This paradigm contains pronouns that are prosodically, morphologically,
and syntactically independent. The pronouns all start with the vowel
/ò/ or /à/ followed by a part that is similar in form to the
bound possessive/object pronouns (Sections 6.2.2 +
6.2.3). While the first and second person
pronouns carry only low tones, the third person human pronouns carry a
low and a mid tone. Independent pronouns never adhere to vowel
harmony.
Table 6.1: Independent pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1PERS | ònì | àbès |
| 2PERS | òsì | àbèn |
| 3PERS.HUM | àu | àba |
| 3PERS.NHUM | ɛ̀jì | ìjì |
These pronouns are generally used to express emphasis. A pronoun in the
fronted focus position, for example, must be an independent pronoun. In
this position, the pronoun can function as subject, primary object, or
auxiliary object (see Example 6.1). Example 6.1 c shows a fronted pronoun that is the object of
the auxiliary verb
ʃa
(auxiliary verbs are discussed in Section 6.2).
| 6.1 | a |
| b |
Independent pronouns can also be used as subject pronouns without the
focus marker
gí
and replace the
bound subject pronoun (see Example 6.2). In this
case, without the focus marker
gí
, they can only
function as subjects and must carry the 1H (see Section 2.5). A semantic difference between Example 6.2 and
6.1 a is not perceived by speakers. In both
cases, the pronoun is emphasized.
Besides the fronted focus position, there are other contexts where
independent pronouns must be used instead of bound pronouns. Firstly,
they are required with the conjunction íni or its Yoruba equivalent àti. Only the emphatic pronoun can also occur in that
position (see Example 6.3 c).
| 6.3 | a |
Secondly, they have to be used after certain function nouns, such
èdʒì
'like'
, ègido
'only', and íʃa
'for' (Example 6.4)
| 6.4 | a |
Thirdly, they have to be used before defunct verbs (see Section 5.3.3).
And lastly, only independent pronouns can be modified by relative clauses
or numerals.
| 6.6 | a |