Example 49-38

Se pou ou manje sa a. — Se pou wou manje sa a.
Se
hl
pou
for
ou
2sg.dep
manje
eat
sa
dem
a.
sg.pro
Se
hl
pou
for
wou
2sg.indp
manje
food
sa
dem
a.
sg.det
You have to eat this. — This food is for you.
French: Tu dois manger ça (= sa a se pou ou manje l). — Ce repas est à toi (= manje sa a (se) pou wou).
Comment:
Dejean rightly insists on “the subtle syntactic distinction reflected in the phonic surface form [...] of the second person singular pronoun” ou/wou. For the other pronouns, there is ambiguity in the long form: se pou mwen/li/nou/yo manje sa a, but no ambiguity in the short form of the pronoun: se pou m/w/l/n manje sa a (sa a se pou (pronoun) manje l) 'I/you/he/we/you/they must eat that'.
Type:
naturalistic spoken
Source:
Dejean 1982: 12