338 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



INITIAL ELEMSA TS 



Pronominal Subject 



The pronominal subject is the true initial element of the complex. 



It is seldom omitted, only occasionally with the third person 

 singular and generally with imperative constructions, and is preceded 

 by only the proclitics. The pronominal subject is often reduplicated 

 without apparent reason. This may be best interpreted as the sub- 

 jective form preceded by the independent for emphasis. 



The subjective pronominal forms are closely related to the inde- 

 pendent ones. In some cases the two are identical, but more typically, 

 the subjective forms are briefer than the fuller forms, which seem 

 to contain a morphological element </. 



Singular Plural 



Phonetic rules of consonantal combination will probably account 

 for these variant pronominal forms except in the cases of conditional 



and imperative constructions where the disappearance of the initial 

 vowel of the pronominal form appears to be of morphological value. 



