In this post we will learn about pronouns in Chamorro, including the four pronoun groups, important features of pronouns in Chamorro, and general tips for how the different pronouns are used.

Contents
What is a Pronoun? Features of Chamorro Pronouns Yu’ Type Pronouns Hu Type Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Emphatic Pronouns Study Resource: Quizlet Flashcards Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References

What is a Pronoun?

Pronouns are words like “he, she, it, they, them, us.” Pronouns can be used in place of nouns as subjects in a sentence (She saw the dog vs. The woman saw the dog) or they can be used in place of nouns as objects (The child hugged her vs. The child hugged the girl.)

Features of Chamorro Pronouns

There are four groups of pronouns in Chamorro, and all the pronouns have features regarding inclusive vs. exclusive, single vs. plural, and gender.

Inclusive vs. Exclusive

For the pronouns “us, we, ours”, there are pronouns that are considered inclusive versus exclusive. An inclusive pronoun means that the people being spoken to are included in the “us, we, ours.” An exclusive pronoun means that the people being spoken to are excluded. We can think about the exclusive pronouns as an “us but not you.” Here are some examples:

Inclusive Example: If I go on a long hike with a friend and we are both tired at the end, I could say to her, Yayas hit which means “We (2) are tired.” In that situation, I am including my friend in the “we.”

Exclusive Example: If I’m at a family party and have eaten my fill but two of my cousins show up late, they could walk up to me and say Ñålang ham which means “We (2) are hungry (but not you).” In this situation, my cousins are not including me in the “we.”

Single vs. Plural

In English, the pronoun “you” can be used to refer to one person or multiple people. In Chamorro, there are two different pronouns to differentiate from a singular “you” and a plural “you.” We can think about the plural “you” as an equivalent to the English “you all.”

Gender

Finally, a big difference between English and Chamorro pronouns is around gender. In English, there are gendered pronouns when referring to single, third person, such as with the words “he” and “she.” In Chamorro, the pronouns are not gendered, and the same word is used for “he” and “she.”

Yu’ Type Pronouns

This first group of pronouns is called the Yu’ Type Pronouns, and are used in constructions where the pronoun follows an adjective, noun, or verb. They are often used in descriptive sentences, such as “I am hungry” or “They are tall.” They are also used when a pronoun is the object of a sentence, such as in the sentence “The woman hugged him” or “The child kicked it.” Finally, you will see these pronouns in action sentences that don’t have an object, such as “I am sleeping” or “They are swimming.”

The yu’ type pronouns are shown below:

Chamorro	English
Yu’	I
Hao	You (singular)
Gue’	He / She / It
Hit	We (inclusive)
Ham	We (exclusive)
Hamyo	You (plural)
Siha	They (plural)

Hu Type Pronouns

Hu type pronouns can be used as subjects in transitive sentences, which includes sentences like “She bought the apple” or “You borrowed that car.” We also see hu type pronouns as the subjects in future tense constructions, like “She will buy the apple” or “You will borrow that car.”

One thing to note about hu type pronouns is that when we use a noun as a subject, we still include the hu type pronoun in the sentence. This differs from English, which drops the pronoun when a noun subject is used. Some examples are below, with the Chamorro pronoun in italics:

Chamorro	English
Ha fahan i bilembinas.	She bought the starfruit.
I palao’an ha fahan i bilembinas.	The woman bought the starfruit.
Ha fahan i palao’an i bilembinas.	The woman bought the starfruit.

The full list of hu type pronouns are below:

Chamorro	English
Hu	I
Un	You (singular)
Ha	He / She / It
Ta	We (inclusive)
In	We (exclusive)
En	You (plural)
Ma	They (plural)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are attached to the end of words to indicate that they belong to someone or something. It’s also important to note that possessive pronouns must also be used with words called classifiers when making possessive statements for food, drinks, and animals. Additionally, with the addition of possessive pronouns, the stress placement in the word shifts.

The full list of possessive pronouns is shown below:

Chamorro	English
-hu / -ku	My
-mu	Your (singular)
-ña	His / Hers / Its
-ta	Our (inclusive)
-måmi	Our (exclusive)
-miyu	Your (plural)
-ñiha	Their (plural)

If you would like a more in-depth look at how possessive pronouns are used, read my introductory post on possessive pronouns:

Lesson 32: My, Yours, Hers – Introduction to Possessive Pronouns in Chamorro

Emphatic Pronouns

This last group of pronouns, the emphatic pronouns, can be used in constructions where emphasis is placed on the pronoun. For example, the statement “You are the one I saw” has a different flavor and more emphasis placed on the pronoun you when compared with the sentence, “I saw you.” And in Chamorro, we can use the emphatic pronoun for you in the first sentence, while the second sentence would use the yu’ type pronoun for you. These pronouns can also be used to respond to questions like “Who is next?”

The emphatic pronouns are shown below:

Chamorro	English
Guahu	I / Me
Hågu	You (singular)
Guiya	He / She / It
Hita	We (inclusive)
Hami	We (exclusive)
Hamyo	You (plural)
Siha	They (plural)

Study Resource: Quizlet Flashcards

I’ve created four flashcard decks to help with learning and reviewing the different pronouns in Chamorro. They can be found here:

Yu’ Type Pronouns Quizlet Deck
Hu Type Pronouns Quizlet Deck
Possessive Pronouns Quizlet Deck
Emphatic Pronouns Quizlet Deck

Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

And that concludes our introduction to pronouns! If you want to start learning how to use these pronouns in basic sentences, click the link below to start the first beginner lesson:

Lesson 01: Start Describing Yourself in Chamorro – “I’m Hungry”, “I’m Thirsty” and More

References

Topping, D. M., & Ogo, P. M. (1980). Spoken Chamorro with Grammatical Notes and Glossary (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia) (2nd ed.). University of Hawaii Press.

• Pronouns: pg. 106 – 111