Universal #93
Legacy number: 93
| Number | 93 |
| Original | IF a language has pronominal gender in the 2nd person singular, THEN it has a greater probability of having this distinction in the 3rd person singular than of not having it. |
| Standardized | IF there is a gender distinction in the 2nd person singular of pronouns, THEN the 3rd person singular is likelier to have than to lack a gender distinction. |
| Formula | pronominal gender in 2Sg ⇒ pronominal gender in 3Sg |
| Keywords | pronoun, gender, number, singular, person, 2, 3 |
| Domain | inflection |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical, almost absolute |
| Basis | ? |
| Source | Greenberg, Osgood, & Jenkins 1963: xxi |
Discussion
Counterexamples
A few languages in central Nigeria have gender in 2nd person, but not in 3rd (Greenberg, Osgood, & Jenkins 1963).Tahaggart, Tuareg, Kabyle, Proto-Berber (Afro-Asiatic) have gender in 2SG but not in 3SG (Plank & Schellinger 1997).Written Late Egyptian (Afro-Asiatic) shows a facultative opposition between an unmarked (masc. or fem.) and a feminine form of the enclitic personal pronoun in 2SG (tw/tj vs. tw/tj/tw-WOMAN), while the contrast of gender in 3SG (extant in Earlier Egyptian) has become neutralized (sw/st/s). In spoken Late Egyptian, there is no gender distinction in 2SG (t) and 3SG (s). (F. Kammerzell, p.c.)
Notes
1. See also Plank & Schellinger 1997.2. Presumably, 3rd and 2nd person are supposed to have the SAME genders, rather than different ones (e.g., 3rd person person vs. thing, 2nd person masculine vs. feminine).
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2. Presumably, 3rd and 2nd person are supposed to have the SAME genders, rather than different ones (e.g., 3rd person person vs. thing, 2nd person masculine vs. feminine).