pronominalconjugation

Pronominal conjugation is a term used in linguistics to describe systems in which a verb's form carries pronominal information—such as person and number, or reflexive and reciprocal relations—rather than relying solely on independent pronouns. In such systems, subject information is often expressed through verb agreement (concord) on the verb itself, while object or reflexive meanings may be indicated by attached clitics or incorporated affixes.

Morphology in pronominal conjugation typically involves affixes, infixes, or clitics that attach to the verb. These markers can indicate the subject’s person and number, and may also encode object harmony, reflexivity, or reciprocation. The result is a tighter integration of pronoun meaning with the verb form, reducing the need for separate pronoun words in the sentence. Pronominal clitics are especially common for objects and reflexives, appearing as short morphemes that attach to the conjugated verb.

Typologically, pronominal conjugation occurs in a variety of language families. In many Bantu languages, verb morphology includes subject concord markers that agree with the subject, and objects may be expressed via additional clitics or affixes. Romance languages frequently employ pronominal clitics that attach to finite verbs, particularly in compound tenses and periphrastic constructions, while the subject is often explicit or inferred from verb form. Pro‑drop languages often rely more heavily on verbal pronominal cues to convey person and number.

Relationship to related concepts includes pronominal clitics, subject–object concord, and reflexive or reciprocal verb forms. Pronominal conjugation highlights how pronoun information can be tightly integrated into verbal morphology rather than remaining as separate words.