Phi practice Pronouns and topic-drop in Phi

Reading 6 of 11

Part 5

Between each other: wiso

The evening's verbs begin to pass both ways. wiso takes the same object position and carries the action between the members of a plural subject:

lo mia wiso naphe.

PL 1SG RECP help.

(We help each other.)

lo mia wiso whaline.

PL 1SG RECP thank.

(We thank each other.)

Help going around a table, thanks answering thanks: this is the reciprocal's home territory, and its opening syllable is a gift to memory, since wi is also Phi's word for two.

01The subject must already be plural

wiso brings no plurality of its own; it reports a relation, and a relation needs at least two. lo or coordination supplies them:

lo shia wiso sano.

PL 3SG RECP know.

(They know one another.)

mia nela thia wiso lothea.

1SG COORD 2SG RECP love.

(You and I love each other.)

In a larger group, the mutuality takes whatever shape the group gives it: every member to every other, pairs, or the mutual weave of a whole table. The pronoun states the direction, between, and the room fills in the pattern.

02Self or each other

miso and wiso share their final syllable and their position, and one minimal pair holds them apart forever:

lo mia miso nila.

PL 1SG REFL see.

(We see ourselves.)

lo mia wiso nila.

PL 1SG RECP see.

(We see each other.)

Mirrors, or eyes meeting: the first sends each gaze back to its own face, the second sends the gazes across. Ask where the action lands, on each actor or between them, and the right so word chooses itself.

Practicepass it around

  1. We love each other.
  2. You all help each other.
  3. They teach one another.
  4. We see ourselves. Then change one word and let the gazes cross.

Answers: 1 lo mia wiso lothea. 2 lo thia wiso naphe. 3 lo shia wiso thumela. 4 lo mia miso nila., then lo mia wiso nila. One syllable turns the mirror into a meeting, which is exactly the kind of difference worth a drill.