 

ìjı           abû    lème 

name     you     what       

what is your name? 

 

The forms mt∫osìnè and làlʊnwʊᴐ   can be used interchangeably to mean why as 

in 12 

mt∫osìnè   abu    lı     nwìkpᴐ 

why        you    be     cry       

why are you crying? 

 

làlʊnwʊᴐ     abu   lı          nwìkpᴐ 

why        you      be     cry      

why are you crying 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

68 

 

 

Conclusion 

The pronominal system of Etulo has been examined. Our findings show that most 

forms of subject pronoun maintain their inherent tone and do not alter segmentally 

in simple declarative sentences. Reflexivity is marked by a combination of a noun 

àbuwò meaning self and the possessive pronoun. It is however noted that the noun 

marking reflexivity does not vary in form irrespective of whether its antecedent is 

singular or plural. Also observed is the fact that tense markers do not have distinct 

forms that reflect the differences in the forms of pronoun.   

 

 

References 

Bloomfield, L. (1933) Language New York : Henry Holt 

Gigone, K (2003) Reflexives and Pronominals in Ambiguous English Sentences. 

Retrieved from www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/linguistcs/papers . 

Hatch ,E.and Brown C (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics and Language Education. 

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 

Kari, E. E (2007) The pronominal system of Odual. Studies in African Linguistics 

Volume 36(1) pages 90-113. 

Kempson, R.M (1995) Natural Language Interpretation in Language and Meaning 

in Palmer F. R (Ed), Essays in honour of Sir Lyons .Cambridge : Cambridge 

University Press. 

Lyons, J (1995) Introduction to theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge 

University press 

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. and Hyams, N. (2011). An Introduction to language. 

Wadsworth: Cengage learning. 

 Ruying, Q. (2005) From Nominal to Pronominal Person Reference in the early 

language of a Mandarin-English Bilingual child. Proceedings of the 4th 



 

 

Posthumous festschrift in honour of late professor R.O. Ezeuko, edited by Dr. Odinye, Egenti & Orji 

 

69 

 

international Symposium on Bilingualism, Cohen, M. K, Rolstad, K. and 

Macswan, J. S.( eds) MA; Cascadlla Press. 

Uchihara H (2010) Pronominals in Edo – A Descriptive Study. Retrieved from 

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~uchihara/pronominals. 

Yule G (1995) The Study of Language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 

 


