Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
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Wilson (1980: 11) gives 12 consonants and 5 vowels for Suena as follows:
| m | n | ||
| pʰ | tʰ | s | kʰ |
| b | d | dz | g |
| w | ɾ |
| i | u | |
| ɛ | ɔ | |
| a |
Glide /w/ is realized as bilabial voiced fricative [β] when followed by front vowels /i ɛ/.
Neither final consonants nor consonant clusters occur.
Wilson (1980: 35-36) gives Suena pronouns in six case forms as follows:
| nominative | emphatic | indirect object | possessive | reflexive | benefactive | |
| -ø | -nɛ | -mɔɾɛ | -sɔ | -tʰɔpʰɛ | ɛmɔ | |
| 1 sg. | na | na-nɛ | na-mɔɾɛ | na-sɔ | na-tʰɔpʰɛ | na ɛmɔ |
| 2 sg. | ni | ni-nɛ | ni-mɔɾɛ | ni-sɔ | ni-tʰɔpʰɛ | ni ɛmɔ |
| 3 sg. | nu | nu-nɛ | nu-mɔɾɛ | nu-sɔ | nu-tʰɔpʰɛ | nu ɛmɔ |
| 1 pl. excl. | na-kʰaɾɛ | na-nɛ-kʰaɾɛ | na-mɔɾɛ-kʰaɾɛ | na-sɔ-kʰaɾɛ | na-tʰɔpʰɛ-kʰaɾɛ | na-kʰaɾɛ ɛmɔ |
| 1 pl. incl. | na-kʰai | na-nɛ-kʰai | na-mɔɾɛ-kʰai | na-sɔ-kʰai | na-tʰɔpʰɛ-kʰai | na-kʰai ɛmɔ |
| 2 pl. | ni-kʰaɾɛ | ni-nɛ-kʰaɾɛ | ni-mɔrɛ-kʰaɾɛ | ni-sɔ-kʰaɾɛ | ni-tʰɔpʰɛ-kʰaɾɛ | ni-kʰaɾɛ ɛmɔ |
| 3 pl. | nu-kʰaɾɛ | nu-nɛ-kʰaɾɛ | nu-mɔɾɛ-kʰaɾɛ | nu-sɔ-kʰaɾɛ | nu-tʰɔpʰɛ-kʰaɾɛ | nu-kʰaɾɛ ɛmɔ |
| 1 dl. excl. | na-tʰɔ | na-nɛ-tʰɔ | na-mɔɾɛ-tʰɔ | na-sɔ-tʰɔ | na-tʰɔpʰɛ-tʰɔ | na-tʰɔ ɛmɔ |
| 1 dl. incl. | na-gɛ | na-nɛ-gɛ | na-mɔɾɛ-gɛ | na-sɔ-gɛ | na-tʰɔpʰɛ-gɛ | na-gɛ ɛmɔ |
| 2 dl. | ni-tʰɔ | ni-nɛ-tʰɔ | ni-mɔɾɛ-tʰɔ | ni-sɔ-tʰɔ | ni-tʰɔpʰɛ-tʰɔ | ni-tʰɔ ɛmɔ |
| 3 dl. | nu-tʰɔ | nu-nɛ-tʰɔ | nu-mɔɾɛ-tʰɔ | nu-sɔ-tʰɔ | nu-tʰɔpʰɛ-tʰɔ | nu-tʰɔ ɛmɔ |
The unmarked case designated here as nominative is used as both subject and object.
There are only three pronominal roots /na ni nu/, undifferentiated by number. The number formatives, e.g. /-tʰɔ/ dual from /ɛtʰɔ/ “two,” are of relatively recent origin and are probably best viewed as clitics. Some of these as well as the case formatives are found in closely-related Zia-Mawae and in Binandere, but in varying orders, suggesting that the pronominal complex is reducible to postpositional phrases at a shallow time depth.
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