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

Tue Jul 5 05:11:54 UTC 2022

Your example greatly helps, instead.

打了人家一耳光 is of course OK and not uncommon, but it is only good when the context is available where the act of slapping is not justified.
This can be tested through the introduction of context,

他打了人家一耳光，他被逮捕了。（√ he slaps, he was arrested)
*他打了人家一耳光，是正当防卫。(× he slaps, this is justifiable defense）

*人家i打了他一耳光，人家被逮捕了。（× renjia slaps, renjia was arrested）
人家打了他一耳光，属于正当防卫。（√ renjia slaps, this is justifiable defense）

Context are always availalbe even when they are not expressed. 

Let's come to the following sentence on the same website which is the reply to the question you've posted here.

先想想自己有没有错，如果我没有错的话，我会还他(not renjia 人家)一耳光。但如果我错的话，我会默默承受，并说声对不起。

More examples with the speakers stance overtly expressed，

你打人家是违法的
You beat renjia is unlawful

人家打你有理有据
Renjia beat you is justified

If you try to switch the position between you and renjia, both are 'unlawful'.

--

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

At 2022-07-05 11:30:59, "JOO, Ian [Student]" <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk> wrote:

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> 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> 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> 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
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