Pronouns
Dothraki 1
Course 1 · Chapter 5 · Pronouns
You can now name a thing and mark its job in a sentence. This chapter adds the words that stand in for people and things: the personal pronouns ("I", "you", "we"), the way possession is shown ("my", "your"), and the demonstratives ("this", "that"). Pronouns take case endings just like nouns, so everything from Chapter 4 applies.
The Personal Pronouns
Here is the full table, with the nominative (subject) and the genitive (possessive) side by side, from Peterson's own pronoun post and the Dothraki wiki:
| English | Nominative | Genitive |
|---|---|---|
| I | anha | anni |
| we | kisha | kishi |
| you (singular) | yer | yeri |
| you (plural) | yeri | yeri |
| you (formal, respectful) | shafka | shafki |
| he, she, it | me | mae |
| they | mori | mori |
- Three kinds of "you": yer for one person, yeri for several, and shafka for either when you wish to be formal or respectful.
- No gender in the third person: me covers "he", "she" and "it".
- Overlaps: yeri is both the plural "you" and the genitive of the singular "you"; context tells you which.
All the Cases of the Pronouns
| Pronoun | Nom. | Acc. | Gen. | Allative | Ablative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | anha | anna | anni | anhaan | anhoon |
| we | kisha | kisha | kishi | kishaan | kishoon |
| you (sg.) | yer | yera | yeri | yeraan | yeroon |
| you (pl.) | yeri | yeri | yeri | yerea | yeroa |
| you (formal) | shafka | shafka | shafki | shafkea | shafkoa |
| he/she/it | me | mae | mae | maan | moon |
| they | mori | mora | mori | morea | moroa |
Look for the patterns you met in Chapter 4: -aan or -ea for "towards", -oon or -oa for "from".
Possession with the Genitive
Put the genitive pronoun after the noun it describes: shekh ma shieraki anni is "my sun and stars", with anni "of me" at the end. Chapter 1's second phrase, jalan atthirari anni "moon of my life", ends the same way.
This, That and That Over There
Dothraki separates three distances, where English uses two. Each has a root:
| Root | Meaning | English |
|---|---|---|
| jin | near the speaker, often within reach | "this" |
| haz | nearer the person spoken to than the speaker | "that (by you)" |
| rek | near neither of you | "that over there" |
As a modifier before a noun the demonstrative does not change form. As a pronoun ("this one") it has animate singular, animate plural and inanimate forms:
| Nominative | Animate sg. | Animate pl. | Inanimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| this | jinak | jinaki | jini |
| that (by you) | hazak | hazaki | hazi |
| that over there | rekak | rekaki | reki |
The accusative of the inanimate forms is the bare root (jin, haz, rek), and the animate accusative singular ends in -es (jinakes), as in Chapter 4.
Hands-On Exercises
Give the Dothraki for: "I", "we", "you" (to one person), "you" (to a group), "you" (very respectfully), and "he/she/it". Which of these is also the genitive of another?
📄 View solutionUsing the table, say "to me", "from us", "to you" (singular), and "of them". Then explain how shekh ma shieraki anni expresses "my".
📄 View solutionWhich demonstrative root would you use for something in your hand, something on the other person's table, and something on a hill in the distance? Give the inanimate nominative of each.
📄 View solutionChapter 5 Quick Reference
- Nominative: anha I, kisha we, yer you (sg.), yeri you (pl.), shafka you (formal), me he/she/it, mori they
- Genitive (possessive): anni, kishi, yeri, yeri, shafki, mae, mori
- Allative/ablative: I anhaan/anhoon; we kishaan/kishoon; you yeraan/yeroon
- Demonstratives: jin this, haz that (by you), rek that over there; before a noun they do not change