Universal #1446

Legacy number: 1446

 Number  1442
 Original  In all languages, if some form denotes the metaperson 'speaker', it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons:
(a) 'hearer';
(b) 'non-participant' ,
(c) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'.
 Standardized  IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons:
(a) 'hearer';
(b) 'non-participant' ,
(c) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'.
 Keywords  personal pronoun, person, speaker, hearer, non-participant
 Domain  inflection, syntax, lexicon
 Type  implication
 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 4

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Discussion
Notes
1. Sokolovskaja recognizes the following metapersons:'speaker', 'hearer', 'non-participant', 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + non-participant(s)', 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', and 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s). 2. Does this mean that 1st person is never syncretic with 2nd or 3rd?
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Sokolovskaja recognizes the following metapersons: 'speaker', 'hearer', 'non-participant', 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + non-participant(s)', 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', and 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s).

2. Does this mean that 1st person is never syncretic with 2nd or 3rd?