Grammatical, Pragmatic and Sociolinguistic Aspects of the First Person Plural Pronoun

2012 ◽  
pp. 319-338 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
First Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
First Person Plural

scholarly journals We Shall Fight: Speaker-Exclusive We as a Grammatical Metaphor

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Francesca Santulli
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Other ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
First Person ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
The One ◽  
Metaphorical Interpretation

The first person plural pronoun cannot be considered as an expression of pluralization of the first. Its semantic boundaries are defined in context, and this inherent vagueness an be pragmatically exploited for communicative purposes. Beyond the frequently investigated opposition between (addressee-) inclusive vs exclusive forms, this paper explores non-prototypical uses of the first person plural pronoun, focusing on the conflicts that arise when it is used in contexts that semantically exclude the speaker. Speaker-exclusive forms can occur in different situations, ranging from interpersonal exchanges to public discourse. The paper investigates their different semantic implications, highlighting their common traits as well as their crucial peculiarities. Both the review of the literature and the analysis of actual examples bring forth the different values and functions of various speaker-exclusive occurrences of the first person plural. A more systematic categorization of the forms can be obtained adopting a metaphorical interpretation, which on the one hand emphasises their common denominator (i.e. speaker-exclusiveness) and, on the other, sheds light on their varying communicative potential.

Effects of the interpreter’s political awareness on pronoun shifts in political interviews

Babel ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijun Guo
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Third Party ◽  
First Person ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
High Level ◽  
Foreign Ministry

Abstract This paper investigates the critical role of the interpreter’s political awareness in interpreting high-level political interviews in China, and its effects on pronoun shifts. Using former Chinese Premier Zhu’s debut press conference in 1998 as a case study, the study examines in detail the pronoun shifts of a China’s Foreign Ministry senior interpreter prompted by her political awareness. It identifies four types of pronoun shifts: (1) from first-person singular pronoun (“I”) to first-person plural pronoun (“we”); (2) from active voice with first-person plural pronoun as subject to passive voice; (3) from pronoun to a third-party noun; and (4) replacement of a noun with an interactant pronoun. The paper considers implications of these findings in relation to relevant studies and to the macro-social institutional context in which the political interpreting is conducted. The paper argues that this type of political awareness is a form of socio-institutional cognition inculcated and developed through the interpreter’s diplomatic identity, their understanding of socio-institutional requirements, strict training and a large quantity of supervised practice.

We are you: The plural and the dual in “we” fictional narratives

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Marcus
Keyword(s):  
First Person ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
Fictional Narratives ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe essay discusses grammatical and narratological issues of first-person plural (“we”) narratives. It elaborates on the repercussions of Uri Margolin's argument (1996, 2000) regarding the semantic instability of the pronoun “we”, a feature that remains general and abstract in his formulation. Everyday language tends to conceal this instability, whereas some fictional narratives accentuate it, thereby actualizing the subversive potential of the first-person-plural pronoun and highlighting the relationship of the individual “I” to the “we” group and the relationship of this group to “others”. Like second-person narratives, first-person-plural narratives may transgress the boundary between the virtual and the actual and point to the absence of necessary connection between the grammatical form and its deictic function. The essay also proposes a distinction between plural and dual fictional narratives: due to their deictic properties, plural “we” narratives are frequently more destabilizing than dual “we” narratives, which are not characterized by semantic fluidity.

scholarly journals The strategic value of pronominal choice

Pragmatics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bram Vertommen
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
First Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
Opposition Party ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
The Status ◽  
Party Members ◽  
First Person Plural

This study explores the use of the first person plural pronoun “we/wij” by government and opposition party members in panel debates from the Flemish talk show De Zevende Dag. Both groups of politicians enter this arena with divergent communicative goals, which has clear implications (i) for the type of propositions in which subclasses of “we/wij”-pronouns are generally involved and (ii) for the politicians’ assessment of the status of these propositions. Patterns with regard to these three implications are analyzed by means of a systemic functional approach supported with quantitative data. It is claimed that government and opposition party discussants either employ distinct patterns in accordance with their different aims, or that they use similar ones, albeit with divergent discourse functions. The former scenario turns out to be true in the case of exclusive uses of “we/wij” and the latter in the case of inclusive meanings. In that way, the paper sheds light on subtle differences in how government and opposition party discussants argue and deal with the invisible presence of an overhearing broadcast audience.

The Pragmatics of Pronoun Choice in China English: Corpus Evidence from Advanced English Students’ Oral Proficiency Exam

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongmei Xu ◽  
Peter Sayer
Keyword(s):  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
First Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
China English ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
English Students ◽  
International English

AbstractChina English is defined as a developing variety of international English spoken in China with some characteristic features at the level of phonology, grammar, lexis and pragmatics. The authors present the analysis of the use of the first-person plural pronoun

scholarly journals Multiple Meanings of the Pronoun/Haw/In Tai Lue

MANUSYA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
Kittinata Rhekhalilit
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
First Person ◽  
Chiang Mai ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
The Status ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
First Person Plural

In many languages, personal pronouns are used to imply characteristics of speakers and social relationships between participants (Agha 2007). This is particularly true of members of the Tai language family, such as Zhuang (Kullavanijaya 2009), Standard Thai (Cooke 1968; Palakornkul 1972; Simpson 1997), Standard Lao (Enfield 1966; Compton 2002), Kham Mueang and Tai Lue (Rhekhalilit 2010). A number of studies of Southwestern Tai languages have found that the first person plural pronoun /haw/ or /raw/ can be used in several contexts, apart from referring to a group of speakers. For example, the pronoun /raw/ in Standard Thai indexes intimacy between participants when being used by particular individual speakers. The current paper investigates the Tai Lue first person plural pronoun and how it can be used in wider contexts. Adopting a qualitative approach, it aims at analyzing the pronoun /haw/ spoken in three dialects of Tai Lue, namely Tai Lue Chiang Mai (TLC), Tai Lue Luangphrabang (TLL), and Tai Lue Xishuangbanna (TLX). The data were collected through Labovian sociolinguistic interviews (1984), by which 27 informants were asked to narrate a story on controlled topics, and through participant observation. The analysis shows that the three selected dialects of Tai Lue concur in their use of the pronoun /haw/ as first person plural pronoun. However, it is found that each dialect uses pronoun the /haw/ with different shades of meaning when being used by individual speakers. Two dialects, TLC and TLL, tend to use the pronoun /haw/ to index intimacy while talking to addressees of younger age or lower social status. In TLX, pronoun /haw/ seems to be different in that it is exclusively used by monks. In conclusion, this study describes sociolinguistic use of the pronoun /haw/ in Tai Lue. It can be used either with unmarked first person plural meaning or first person singular meaning with some social indicates such as intimacy between participants and the status of monkhood.

scholarly journals SELF-MENTIONS IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH ARTICLES WRITTEN BY INDONESIANS AND NON-INDONESIANS

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Slamet Utomo ◽  
Fitri Budi Suryani
Keyword(s):  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
First Person ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
First Person Plural

This study explores self-mentions in Applied Linguistics research articles written by Indonesians and non-Indonesians. Twenty research articles consisting of 10 research articles written by Indonesians, and the other 10 by non-Indonesians were randomly selected from the leading and international Applied Linguistics journal published in 2017-2018. The use of first person pronouns in those articles was recorded and analyzed. The results indicate the more frequent use of self-mentions in the research articles written by Indonesians than by non-Indonesians. However, the use of first person plural pronoun is higher in the research articles written by non-Indonesians.  

scholarly journals Plural addressee marker and grammaticalization in Barayin

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-82
Author(s):  
Joseph Lovestrand
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
First Person ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Plural Pronoun ◽  
Dual Form ◽  
Dual Number ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
Plural Subject

Abstract This article describes two distinct but related grammaticalization paths in Barayin, an East Chadic language. One path is from a first-person plural pronoun to a first-person dual pronoun. Synchronically, the pronominal forms in Barayin with first-person dual number must now be combined with a plural addressee enclitic, nà, to create a first-person plural pronoun. This path is identical to what has been documented in Philippine-type languages. The other path is from a first-person dative suffix to a suffix dedicated to first-person hortative. This path of grammaticalization has not been discussed in the literature. It occurred in several related languages, and each case results in a hortative form with a dual subject. Hortative forms with a plural subject are created by adding a plural addressee marker to the dual form. The plural addressee marker in Chadic languages is derived from a second-person pronominal.

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