ni / da

Marking Personal Names

Level 1

ni + name refers to one person; da + name can refer to that person and others.

How It Works

Ni and da introduce personal-name participants and named possessors in appropriate clause positions. Da before a name need not mean several people with that name: it can mean the named person and companions or associates. The phrase's number changes without adding an English-like agreement ending to every predicate.

Kin terms can receive personal marking when used as particular personal references. The teaching source describes this as normal for immediate-family terms and allows either personal or common marking with some other kin terms. Referring to a human does not by itself require ni.

Compare a marked participant, ni Mila, with direct address, Mila, …, which omits the marker. Singular personal obliques use ken or ken ni; associative plural obliques use kada. Da after a host can separately be a subject or possessor pronoun. Its position and construction distinguish those pronoun uses from the separate marker before a name.

Examples (5)

  1. Nagawid ni Mila.

    Mila went home.

    Ni marks one named actor.

  2. Nagawid da Mila.

    Mila and her companions went home.

    Da supplies associative plural reference.

  3. Napintas ti balay ni Ruben.

    Ruben's house is beautiful.

    Ni introduces the named possessor.

  4. Dakkel ti balay da Mila.

    The house of Mila and her associates is big.

    The separate da before the name marks an associative plural possessor.

  5. Lina, umayka ditoy.

    Lina, come here.

    The vocative name has no ni.

How It Connects

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ni / daLevel 1Marking Personal Names

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