Ross reconstructs the following pronominal paradigm for Trans–New Guinea, with
*a~*i ablaut for singular~non-singular: : There is a related but less commonly attested form for 'we',
*nu, as well as a
*ja for 'you', which Ross speculates may have been a polite form. In addition, there were
dual suffixes
*-li and
*-t, and a plural suffix
*-nV, (i.e.
n plus a vowel) as well as
collective number suffixes
*-pi- (dual) and
*-m- (plural) that functioned as
inclusive we when used in the first person. (Reflexes of the collective suffixes, however, are limited geographically to the central and eastern highlands, and so might not be as old as proto-Trans–New Guinea.) ==Morphology==