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2.Personal Pronouns

Pronouns are of two kinds: the independent personal pronouns and the demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite pronouns. Independent personal pronouns are composed either of a single free stem, monosyllabic in the singular and disyllabic in the dual, or of a stem plus the distributive prefix daa-. The forms are identical in both languages.

         

Person	Singular	Dual	Distributive
1	shí
2	ndí	nahí	daanahí
3	bí	góbí	daabí or daagóbí
3a	kí	kí	daakí

As may be seen from the above table, four persons are recognized in the singular. The 3a person is used when it is necessary to distinguish between two third persons or to refer to individuals with whom a respect relationship is maintained (See Morris Edward Opler, "Chiricahua Apache Social Organization" in F. Eggan [ed.], Social Anthropology of North American Tribes (Chicago, 1937), pp. 214 et seq.). In the dual, there are but two forms, one denoting either the first or the second person, and the other the third person. The third person dual is, however, rarely used; most often the singular form is employed everywhere, number being inferred from the context.

It should also be pointed out that the distinction between dual and distributive is not solely a distinction of number. As a matter of fact, the dual is frequently employed in contexts in which it is obvious that a greater number than two are being referred to. When the distributive is used, there is not only the denotation of a plural but also the implication that every individual of the group participates in the action.

The pronouns are not inflected; their syntactic function may be indicated by their position in the sentence or may be inferred from the context.