We are you: The plural and the dual in “we” fictional narratives

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Marcus

AbstractThe essay discusses grammatical and narratological issues of first-person plural (“we”) narratives. It elaborates on the repercussions of Uri Margolin's argument (1996, 2000) regarding the semantic instability of the pronoun “we”, a feature that remains general and abstract in his formulation. Everyday language tends to conceal this instability, whereas some fictional narratives accentuate it, thereby actualizing the subversive potential of the first-person-plural pronoun and highlighting the relationship of the individual “I” to the “we” group and the relationship of this group to “others”. Like second-person narratives, first-person-plural narratives may transgress the boundary between the virtual and the actual and point to the absence of necessary connection between the grammatical form and its deictic function. The essay also proposes a distinction between plural and dual fictional narratives: due to their deictic properties, plural “we” narratives are frequently more destabilizing than dual “we” narratives, which are not characterized by semantic fluidity.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-82
Author(s):  
Joseph Lovestrand

Abstract This article describes two distinct but related grammaticalization paths in Barayin, an East Chadic language. One path is from a first-person plural pronoun to a first-person dual pronoun. Synchronically, the pronominal forms in Barayin with first-person dual number must now be combined with a plural addressee enclitic, nà, to create a first-person plural pronoun. This path is identical to what has been documented in Philippine-type languages. The other path is from a first-person dative suffix to a suffix dedicated to first-person hortative. This path of grammaticalization has not been discussed in the literature. It occurred in several related languages, and each case results in a hortative form with a dual subject. Hortative forms with a plural subject are created by adding a plural addressee marker to the dual form. The plural addressee marker in Chadic languages is derived from a second-person pronominal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Francesca Santulli

The first person plural pronoun cannot be considered as an expression of pluralization of the first. Its semantic boundaries are defined in context, and this inherent vagueness an be pragmatically exploited for communicative purposes. Beyond the frequently investigated opposition between (addressee-) inclusive vs exclusive forms, this paper explores non-prototypical uses of the first person plural pronoun, focusing on the conflicts that arise when it is used in contexts that semantically exclude the speaker. Speaker-exclusive forms can occur in different situations, ranging from interpersonal exchanges to public discourse. The paper investigates their different semantic implications, highlighting their common traits as well as their crucial peculiarities. Both the review of the literature and the analysis of actual examples bring forth the different values and functions of various speaker-exclusive occurrences of the first person plural. A more systematic categorization of the forms can be obtained adopting a metaphorical interpretation, which on the one hand emphasises their common denominator (i.e. speaker-exclusiveness) and, on the other, sheds light on their varying communicative potential.


2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie Lewis ◽  
James Stack

AbstractSchilbach et al.'s model assumes that the ability to “experience” minds is already present in human infants and therefore falls foul of the very intellectualist problems it attempts to avoid. We propose an alternative relational, action-based account, which attempts to grasp how the individual's construction of knowledge develops within interactions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-80
Author(s):  
Aryati Hamzah ◽  
William I. S. Mooduto ◽  
Imam Mashudi

This research aims to describe the use of deixis in Gorontalo Language. This research was conducted in two stages namely the stage of preparation and implementation of the research. This research was conducted for 1 year. The result of the research showed that the form and meaning of deixis are person deixis, time and place. Persona deixis is divided into several types is deixis of first-person singular (wa’u ‘1sg’, watiya ‘1sg’), deixis of the first person plural (ami ‘1pl.excl’), deixis of the second person singular (yi’o ‘2sg’, tingoli ‘2sg’), deixis of the second person plural (tingoli ‘2pl’, timongoli ‘2pl’), and deixis of the third person singular (tio ‘3sg’) and timongolio ‘3pl’ as a deixis of the third person plural. Whereas, deixis of place are teye, teyamai ‘here’, tetomota ‘there’ this means to show the location of the room and the place of conversation or interlocutor. Deixis time among others yindhie ‘today’, lombu ‘tomorrow’, olango ‘yesterday’, dumodupo ‘morning’, mohulonu ‘afternoon’, hui ‘night’ which have the meaning to show the time when the speech or sentence is being delivered.


Kadera Bahasa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eka Suryatin

This study discusses the forms and variations in the use of personal pronouns by STKIP students in Banjarmasin. The purpose of this study is to describe the forms and variations in the use personal pronouns by STKIP students in Banjarmasin. This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The data collection is obtained by observation techniques, see, and record. Research data are in the form the speech used by STKIP students in Banjarmasin, Department of PBSID (Local or Indonesian Language and Literature Education). The results show that the using personal pronouns are three forms, namely the first person, second person, and third person. Based on the type of reference personal pronoun used by STKIP students in Banjarmasin are singular and plural pronoun.When it is viewed from the morphological distribution, there are a full form and a short form. The short forms are usually used in proclitic (appears before its host) and also enclitic (appear after its host). Personal pronouns used by the students in their speech are varied. Although they are in Banjar, they do not only use personal pronouns in Banjar language, a part of the students use the first person singular pronoun gue ‘aku’. Personal pronouns in Banjar language used by the STKIP students in Banjarmasin are the first person singular pronoun, ulun, unda, sorang, saurang and aku. First person singular pronoun aku has some variations –ku and ku- that are bound morpheme. First person plural is kami and kita. The second person pronouns are pian, ikam, nyawa, and kamu. Meanwhile, the third person singular pronouns are Inya and Sidin. The third person plural pronoun is bubuhannya. The use of personal pronouns by STKIP students in Banjarmasin are dominantly consist of five speech components only that are based on the situation, the partner, the intent, the content of the message, and how the speaker tells the speech.


Babel ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijun Guo

Abstract This paper investigates the critical role of the interpreter’s political awareness in interpreting high-level political interviews in China, and its effects on pronoun shifts. Using former Chinese Premier Zhu’s debut press conference in 1998 as a case study, the study examines in detail the pronoun shifts of a China’s Foreign Ministry senior interpreter prompted by her political awareness. It identifies four types of pronoun shifts: (1) from first-person singular pronoun (“I”) to first-person plural pronoun (“we”); (2) from active voice with first-person plural pronoun as subject to passive voice; (3) from pronoun to a third-party noun; and (4) replacement of a noun with an interactant pronoun. The paper considers implications of these findings in relation to relevant studies and to the macro-social institutional context in which the political interpreting is conducted. The paper argues that this type of political awareness is a form of socio-institutional cognition inculcated and developed through the interpreter’s diplomatic identity, their understanding of socio-institutional requirements, strict training and a large quantity of supervised practice.


Author(s):  
Ralph E. Rodriguez

This chapter analyzes the rare focalization of fiction through the first-person plural (we) and the second person (you). It is particularly interested in the affective textures these narrative perspectives create in terms of intimacy and distance, within the story and between narrator and reader. In carrying out this analysis, it examines Manuel Muñoz’s story “Monkey, Sí,” Patricia Engel’s story “Green”, and Ana Menéndez’s story “Why We Left.” In each of the stories, the narrators navigate traumatic life experiences—rape, eating disorders, and a miscarriage, respectively. The chapter does a close reading of how pronominal use affects the characters’ and readers’ emotional experience of the story before them.


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