Universal #1479

Legacy number: 1479

 Number  1475
 Original  In an overwhelming majority of languages, if some form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', then it cannot denote the metaperson 'non-participant' .
 Standardized  IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot denote the metaperson 'non-participant' .
 Keywords  personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant
 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: 95, U 38

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Marathi (Indic, Indo-European) (Sokolovskaja 1980), where inclusive pronoun a:pan, i.e. the form denoting metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', is used as a polite address to 'hearer' and 'non-participant'.
Notes
1. Sokolovskaya differentiates between 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).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Sokolovskaya differentiates between 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).