separate lexical items for singular
and plural.
|
/h / |
`I’ |
/n  / |
`we’ |
| /nyś/ |
`you (sg.)’ |
/įnč/
|
`you (pl.)’
|
|
Pronouns :
|
|
Pronouns form a subclass of nouns. They are anaphoric, in
the sense, that they replace
nouns in a sentence. They are distinguished
from nouns by the criterion of person. Nouns are always in third person.
Pronouns occur with reference to three persons, viz., the speaker, the
person addressed to and the rest.
|
The major classification of pronouns
is into personal and interrogative pronouns.
|
Personal Pronouns :
|
|
They constitute one of the several classes of elements
whose meaning is to be stated with reference to `Diexis’, i.e., the spatio-temporal
situation of the utterance. In different situations, the nouns are replaced
by different pronouns. The choice of replacement is based on the following
criteria.
|
(i)
|
Referent in the Utterance :
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The person or the thing referred to in
the sentence. This shows a three-way apposition.
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First person;
|
Referent is the
speaker of the utterance.
|
Second person :
|
Referent is the
person to whom the utterance is addressed.
|
Third person :
|
Referent is
someone other than the above two.
|
(ii)
|
Gender Reference :
|
By virtue of the definition of
language, the speaker and the listener are always human or presumed to have
human characteristics. However, the third person can refer to any gender. A
lexical distinction is made for third person between human and non-human in
a restricted environment.
|
(iii)
|
Diexis :
|
The speaker and the listener do not
have any diectic characteristics. It is significant for third person and
incorporated two types of distinctions.
|
(a)
|
Proximity :
|
|
It indicates whether the referent in the utterance is
near the speaker or far away from him, in space as well as time giving rise
to two distinctions, viz., proximate and remote. No further distinctions are
made for proximate.
|
| (b)
|
Visibility :
|
|
However, the remote third person is distinguished for
visibility. It indicates whether the referent is within the range of vision
of the speaker or not. The reference is more to the knowledge of the speaker
as to whether
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