This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2019) |
In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically, the distinction is between the speaker (first person), the addressee (second person), and others (third person). A language's set of pronouns is typically defined by grammatical person. First person includes the speaker (English: I, we), second person is the person or people spoken to (English: your or you), and third person includes all that are not listed above (English: he, she, it, they). It also frequently affects verbs, and sometimes nouns or possessive relationships.
Related classifications
Number
In Indo-European languages, first-, second-, and third-person pronouns are typically also marked for singular and plural forms, and sometimes dual form as well (grammatical number).
Inclusive/exclusive distinction
Some other languages use different classifying systems, especially in the plural pronouns. One frequently found difference not present in most Indo-European languages is a contrast between inclusive and exclusive "we": a distinction of first-person plural pronouns between including or excluding the addressee.
Honorifics
Many languages express person with different morphemes in order to distinguish degrees of formality and informality. A simple honorific system common among European languages is the T–V distinction. Some other languages have much more elaborate systems of formality that go well beyond the T–V distinction, and use many different pronouns and verb forms that express the speaker's relationship with the people they are addressing. Many Malayo-Polynesian languages, such as Javanese and Balinese, are well known for their complex systems of honorifics; Japanese,Korean, and Chinese also have similar systems to a lesser extent.
Effect on verbs
In many languages, the verb takes a form dependent on the person of the subject and whether it is singular or plural. In English, this happens with the verb to be as follows:
- I am (first-person singular)
- you are/thou art (second-person singular)
- he, she, one, it is (third-person singular)
- we are (first-person plural)
- you are/ye are (second-person plural)
- they are (third-person plural, and third-person singular)
Other verbs in English take the suffix -s to mark the present tense third person singular, excluding singular 'they'.
In many languages, such as French, the verb in any given tense takes a different suffix for any of the various combinations of person and number of the subject.
Additional persons
The grammar of some languages divide the semantic space into more than three persons. The extra categories may be termed fourth person, fifth person, etc. Such terms are not absolute but can refer, depending on context, to any of several phenomena.
Some Algonquian languages and Salishan languages divide the category of third person into two parts: proximate for a more topical third person, and obviative for a less topical third person. The obviative is sometimes called the fourth person. In this manner, Hindi and Bangla may also categorize pronouns in the fourth, and with the latter a fifth person.[clarification needed]
The term fourth person is also sometimes used for the category of indefinite or generic referents, which work like one in English phrases such as "one should be prepared" or people in people say that..., when the grammar treats them differently from ordinary third-person forms.[citation needed] The so-called "zero person" in Finnish and related languages, in addition to passive voice, may serve to leave the subject-referent open. Zero person subjects are sometimes translated as "one", although in tone it is similar to English's generic you "Ei saa koskettaa" ("Not allowed to touch", "You should not touch").
English personal pronouns in the nominative case
| Pronoun | Person and number | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | ||
| I | First-person singular | |
| we | First-person plural | |
| you | Second-person singular or second-person plural | |
| he | Third-person masculine singular | masculine |
| she | Third-person feminine singular | feminine |
| it | Third-person neuter (and inanimate) singular | neuter |
| they | Third-person plural or gender-neutral singular | epicene |
| Dialectal | ||
| me | First-person singular, dialectal Caribbean English and colloquial special uses | |
| thee | Second-person singular, literary, dialectal Yorkshire, and occasional use by Quakers | |
| Second-person plural, many English-based creole languages, dialectal Caribbean English | ||
| unu | Second-person plural, many English-based creole languages, dialectal Caribbean English | |
| y'all | Second-person plural, dialectal Southern American, Texan English, and African-American English | |
| ye | Second-person plural, dialectal Hiberno-English and Newfoundland English | |
| yinz | Second-person plural, Scots, dialectal Scottish English, Pittsburgh English | |
| you guys | Second-person plural, dialectal American English and Canadian English | |
| you(r) lot | Second-person plural, dialectal British English | |
| yous(e) | Second-person plural, Australian English, many urban American dialects like New York City English and Chicago English, as well as Ottawa Valley English. Sporadic usage in some British English dialects, such as Mancunian. Also used by some speakers of Hiberno-English. | |
| yourse | Second-person plural, Scots, dialect Central Scottish Lowlands, Scouse, Cumbrian, Tyneside, Hiberno English. | |
| us | First-person plural subject, as in, us guys are going... | |
| them | Third-person plural subject, as in, them girls drove... | |
| Archaic | ||
| thou | Second-person singular informal subject | |
| ye | Second-person plural | |
See also
Grammar
- English personal pronouns
- Gender-neutral pronoun
- Gender-specific pronoun
- Generic antecedents
- Generic you
- Grammatical conjugation
- Grammatical number
- Illeism
- Personal pronoun
- Singular they
- Verb
- Fourth wall
Works
- First Person Singular §§ Literature and Film and television
- First Person Plural, a book by Cameron West
- Second Person Singular, a book by Sayed Kashua
- Third Person Singular Number, a film by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
- Third Person Plural, a film directed by James Ricketson and starring Bryan Brown
References
- Hattum, Ton van (2006). "First, Second, Third Person: Grammatical Person". Ton van Hattum.
- Filimonova, Elena (2005). Clusivity: Typology and Case Studies of Inclusive-exclusive Distinction. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-2974-8.[page needed]
- Itoh, Keiko (2016). "Japanese Honorifics". My Shanghai, 1942-1946. Amsterdam University Press. pp. x–xi. doi:10.1515/9781898823414-003. ISBN 978-1-898823-41-4. JSTOR j.ctt1s17nnj.5.
- Byon, Andrew Sangpil (2000). "Teaching Korean honorifics". The Korean Language in America. 5: 275–289. JSTOR 42922325.
- Harrigan, Atticus G.; Schmirler, Katherine; Arppe, Antti; Antonsen, Lene; Trosterud, Trond; Wolvengrey, Arok (November 2017). "Learning from the computational modelling of Plains Cree verbs". Morphology. 27 (4): 565–598. doi:10.1007/s11525-017-9315-x. S2CID 10649070.
- Linguistics: Stack Exchange
- Laitinen, Lea (2006). "Zero person in Finnish: A grammatical resource for construing human reference". Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. 277: 209–231. doi:10.1075/cilt.277.15lai.
- Leinonen, Marja (January 1983). "Generic zero subjects in Finnish and Russian". Scando-Slavica. 29 (1): 143–161. doi:10.1080/00806768308600841.
External links
- de Gaynesford, Robert Maximillian (2006). I: The Meaning of the First Person Term. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kibort, Anna (2008), "person", Grammatical Features Inventory, doi:10.15126/SMG.18/1.03
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Grammatical person news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message In linguistics grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant s in an event typically the distinction is between the speaker first person the addressee second person and others third person A language s set of pronouns is typically defined by grammatical person First person includes the speaker English I we second person is the person or people spoken to English your or you and third person includes all that are not listed above English he she it they It also frequently affects verbs and sometimes nouns or possessive relationships Related classificationsNumber In Indo European languages first second and third person pronouns are typically also marked for singular and plural forms and sometimes dual form as well grammatical number Inclusive exclusive distinction Some other languages use different classifying systems especially in the plural pronouns One frequently found difference not present in most Indo European languages is a contrast between inclusive and exclusive we a distinction of first person plural pronouns between including or excluding the addressee Honorifics Many languages express person with different morphemes in order to distinguish degrees of formality and informality A simple honorific system common among European languages is the T V distinction Some other languages have much more elaborate systems of formality that go well beyond the T V distinction and use many different pronouns and verb forms that express the speaker s relationship with the people they are addressing Many Malayo Polynesian languages such as Javanese and Balinese are well known for their complex systems of honorifics Japanese Korean and Chinese also have similar systems to a lesser extent Effect on verbsIn many languages the verb takes a form dependent on the person of the subject and whether it is singular or plural In English this happens with the verb to be as follows I am first person singular you are thou art second person singular he she one it is third person singular we are first person plural you are ye are second person plural they are third person plural and third person singular Other verbs in English take the suffix s to mark the present tense third person singular excluding singular they In many languages such as French the verb in any given tense takes a different suffix for any of the various combinations of person and number of the subject Additional personsThe grammar of some languages divide the semantic space into more than three persons The extra categories may be termed fourth person fifth person etc Such terms are not absolute but can refer depending on context to any of several phenomena Some Algonquian languages and Salishan languages divide the category of third person into two parts proximate for a more topical third person and obviative for a less topical third person The obviative is sometimes called the fourth person In this manner Hindi and Bangla may also categorize pronouns in the fourth and with the latter a fifth person clarification needed The term fourth person is also sometimes used for the category of indefinite or generic referents which work like one in English phrases such as one should be prepared or people in people say that when the grammar treats them differently from ordinary third person forms citation needed The so called zero person in Finnish and related languages in addition to passive voice may serve to leave the subject referent open Zero person subjects are sometimes translated as one although in tone it is similar to English s generic you Ei saa koskettaa Not allowed to touch You should not touch English personal pronouns in the nominative casePronoun Person and number GenderStandardI First person singularwe First person pluralyou Second person singular or second person pluralhe Third person masculine singular masculineshe Third person feminine singular feminineit Third person neuter and inanimate singular neuterthey Third person plural or gender neutral singular epiceneDialectalme First person singular dialectal Caribbean English and colloquial special usesthee Second person singular literary dialectal Yorkshire and occasional use by QuakersSecond person plural many English based creole languages dialectal Caribbean Englishunu Second person plural many English based creole languages dialectal Caribbean Englishy all Second person plural dialectal Southern American Texan English and African American Englishye Second person plural dialectal Hiberno English and Newfoundland Englishyinz Second person plural Scots dialectal Scottish English Pittsburgh Englishyou guys Second person plural dialectal American English and Canadian Englishyou r lot Second person plural dialectal British Englishyous e Second person plural Australian English many urban American dialects like New York City English and Chicago English as well as Ottawa Valley English Sporadic usage in some British English dialects such as Mancunian Also used by some speakers of Hiberno English yourse Second person plural Scots dialect Central Scottish Lowlands Scouse Cumbrian Tyneside Hiberno English us First person plural subject as in us guys are going them Third person plural subject as in them girls drove Archaicthou Second person singular informal subjectye Second person pluralSee alsoGrammar English personal pronouns Gender neutral pronoun Gender specific pronoun Generic antecedents Generic you Grammatical conjugation Grammatical number Illeism Personal pronoun Singular they Verb Fourth wallWorks First Person Singular Literature and Film and television First Person Plural a book by Cameron West Second Person Singular a book by Sayed Kashua Third Person Singular Number a film by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Third Person Plural a film directed by James Ricketson and starring Bryan BrownReferencesHattum Ton van 2006 First Second Third Person Grammatical Person Ton van Hattum Filimonova Elena 2005 Clusivity Typology and Case Studies of Inclusive exclusive Distinction John Benjamins Publishing ISBN 978 90 272 2974 8 page needed Itoh Keiko 2016 Japanese Honorifics My Shanghai 1942 1946 Amsterdam University Press pp x xi doi 10 1515 9781898823414 003 ISBN 978 1 898823 41 4 JSTOR j ctt1s17nnj 5 Byon Andrew Sangpil 2000 Teaching Korean honorifics The Korean Language in America 5 275 289 JSTOR 42922325 Harrigan Atticus G Schmirler Katherine Arppe Antti Antonsen Lene Trosterud Trond Wolvengrey Arok November 2017 Learning from the computational modelling of Plains Cree verbs Morphology 27 4 565 598 doi 10 1007 s11525 017 9315 x S2CID 10649070 Linguistics Stack Exchange Laitinen Lea 2006 Zero person in Finnish A grammatical resource for construing human reference Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 277 209 231 doi 10 1075 cilt 277 15lai Leinonen Marja January 1983 Generic zero subjects in Finnish and Russian Scando Slavica 29 1 143 161 doi 10 1080 00806768308600841 External linksLook up grammatical person in Wiktionary the free dictionary de Gaynesford Robert Maximillian 2006 I The Meaning of the First Person Term Oxford Oxford University Press Kibort Anna 2008 person Grammatical Features Inventory doi 10 15126 SMG 18 1 03
