Object mi / ọ / un

Short Object Pronouns

Level 1

Short object pronouns follow the verb and identify a participant affected by or involved in its meaning.

How It Works

Mi refers to the speaker as object. Its surface tone must be checked in context: established examples illustrate both mi and mí, so learn the tone in its particular construction. The second-person singular object is ọ after a high-tone monosyllabic verb, but ọ́ after a low- or mid-tone monosyllabic verb.

Third-person objects often repeat the preceding verb vowel: rí i means ‘see him, her, or it’, whereas tú u means ‘untie it’. Nasal un follows a monosyllabic verb ending in high-tone nasal /ũ/; ún follows the corresponding low- or mid-tone environment. Oral u and nasal un are distinct. These patterns do not establish one universal object form after every verb.

Examples (4)

  1. Títí rí mi.

    Títí saw me.

    Mi follows high-tone rí as the object.

  2. Bísí rí ọ.

    Bísí saw you.

    The second-person object has mid tone after high-tone rí.

  3. Kúnlé tú u.

    Kúnlé untied it.

    The separate third-person object repeats oral u.

  4. Dára rí i.

    Dára saw him, her, or it.

    The object repeats i and does not encode gender.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Object mi / ọ / unLevel 1Short Object Pronouns

Learn This First

Place short objects after the verb and preserve contextual tones.