[Lingtyp] Definition of “personal pronoun"

Sun Jul 11 15:21:18 UTC 2021

Yes, Bhat (2004) and Kibrik (2011) are excellent typological books from 
which I have learned a lot (thanks to Don Killian and Daniel Hieber for 
mentioning them).

But they do not seem to say clearly how personal pronouns are delimited 
from demonstratives. Bhat (2004), as in his WALS chapter 
<https://wals.info/chapter/43>, discusses the formal relationships 
between demonstratives and 3rd person pronouns, but how do we tell them 
apart? For example, Basque is sometimes said to lack 3rd-person pronouns 
and to use demonstratives instead (/hau, hori, hura/), and sometimes it 
is said to use demonstratives "as 3rd-person pronouns" 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_grammar#Personal_pronouns> – which 
of these is true depends on the definition of "personal pronoun". Kibrik 
(2011: 125) considers two criteria (""adnominal use", "a single 
structural-distributional system with locuphoric pronouns") but falls 
short of providing a clear definition.

This is why I proposed the definition in terms of coreferential use in a 
complement clause, as in

/Jon-ek dio hura azkarra d-ela./
Jon-ERG says DEM smart be-COMP
'Jon(i) says that he(i) is smart.' (Iraola & Ezeizabarrena 2011)

Here the Basque distal demonstrative /hura/ 'that (one)' is used 
coreferentially with the matrix subject, so according to this 
definition, /hura/ is (also) a personal pronoun. It contrasts crucially 
with Spanish, where the distal demonstrative /aquél/ 'that (one)' cannot 
be used in this way (/Juan(i) dice que (*aquél(i)) es inteligente/).

A language that is similar to Basque in that it seems to "use its 
demonstratives as personal pronouns" is Lezgian, but it appears that 
they cannot be used in a complement clause, because reflexive pronouns 
are required in this context (Haspelmath 1993: §22.4.2). Thus, even 
though Lezgian /am/abur/ often correspond to English /he/she/they/, they 
do not count as personal pronouns.

[This delimitation may strike one as arbitrary, and it is – but I am 
assuming that we want *some* delimitation, because "personal pronoun" 
and "demonstrative" are technical terms that we want to have clear 
definitions for.]

Thanks also to Riccardo Giomi for mentioning the term "pro(-)form" used 
in FDG (along with "pro-adverb", "pro-verb", etc.). These kinds of terms 
have been used for quite some time (e.g. in Quirk et al. 1985, the 
well-known grammar of English), but they have not become standard. In a 
recent Twitter poll, when asked about what term to use for "where", a 
majority favoured "adverbial interrogative pronoun" or "interrogative 
pronominal adverb" over "interrogative pro-adverb" 
(https://twitter.com/haspelmath/status/1413525671163400192).

Best,
Martin

Am 11.07.21 um 06:01 schrieb 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
>
>
> /Disclaimer:/
>
> /This message (including any attachments) contains confidential 
> information intended for a specific individual and purpose. If you are 
> not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and notify 
> the sender and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (the University) 
> immediately. Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message, 
> or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited and 
> may be unlawful./
>
> /The University specifically denies any responsibility for the 
> accuracy or quality of information obtained through University E-mail 
> Facilities. Any views and opinions expressed are only those of the 
> author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the University and 
> the University accepts no liability whatsoever for any losses or 
> damages incurred or caused to any party as a result of the use of such 
> information./
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp

-- 
Martin Haspelmath
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
https://www.shh.mpg.de/employees/42385/25522

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20210711/6788d68b/attachment.htm>