A, the known or unknown person, people, thing, things.
Following a word ending in the vowel i or e, no determiner occurs; following words ending in other vowels, a variant -y occurs. A phrase introduced by this determiner is distributed as follows: 1) As a sentence comment following a negative bo'on.
Bo'on di payaw Wīgan di numbot'anda
The place they harvested rice was not the pond field of Wīgan.
2) As a sentence topic.
Hay manu' Habbēleng di natoy.
The things that died were Habbēleng's chickens.
3) With a genitive ligature suffix, -n, preceding, as a genitive phrase: either a possessive phrase or a non-focused agent of a verb phrase.
Henen inodnan Limlim ya howo' di danum.
As for that which Limlim held, it was a cup of water.
Inohwel di linalā'ih ten batu.
The men pried this stone.
For a description of concord among ligatures and determiners, including di1, see ah. See sec. 7.3.1.1, 7.25.1.
The one; a, the thing; a, the time; a, the place; the manner.
A pronoun determiner is followed either by a verb phrase or existential phrase.
Wāday napūlig hinan ūman Oltāgon.
There was a thing which rolled in Oltagon's upland field.
See sec. 7.8.1.
Marks a hamlet noun occurring as a sentence topic.
Dinalan nan bābuy di Patti'.
The pig walked to Patti', (i.e., it was not carried).
See sections 7.3.5, 7.25.1