Universal #519

Legacy number: 519

 Number  517
 Original  If a language has gender distinctions in the 1st person, it always has gender distinctions in the 2nd or 3rd person, or in both.
 Standardized  IF there are gender distinctions in the 1st person [of the personal pronoun], THEN there are gender distinctions in the 2nd and/or 3rd person.
 Formula  gender (1 person ) ⇒ gender (2 &, V. 3 person)
 Keywords  pronoun, gender, person, 1, 2, 3
 Domain  inflection
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  30 languages of Greenberg 1963 sample
 Source  Greenberg 1963: 96, #44

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Discussion
Counterexamples
In Thai (Daic, Austroasiatic) (Uspensky 1965: 214, 1968: 11, 1972: 63) gender (sex) can be distinguished only in the 1st person. Tocharian A (IE) has gender contrast in personal pronouns exclusively in 1st person singular.
Notes
Supported by Corbett 1991: 131, on the basis of some 200 lgs.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Supported by Corbett 1991: 131, on the basis of some 200 lgs.