case and number in pronouns

[Colin P Masica]

Dear ALT Colleagues,

RE: the Russian doctor's way of addressing his/her patients, I can't resist
pointing out that this type of language is fairly common in hospitals and
nursing homes on the part of nurses: e.g., "Are we ready to have our bath
now?" (And less delicate examples...)

Colin Masica

> From: "Chirkova, K." <K.Chirkova at LET.LEIDENUNIV.NL>
> Reply-To: "Chirkova, K." <K.Chirkova at LET.LEIDENUNIV.NL>
> Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 10:49:40 +0100
> To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Subject: Re: case and number in pronouns
>
> Dear Henning,
>
>> Does anyone know of comparable usages of personal pronouns in other
>> languages, i.e. where inclusive, exclusive or plural pronouns can have
>> singular reference when they are used as modifiers?
>
> In Peking Mandarin (and in Mandarin in general), it is very standard to use
> both the inclusive (_zan2_, _za2men_) and the exclusive (_wo3men_) plural
> first person pronouns for singular reference. For instance, when speaking
> about family members, e.g. _wo3men lao3 tai4tai_ 'our/my old mother', or
> when referring to the speaker himself, e.g. _zan2 qiong2._ 'I am poor.'.
>
> Note also that honorific forms for second and third person pronoun in Peking
> Mandarin, _nin2_ 'you' and _tan1_ 'he', are derived from plural second and
> third personal pronouns _ni3men_ and _ta1men_ respectively. One can also use
> the plural second person pronoun _ni3men_ when referring to the listener,
> just like in your example from Southern Min.
>
> Finally, the inclusive plural first person pronoun _zan2_, _za2men_ can be
> used when addressing the listener(s) (in the meaning 'you'). For this usage
> see Yuen Ren Chao, _A grammar of spoken Chinese_ (1968: 638). The same usage
> is common in Russian, e.g. a doctor addressing his patient _Kak nashi dela?_
> 'How is it going (with you)?', literally 'How are our matters?'
>
> The usage of the possessive pronoun _our_ with names of family members in
> non-standard varieties of English, noted by Bernard Comrie, reminds me of a
> similar use of the possessive pronoun _onze_ 'our' in Brabant Dutch. When
> speaking about family members (parents, siblings, children), one tends to
> add "onze" 'our', e.g. "onze Martijn" 'our Martijn'.
>
> Katia Chirkova
>
>
> ====================
>
> Katia Chirkova
> Leiden University
> Research School CNWS
> Nonnensteeg 1-3
> P.O. Box 9515
> 2300 RA Leiden
> The Netherlands
> K.Chirkova at let.leidenuniv.nl
> http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/chirkova/
>