[Lingtyp] Pronouns for socially deictic 'The Powerful Other'

Tue Jul 5 03:30:59 UTC 2022

Actually I was able to find the ’slap renjia’ phrase on the internet:

打了人家一耳光和被人打了一耳光后，假如,是你,你会怎么来面对? 该做什么？
`If I slapped someone (renjia) and if I was slapped as well, what would you do if you were me? What should I do?’
https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1604408676780105707.html

Regards,
Ian

5/7/2022 오후 12:22, tangzhengda <tangzhengda at 126.com<mailto:tangzhengda at 126.com>> 작성:

Dear Ian,

Thank you for the question, here's the example agian,
我把這東西送給人家。
Wo ba zhe dongxi song gei renjia
1SG ACC this thing send BEN someone

"我把這東西送給人家" will fail to be felicitous IF it not in a context such that renjia is the justified receiver, beneficiary, or lawful creditor.
That is why '*我真想给人家一个耳光 ( i want to give renjia one slap on the face)' is totally absurd.
That is why '你必须给人家道歉(you must apologize to renjia)' is good and '人家必须给你道歉(Renjia must apologize to you)' is bad.
Renjia is never subject to any duty, obligation, necessary condition, submission.

--
唐正大
中国社会科学院语言研究所《中国语文》编辑部
北京市建国门内大街5号，100732

Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
No.5 Jianguomennei Dajie, Beijing, China; 100732

在 2022-07-05 11:06:39，"JOO, Ian [Student]" <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk<mailto:ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>> 写道：

Dear Zhengda,

I never had the impression that renja had some power connotation - could you provide an example?

For example,

我把這東西送給人家。
Wo ba zhe dongxi song gei renjia
1SG ACC this thing send BEN someone
‘I will give this to someone.’

In this phrase renjia simply means ‘someone’, with no connotation to power.

Regards,
Ian

05.07.2022 12:03, tangzhengda <tangzhengda at 126.com<mailto:tangzhengda at 126.com>> 작성:

Dear typologists,

Chinese has a commonly used pronoun renjia （人家，people-home）, roughly referring to a third party in dialogues.  Elusive as it may be, this socially deictic pronoun is used on the condition that the renjia-referring person takes a priority over (e.g. taller, richer, more dominant, or more justified than) a reference party involved in a certain state or event, be it addressor, addressee, or other third parties.

It means that once renjia is used, the main clause predicate somewhere is obliged to ensure that renjia takes the priority, which constitutes a special case of 'agreement' in some sense.

Brown and Gilman (1960)'s Solidarity and Power indices prove powerful in explaining T-V divisions. Renjia is special in its third-party denotation.

May I have the honor of your remindings of some similar terms for the 'Powerful, Autonomous Other' in other languages, or some literature.

Many thanks,

Zhengda

--
唐正大
中国社会科学院语言研究所《中国语文》编辑部
北京市建国门内大街5号，100732

Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
No.5 Jianguomennei Dajie, Beijing, China; 100732
_______________________________________________
Lingtyp mailing list
Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
[https://www.polyu.edu.hk/emaildisclaimer/85A-PolyU_Email_Signature.jpg]

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.

[https://www.polyu.edu.hk/emaildisclaimer/85A-PolyU_Email_Signature.jpg]

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.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20220705/4024824c/attachment.htm>