[Linganth] First person pronouns

Sat Aug 26 05:55:07 UTC 2017

Has anyone mentioned English “one” and French “on” ?

Best,
Kit W.

From: Linganth <linganth-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Tatsuma Padoan <tp26 at soas.ac.uk>
Date: Friday, August 25, 2017 at 7:57 PM
To: Liz Coville <ecoville at gmail.com>
Cc: "LINGANTH at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG" <linganth at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Linganth] First person pronouns

Hello,

Although not an alternative type of singular first person pronoun (only an alternative pronominal option for singular users), Benveniste interestingly refers to the category of "amplified person" when discussing the use of "we" for self-presentation of singular speaking subjects, as in the case of pluralis maiestatis, or pluralis modestiae ("pop. Tuscan, 'Noi si canta'", Problems in General Linguistics, p. 203).

Best,
Tatsuma

------------------------------------------
Dr Tatsuma PADOAN

JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of Anthropology

Osaka University, Japan

Research Associate

Department of Religions and Philosophies

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square

London WC1H 0XG

UK

https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff90819.php

------------------------------------------

On 26 August 2017 at 06:16, Liz Coville <ecoville at gmail.com<mailto:ecoville at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Cyndi,

To follow up on the Malay example, Pete Becker alluded to Maly first person singular pronouns in his short essay "Silence across languages" in Beyond Translation: Essays toward a Modern Philology (1995) (and probably elsewhere as well):

"When we confront a distant language, we are compelled to give full attention to the fact that saying, for instance, "I am" is something we do with words in English, for in that distant language there is no I like our I, and no am at all.  To put one's speaking self into words in Burmese, Javanese or Malay is to make claims of status (high or low) that alienate our very selves... (284)."

Best,

Liz

On Fri, Aug 25, 2017 at 11:35 AM So Miyagawa <runa.uei at gmail.com<mailto:runa.uei at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Cyndi,

Malay has aku (informal) and saya (formal) as the first-person singular pronouns.

Reference:
Current Trends in Pronoun Usage Among Malay Speakers
by Normala Othman
http://www.philippines-languages.sil.org/ical/papers/othman-Current%20Trends%20in%20Pronoun%20Usage.pdf (see p.5)

I'm a native Japanese speaker, so I wanted to tell you Japanese examples, but you've already mentioned that.

Best wishes,
So

--
So Miyagawa [soː mijɑˈgɑwɑ]
CRC1136 "Education and Religion in Cultures of the Mediterranean
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On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 5:44 PM, Cynthia Dunn <cyndi.dunn at uni.edu<mailto:cyndi.dunn at uni.edu>> wrote:
Hello all.  I am writing a piece talking about the use of pronouns in self-representation and I wanted to ask if people are aware of languages besides Japanese which offer speakers a choice of more than one option for singular, first-person pronouns (based on things like gender, situational formality etc).  If you are, I would appreciate a brief grammatical outline of the system and/or direction to an appropriate reference work.  You can contact me directly off the list at: Cyndi.Dunn at uni.edu<mailto:Cyndi.Dunn at uni.edu>

Cyndi Dunn
Professor of Anthropology
Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls IA 50614-0513 U.S.A.

(319) 273-6251<tel:(319)%20273-6251>
Cyndi.Dunn at uni.edu<mailto:Cyndi.Dunn at uni.edu>

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