Universal #1460

Legacy number: 1460

 Number  1456
 Original  In an overwhelming majority of languages, if the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular is not the only meaning denoted by some pronominal form, then the only other metaperson expressed will be 'non-participant' in the non-singular.
 Standardized  IF the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular is not the only meaning denoted by a pronominal form, THEN the only other metaperson expressed will be 'non-participant' in the non-singular.
 Keywords  personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular
 Domain  inflection, syntax, lexicon
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  400 world-wide distributed languages, see Sokolovskaja 1980: 98-99; Sokolovskaja surveyed systems of independent personal pronouns only.
 Source  Sokolovskaja 1980: 92, U 18

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Marathi (Indic, Indo-European) (Sokolovskaja 1980)
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. Cf. #1462.
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. Cf. <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1462"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">