Universal #1443

Legacy number: 1443

 Number  1439
 Original  Every one of the seven metapersons, i.e. 'speaker', 'hearer', 'non-participant', 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + non-participant(s)', 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', is expressed in the pronominal system of every language.
 Standardized  Every one of the seven metapersons, i.e. 'speaker', 'hearer', 'non-participant', 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + non-participant(s)', 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', is expressed in the pronominal system of every language.
 Keywords  pronoun, personal pronoun, person
 Domain  inflection, syntax, lexicon
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  400 world-wide distributed languages, see Sokolovskaja 1980: 98-99; Sokolovskaja surveyed systems of independent personal pronouns only.
 Source  Sokolovskaja 1980: 90, U 1

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Discussion
Notes
1. If a language lacks a special form to denote one of the seven metapersons, this metaperson will be expressed together with another metaperson in one pronominal form.2. Cf. similar but less precise claims by Hockett (#1324): Among the deictic elements of every human language there is one that denotes the speaker and one that denotes the addressee; and by Greenberg (#517): All languages have pronominal categories involving at least three persons and two numbers.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. If a language lacks a special form to denote one of the seven metapersons, this metaperson will be expressed together with another metaperson in one pronominal form.

2. Cf. similar but less precise claims by Hockett (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1324"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">): Among the deictic elements of every human language there is one that denotes the speaker and one that denotes the addressee; and by Greenberg (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=517"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">): All languages have pronominal categories involving at least three persons and two numbers.