onçóm

See also: oncom

Macanese

Alternative forms

• unçôm, unçom, ungsóm, unsóm, unsó, onsom, (common) onçôm, onçom

Etymology

Portuguese um (“a, one”) + só (“alone”) (Macanese unga +‎ sô), hence the older forms unsó and unçom, first formed in Malaysian Portuguese and Kristang. Final nasalization possibly influenced by the nasality of the un- (and later on-) component. For the /u/ → /o/ shift, compare fonçám (versus expected *funçám). For the word-final nasalization, compare sium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oŋˈsɔŋ/, /uŋˈsɔŋ/

Adjective

onçóm

1. alone, unaccompanied (by oneself)

   Synonyms: sô, sômente

   êle onçóm vêm ― he came alone

   já ficâ onçóm ― he was left alone

Pronoun

onçóm

1. reflexive pronoun: oneself

   têm na onçóm sa casa ― he is in his own home

   sâm êle onçóm falâ ― he said it himself

Usage notes

• May take the place of Portuguese se, for example entreter-se (“to keep oneself entertained”) becomes entretê onçóm in Macanese.
• As seen in the first collocation, onçóm-sa (“one's own”) is a possible possessive pronoun, however it is not as common as su which is functionally equivalent.
• Often written as onçôm.

See also

Macanese personal pronouns (edit)
Person	Singular	Possessive	Plural	Possessive	Reflexive	Possessive
First	iou, io, mi*, ieu*	iou-sa, iou-sua#, minha, io-sa, io-sua#	nôs, nosôtro*	nôs-sa, nôsso, nôs-sua#	onçóm	su, onçóm-sa*, onçóm-sua#
Second	vôs	vôs-sa, vôsso, su, vôs-sua#	vosôtro	vosôtro-sa, su, vosôtro-sua#
Third	êle, êla*	êle-sa, su, êle-sua#	ilôtro, elôtro*, olôtro*, ulôtro*	ilôtro-sa, su, ilôtro-sua#

#: dated.
*: rare.