Universal #1324

Legacy number: 1324

 Number  1320
 Original  Among the deictic elements of every human language is one that denotes the speaker and one that denotes the addressee.
 Standardized  Among the deictic elements of every human language is one that denotes the speaker and one that denotes the addressee.
 Keywords  deictic elements, personal pronoun, speaker, addressee
 Domain  lexicon
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  unspecified
 Source  Hockett 1963: 21

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Discussion
Notes
In other words, first and second person singular pronouns are universal. A more interesting question is whether these forms are in fact necessarily dedicated to these functions, or also have other functions, deictic (here/there) or as social-role designations (servant/master).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
In other words, first and second person singular pronouns are universal. A more interesting question is whether these forms are in fact necessarily dedicated to these functions, or also have other functions, deictic (here/there) or as social-role designations (servant/master).