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