Pronouns

Sort	Word Class	Palanteinc	Pronounciation	English	Additional	Notes
1	pronoun	e	​[eː]	I	sing.
2	pronoun	te	​[t​eː]	you	sing.
3	pronoun	dam	​[d​a​m]	he	sing.	male adult, married
4	pronoun	im	[​im]	she	sing.	female adult, married
5	pronoun	eme	[​’e​.​me]	“single”	sing.	adult, single
6	pronoun	me	[meː​]	“child”	sing.	child
7	pronoun	cap	​[ka​​p​]	it	sing.	everything non-human
8	pronoun	eiñ	​​[ei​ŋ]	we	pl.	us, inclusive
9	pronoun	eipö	​​[‘ei​​.p​​ø​]	we	pl.	us , exclusive
10	pronoun	eiñc	​​[ei​ŋk]	we	pl.	us, inlcusive invoking the spirit of Palanteinc)
11	pronoun	teppo	​[‘t​e​.​ʔp​o]	you	pl.
12	pronoun	itopo	[​’i.​to.po​]	you	pl.	everything non-human
13	pronoun	emepo	[​’e​.​me.po]	they	pl.
14	pronoun	cappo	​[‘ka​.​ʔp​o]	they	pl.	everything non-human

Pronouns (singular)

Let’s start with the easy ones: e (I) and te (you).

Now, things get a bit complicated. For the Palanteinc, “gender” only really became a topic of importance upon marriage, which is why the gendered pronouns are linked to your marital status. There used to be only two distinct (adult) gendered pronouns: female “im” (wife/married woman) and male “dam” (husband/married man). These pronouns were used for whoever was perceived as an adult, as for the vast majority of Palanteinc it was simply a given that one would be married at that age.

Traditionally marriage was decided by the local councils. A small part of their population would choose not to marry and later fought against being referred to as me (child) for their entire life, as it sounded like people did not respect them as adults. The nupas recognized and incorporated the new third adult status within their society and they agreed upon a name as well. Their pronouns are “eme”. 

Up until marriage, every child, regardless of their gender, would be referred to with “me”.

The last remaining pronoun for singular “individuals” is: cap (it). This can refer to an animal, a plant or literally everything but a human being.

Pronouns (plural)

While speaking to/about a group of people you have a choice to make: Are you including the relevant people who are with you in the room right now (everyone listening to your speech etc.)? Or are you excluding some(one)? 

eiñ (we, inclusive)

eipö (we, exclusive)

Generally speaking, even though the distinction between these two is well known, communicated and even taught in school and should not come with any connotations, it certainly does. A Palanteinc will always prefer to use the first, inclusive we over the other, out of a need for harmony and kindness. The exclusive we is a rarely occurring word in everyday life.

The third option “eiñc” is used primarily during prayers, ceremonies and to invoke the blessing of the communal spirit. And yet, it is also known to be used in swearing.

Finally, the clear distinctions – the plural “you”:

teppo (you, pl.) 
itopo (you, pl.) (everything non-human)

And the plural “they”:

emepo (they, pl.)
cappo (they, pl.) (everything non-human)