Universal 914: speaker (1st person pronouns) > addressee (2nd person pronouns) > kin > rational > human > animate > inanimate

Universal 914: speaker (1st person pronouns) > addressee (2nd person pronouns) > kin > rational > human > animate > inanimate

Original

Whenever there is a plurality split in lexical nouns, the split in the 3rd person pronoun (if there is one) will be at the same place or lower down in the animacy hierarchy.

Standardized

Whenever there is a plurality split in lexical nouns, the split in the 3rd person pronoun (if there is one) will be at the same place or lower down in the animacy hierarchy.

Keywords

animacy hierarchy, split, number, plural, person pronoun, 3, noun

Domain

inflection

Type

no genuine implication; rather: provided that

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

languages in Smith-Stark 1974

Source

Smith-Stark 1974: 664

Counterexamples