Editing Manchu language (section)

==== Pronouns ====
Manchu personal pronouns have a [[clusivity]] distinction and mostly use the same case markers as nouns, but with some stem changes.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Manchu Pronoun Cases<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchu Studies Group lesson 6 – noun cases |url=https://www.manchustudiesgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Lesson-6-Noun-Cases.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314155607/https://www.manchustudiesgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Lesson-6-Noun-Cases.pdf |archive-date=Mar 14, 2023}}</ref>
! rowspan="3" |
! colspan="3" | 1st person
! colspan="2" | 2nd person
! colspan="2" | 3rd person
|-
! rowspan="2" | {{small|singular}} !! colspan="2" | {{small|plural}}
! rowspan="2" | {{small|singular}} !! rowspan="2" | {{small|plural}}
! rowspan="2" | {{small|singular}} !! rowspan="2" | {{small|plural}}
|-
! {{small|exclusive}}
! {{small|inclusive}}
|-
!Nominative
| bi
| be
| muse
| si
| suwe
| i
| ce
|-
!Accusative
| mimbe
| membe
| musebe
| simbe
| suwembe
| imbe
| cembe
|-
!Genitive
| mini
| meni
| musei
| sini
| suweni
| ini
| ceni
|-
!Dative
| minde
| mende
| musede
| sinde
| suwende
| inde
| cende
|-
!Ablative
| minci
| menci
| museci
| sinci
| suwenci
| inci
| cenci
|}
The 3rd person pronouns are used with human referents, but do not refer to non-humans. With non-humans, the demonstrative pronouns ''ere'' "this" and ''tere'' "that" are used instead.<ref>Gorelova 2002, 214f.; Haenisch 1986, 42f.; vgl. Manfred Reichardt, Shuxin Reichardt: ''Grammatik des modernen Chinesisch''. Leipzig: Verlag Enzyklopädie, 1990, {{ISBN|3-324-00332-6}}, S. 26; Gregor Kneussel: ''Grammatik des modernen Chinesisch / Xiàndài Hànyǔ yǔfǎ'' {{lang|zh-Hans|«现代汉语语法»}}. Beijing: Verlag für fremdsprachige Literatur / Wàiwén chūbǎnshè {{lang|zh-Hans|外文出版社}}, 2005, {{ISBN|7-119-04262-9}}, S. 45.</ref> Possession can be expressed with the genitive form of the personal pronouns: ''mini boo'' "my house", ''sini boo''  „your (sing.) house“, ''musei boo'' "our house" etc. Like English, Manchu has special forms for substantively used possessive pronouns; these are formed with the suffix ''-ngge'': ''miningge'' "mine", ''gūwaingge'' "somebody else's".
{{interlinear
| indent = 4|ere uthai we-i jaka – mini'''ngge'''|this then who-GEN thing – mine|"Whose is this thing? – It's mine."
}}
As in other East Asian languages, educated Manchus in the imperial period tended to avoid personal pronouns, especially for the first and second person, and often used paraphrases instead. For example, Manchu officials, when talking to the Emperor, referred to themselves with the word ''aha'' "slave" (instead of the pronoun ''bi'' "I"), and Han Chinese ones used ''amban'' "subject".<ref>Haenisch 1986, 43</ref> The Emperor, when talking to Manchu princes (''amban'' and ''beile''), called himself ''sitahūn niyalma'' "wretched person" or ''emteli beye'' "orphan". In general, [[calque]]s from Chinese were used. Another alternative were combinations of the personal pronouns in genitive and the word ''beye'' "self": ''mini beye'' "I" (lit. "my self"), ''sini beye'' "you (polite)" (lit. "your self").<ref>Gorelova, 227f.</ref>

The [[demonstrative pronouns]] are formed with the stems ''e-'' and ''u-'' for proximal (close) entities and ''te-'' and ''tu-'' for distal (far) entitites: ''ere'' "this", ''enteke'' "such", ''ubaingge'' "local (from here)"; ''tere'' "that", ''tenteke'' "such", ''tubaingge'' "local (from there)".

The demonstrative pronouns ''ere'' "this" and ''tere'' "that" can also be used alone like personal pronouns (and are obligatorily so for non-human referents). They form the plural with ''-se'' and are declined in a way that isn't always entirely regular:
{| class="wikitable"
!—
!this one
!that one
!these (ones)
!those (ones)
|-
!Nominative
|''ere'' 
|''tere''
|''ese''
|''tese''
|-
!Genitive
|''ere(n)i''
|''terei'' 
|''esei'' 
|''tesei'' 
|-
!Dative
|''e(re)de'' 
|''te(re)de'' 
|''esede'' 
|''tesede'' 
|-
!Accusative
|''erebe'' 
|''terebe'' 
|''esebe'' 
|''tesebe'' 
|-
!Ablative
|''ereci'' 
|''tereci'' 
|''eseci'' 
|''teseci'' 
|}
When pronouns function as attributes, the case marker is not placed after the pronoun, but only after the noun:<ref>Gorelova 2002, 218.</ref>
{{interlinear
| indent = 4|enenggi ere ba de ainu ebu-mbi|today this place DAT why stop-IMPERF|"Why have you stopped here today?"
}}
The most important [[Interrogative word|interrogative pronouns]] are ''we'' "who", ''ai'' "what", ''ya'' "what, which" (attributive), ''aika'', ''aimaka'', ''yaka'', ''yamaka'' "what sort of", ''aba'', ''aiba'', ''yaba'' "where", ''eke'' "who is this?", ''udu'' "how much/many?", ''ainu'' "how, why?". The following table exemplifies the case declension of interrogative pronouns:
{| class="wikitable"
!Nominative
!''we'' "who?"
!''ai'' "what?"
!''ya'' "what, which?"
|-
!Genitive
|''wei'' "whose?"
|''aini'' "with/by what?"
| –
|-
!Dative
|''wede'' "to whom?"
|''aide'' "where, why, how?"
|''ya de'' "where?"
|-
!Accusative
|''webe'' "whom?"
|''aibe'' "what?"
|''ya be'' "what, which?"
|-
!Ablative
|''weci'' "from whom?"
|''aici'' "what sort of ...?"
|''yaci'' "from where?"
|}
The pronouns ''ai'', ''ya'' and ''we'' are also used as [[relative pronoun]]s.

The most important [[indefinite pronoun]]s are ''we we'' "whoever"; ''ai ai'', ''ya ya'' "whatever", ''aika'', ''aimaka'', ''yaka'', ''yamaka'' "whatever, whichever (attributive)"; ''ememu'', ''ememungge'' "many", ''gūwa'' "someone (else)"; ''eiten'', ''yaya'', ''beri beri'', ''meni meni'', ''meimeni'', ''geren'' "every", "all".