english pronoun case (was Re: everybody...their)

[Herb Stahlke]

>>> zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU 04/20/01 01:39PM >>>
From: Herb Stahlke <hstahlke at GW.BSU.EDU>:

heavily snipped

 >I lean more to Mark's statement on case in English.  Certainly, the
 >reflexes of ME nominative pronouns are still used consistently as
 >subjects if the pronoun is the sole expression of the subject.  Their
 >strong forms also show up as emphatic sole subjects,
 >but the weak forms combine with auxiliary verbs to reduce almost
 >unanalyzably.

>in these combinations the pronouns are not reduced at all (or
>at the most, have laxed vowels); "I" is quite robust in "I'm".

?  unstressed "I'm" regular reduces to a syllabic nasal homorganic to the next consonant.

>are you maintaining that HIM in "I SAW 'im" is necessarily focused, or
>topical, or both?

topical

Herb