

8. Reflexive and reciprocal pro-sumti: the vo'a-series

The following cmavo are discussed in this section:

vo'a    KOhA    vo'a-series x1 of this bridi
vo'e    KOhA    vo'a-series x2 of this bridi
vo'i    KOhA    vo'a-series x3 of this bridi
vo'o    KOhA    vo'a-series x4 of this bridi
vo'u    KOhA    vo'a-series x5 of this bridi
soi SOI         reciprocity
se'u    SEhU            soi terminator

The cmavo of the vo'a-series are pro-sumti anaphora, like those of the ri-series, but have a specific function. These cmavo refer to the other places of the same bridi; the five of them represent up to five places. The same vo'a-series cmavo mean different things in different bridi. Some examples:

✥8.1  mi lumci vo'a
I wash myself

✥8.2  mi klama le zarci vo'e
I go to the store from itself
    [by some route unspecified].

To refer to places of neighboring bridi, constructions like “le se go'i ku” do the job: this refers to the 2nd place of the previous main bridi, as explained in c7-§6.

The cmavo of the vo'a-series are also used with “soi” (of selma'o SOI) to precisely express reciprocity, which in English is imprecisely expressed with a discursive phrase like “vice versa”:

✥8.3  mi prami do
    soi vo'a vo'e
I love you
    [reciprocity] [x1 of this bridi]
    [x2 of this bridi].
I love you and vice versa (swapping “I” and “you”).

The significance of “soi vo'a vo'e” is that the bridi is still true even if the x1 (specified by “vo'a”) and the x2 (specified by “vo'e”) places are interchanged. If only a single sumti follows “soi”, then the sumti immediately preceding “soi” is understood to be one of those involved:

✥8.4  mi prami do soi vo'a
I love you [reciprocity] [x1 of this bridi].

again involves the x1 and x2 places.

Of course, other places can be involved, and other sumti may be used in place of vo'a-series cmavo, provided those other sumti can be reasonably understood as referring to the same things mentioned in the bridi proper. Here are several examples that mean the same thing:

✥8.5  mi bajra ti ta soi vo'e
mi bajra ti ta soi vo'e vo'i
soi vo'e vo'i mi bajra ti ta
I run to this from that and vice versa
    (to that from this).

The elidable terminator for “soi” is “se'u” (selma'o SEhU), which is normally needed only if there is just one sumti after the “soi”, and the “soi” construction is not at the end of the bridi. Constructions using “soi” are free modifiers, and as such can go almost anywhere. Here is an example where “se'u” is required:

✥8.6  mi bajykla ti
    soi vo'i se'u ta
I runningly-go to-this
    [reciprocity] [x3 of this bridi] from-that
I run to this from that and vice versa.