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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Matthew's interesting remark on Hausa <EM>ya</EM>
makes me think that it all depends on how we define "pronoun". If we admit, as
Matthew does, that <EM>ya </EM>is a separate word, then I would consider it as a
pronoun, because being a separate word seems to be one of the main defining
features of elements that we call personal pronouns, knowing that
their other defining features are that they inflect for person (and, in
various languages, mentioned by several members of LINGTYP in this discussion,
also T or A or M) and may function as subjects or complements. To that extent,
they should be distinguished from <EM>indices</EM>, which are personal (and
often tensed) affixes on the nominal (cf. Akkadian or Bugis) or verbal predicate
(for the distinction I propose between personal <U>pronoun</U> (free or separate
word) and personal <U>index</U> (affix), let me take the liberty of referring to
<EM>La structure des langues</EM> (Paris, PUF), 2001 (6th ed.): 98). Here is,
among many others, an example, taken from Aymara, in which we have
both a personal pronoun and a personal affix in the same sentence:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>xuma-Xa tluqatla-a-ta-wa </EM>(2SG-TOP
boy-PRED-2SG.IND-FOC<EM>)</EM> "you are a boy".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We see here that "2SG" is expressed both by
<EM>xuma </EM>(a separate word which is a person marker and to which the topic
marker is attached) and <EM>-ta- </EM>(an inflectional (person) affix that also
encodes the mood; by the way, and to come back to Roland Hemmauer's query, this
example shows that in some languages, like Aymara, nominals, in order to
function as predicate, need a special predicative marker
(<EM>-a- </EM> in the example above) ). Although Hausa <EM>ya </EM>in
Matthew's example encodes COMPL, in my opinion it behaves as an index rather
than a pronoun.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>All best, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Claude.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>