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Universal 1942:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1942:

Original
One generally unremarked fact is that 2nd person plurals never appear to make a distinction between a plurality of addressees and combinations of one or more addressees with non-ego, non-addressees, i.e., 3rd persons.
Standardized
2nd person plurals never appear to make a distinction between a plurality of addressees and combinations of one or more addressees with non-ego, non-addressees, i.e., 3rd persons.
Keywords
pronoun, personal pronoun, number, non-singular, 2nd person, inclusive, exclusive
Domain
inflection
Type
unconditional
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
unspecified
Source
Greenberg 1993: 14
Counterexamples
Languages having inclusive/exclusive opposition in the 2nd person, e.g. Ghomala (Benue-Congo, Niger-Kordofanian) (Wiesemann 1986: viii). ??? Abkhaz (N. Caucasian) (EF, FP).Bavarian German (Simon 2000).

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Cf. a similar statement by Sokolovskaja, #1453.I believe Plank 1985 (Ordnung der Personen) makes a similar claim.

    1. May 2020

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