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Pronouns & Basic Sentence Structure

Personal pronouns, ang vs. ng forms, basic predicate-first word order
Enclitic pronoun positions
pronouns cluster after first word of sentence
varies
Enclitic series: ko, mo, niya, namin, natin, ninyo, nila etc.
Enclitic ordering rules
fixed hierarchy for multiple enclitics
varies
Na/pa come before pronouns; ba follows all: Binibigyan na ba niya tayo?
Long vs. short pronoun forms
full form vs. enclitic form
varies
Ako vs. ko; ikaw vs. ka; siya vs. niya in object position
Three-case pronoun paradigm
ang-pronouns, ng-pronouns, sa-pronouns
varies
Ako/ko/akin; ikaw(ka)/mo/iyo; siya/niya/kanya -- full paradigm
Reflexive: sarili
self reflexive pronoun
sah-ree-lee
Ang sarili ko = myself; inaalagaan niya ang sarili niya = she takes care of herself
Topic prominence in discourse
topic ang-marked tracks discourse referent
varies
Tagalog is topic-prominent; ang NP is the discourse anchor
Information structure: given vs. new
predicate-first order places new info first
varies
New/focus info is the predicate; given info is the topic
Cleft constructions for emphasis
Sino ang kumain? / Ang kumain ay si Juan.
varies
Cleft construction for contrastive emphasis; ay-inversion in answer
Existential sentences with mayroon/wala
there is / there is no
may-rohn / wah-lah
Mayroon and wala as predicates in existential constructions
Discourse tracking with pronouns
how pronouns maintain referents across sentences
varies
Once introduced with si/ang, referent tracked by siya/niya in subsequent clauses