[Lingtyp] Definition of “personal pronoun"

[Daniel W. Hieber]

Dear Ian,

I think it would be worthwhile to also consider the definition of pronouns advanced in Andrej Kibrik's excellent Reference in discourse. Some relevant quotes are below. Note that Kibrik is here using pronoun to mean primarily personal pronoun (p. 121).
"[...] the term 'pronoun' implies only three things. First, a pronoun is a referential device, directly coding referents. Second, it is a reduced referential device, that is, it does not have lexical content. Third, pronouns are overt devices, and so are opposed to zero reference." (p. 121; empahsis in the original)
Kibrik also notes that there are other types of items which sometimes share the function of personal pronouns, but should not themselves be considered personal pronouns:
Linguistic elements that can be characterized as overt reduced referential devices most typically coincide with what are traditionally known as personal pronouns. In the context of referential choice between full and reduced referential devices, most often these are third person pronouns. English is a typical example of a language that uses third person pronouns when a reduced referential device is needed. However, in this kind of language other reduced devices may be used, such as demonstratives. Furthermore, not all languages have dedicated third person pronouns: some languages employ overt reduced referential devices that fall out of the scope of what traditionally counts as third person pronouns. Several kinds of linguistic elements that belong to other pronoun types or even different lexico-grammatical classes may effectively function in discourse as analogues of third person pronouns. Such analogues can be thought of as marginal overt reduced referential devices.
Among these, the most salient ones are: demonstratives, classifiers, and social status nouns. All of these devices are distinct from personal pronouns, in particular because they do not contain the category of person. [...] However, in certain languages that lack genuine third person pronouns these devices play the pronominal role. (p. 124; emphasis in the original)
Kibrik also helpfully distinguishes between strong vs. weak pronouns, where strong pronouns are prosodically and pragmatically marked, and weak pronouns are prosodically reduced and/or dependent. Weak pronouns are functionally analogous to bound pronouns (p. 92).

Hope that's helpful!

Danny

References

  *   Kibrik, Andrej A. 2011. Reference in discourse. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215805.001.0001<https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215805.001.0001>.

Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Alberta Language Technology Lab (ALTLab)
danielhieber.com​<http://www.danielhieber.com>
________________________________
From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of JOO, Ian [Student] <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>
Sent: Monday, July 5, 2021 11:53 PM
To: LINGTYP <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: [Lingtyp] Definition of “personal pronoun"

Dear typologists,

I’m having a hard time trying to find a definition of a “personal pronoun”.
One definition is that a personal pronoun refers to a literal person, a human being. But then again, non-human pronouns like English it are also frequently included as a personal pronoun.
Another definition seems to be that “personal” refers to a grammatical person and not a literal person. Thus, it refers to the (non-human) 3rd person, therefore it is a personal pronoun.
But then again, demonstratives, interrogative, and indefinite pronouns also refer to the 3rd person. (This is a book, who is that man, anything is possible) Then are they also personal pronouns?
What’s the clearest definition of a personal pronoun, if any?

From Hong Kong,
Ian
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