2014-02-02
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Pronouns are words with miscellaneous morphological and syntactic properties performing a DEICTIC and/or ANAPHORIC functions.
à The part of speech “Pronoun” is constituted primarily on the basis of the semantic criterion, not on the basis of their morphological and/or syntactic properties.
A grammar which denies the semantic criterion for parts of speech also denies the existence of pronouns. If denied, pronouns are regarded as representatives of other parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, adverbs.) whose meaning is minimally specified. E.g. she is a pronoun which, of itself, does no more than identify its referent as a single person or thing which is or is classed or conceived as female.
E.g. she came in where the meaning of she can be described as underspecified reference to any single female animate being, which needs to be specified by context (anaphora) or situation (deixis).
In this case, they are called “pro-forms”, which are divided into “ pro-nouns”, “pro-adjectives”, “pro-adverbs” etc.
Deixis is the way in which the reference of certain elements in a sentence is determined in relation to a specific speaker and addressee and a specific time and place of utterance.
E.g. in I came yesterday, the reference of I will be to whoever is speaking on some specific occasion, and the time reference of yesterday will be to the day before the one on which they are doing so.
ANAPHORA is the relation between an element and another element, in the same or in an earlier sentence, that supplies its referent.
E.g. in Mary disguised herself, the reflexive pronoun herself is understood as anaphoric to Mary: that is, it refers to whoever Mary refers to.
E.g. A: ' Where's Mary?'
B: She 's in the garden,
she in the sentence B utters is meant to be understood as anaphoric to earlier Mary.
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Elements other than pronouns can be anaphoric as well,
e.g. the idiot is anaphoric to John in
I asked John but the idiot wouldn't tell me
e.g. do so is anaphoric to help in I wanted to help but I couldn't do so.
Cataphora: e.g. she is anaphoric to Mary in When she read it Mary was delighted.
Some pronouns are only deictic, e.g. I, which refers to whoever is speaking at the moment, or you, which refers to whoever is spoken to (or whoever is spoken to and a number of other people).
Other pronouns are deictic and anaphoric, e.g.
Deictic:
Dean: So who skips lectures in Theoretical Grammar?
Nikolaev: (pointing at a not at all intimidated student) SHE!
Anaphoric:
When students go to the US, they improve their English
When a student meets another student, they greet each other
Some elements are only anaphoric, e.g. one in
I don’t like that small car, I want that big one.
I wanted to buy a car. In order to do so, I needed a driver’s license.
TYPES OF PRONOUNS
Types of pronouns are defined on the basis of their morphological and syntactic properties.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Indicate personal deixis, i.e. point to the role of a sentence element in the act of communication.
1st person singular: the speaker
2nd person singular: the hearer
3rd person singular: neither the speaker not the hearer
1st person plural: the speaker and (an)other person(s)
2nd person plural: several hearer or one/several hearer(s) and others
3rd person plural: several persons or things spoken of
The 3rd person can also be anaphoric, cf. above.
à Although number of pronouns correlates with the number of nouns (students à they), it has a different semantic content.
There is no social deixis, i.e. the social relations (ranks) of the speaker and the hearer are not reflected by personal pronouns (cf. Russ. ты / вы). The absence of social deixis is connected with the neutralization of the opposition in number in the 2nd person: you did it refers either to one (2nd person singular) or to several persons (2nd person plural, previously also 2nd plural used with reference to one person as a form of politeness).
Gender/animacy distinctions are nonexistent in the 1st and 2nd persons, but present in the 3rd person singular, which “agrees” with certain features in the lexical meaning of its antecedent or referent according to the noun gender/animacy classification described in the lecture on the noun.
Case:
Personal pronouns have two cases – the “nominative” and the “objective”. This case distinction cuts across the case distinction in the sphere of noun with its Common: Genitive opposition.
The cases mark solely the syntactic function of a personal pronoun,
Nominative is confined to the Subject position, e.g. I decided to call him, whereas
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Objective is used in all other positions, e.g.
object: he called me, he talked to me
predicative: it’s me, it’s him etc., where it successfully competes with the nominative case, e.g. it’s I.
The objective case has spread to the predicative position quite recently. Until recently, it was at least possible to say it’s I, it’s he etc.
The case distinction is neutralized in the neuter, cf. it – it.
The case forms are formed irregularly, often by suppletion, cf. I – me.
