Academic Journal
Gender marking in the first-person singular: A case of paradigm (in)consistency.
| Title: | Gender marking in the first-person singular: A case of paradigm (in)consistency. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | BERG, THOMAS |
| Source: | Journal of Linguistics; Aug2024, Vol. 60 Issue 3, p527-561, 35p |
| Subject Terms: | Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Inflection (Grammar), Gender |
| Abstract: | Since the sex of the speaker is normally as obvious as can be, there is no point in coding first-person singular gender – or so it may seem. This typological study examines the extent of sex-based gender marking in personal pronouns, possessive determiners, predicative adjectives, and verbs across first-, second-, and third-person singular. A worldwide perusal of grammars in addition to data elicitation yields a total of 115 languages with first-person gender. The paradigms of pronouns and possessives are found to be highly inconsistent, whereas those of verbs show a tendency towards consistency. Gender marking on adjectives is fully consistent. The likelihood of first-person gender is increased by a general sensitivity to gender and a dedicated gender morpheme. A distinction is made between pronouns and possessives as referential units and gender markers on verbs and adjectives as grammatical units. By their very nature, referential markers are sensitive to the contingencies of the extralinguistic world and subject to communicative constraints such as redundancy and economy. They therefore end up being organized in inconsistent paradigms. By contrast, grammatical units are largely untouched by these extraneous influences and may therefore develop consistent paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Linguistics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Complementary Index |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Gender marking in the first-person singular: A case of paradigm (in)consistency. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22BERG%2C+THOMAS%22">BERG, THOMAS</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: Journal of Linguistics; Aug2024, Vol. 60 Issue 3, p527-561, 35p – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pronouns%22">Pronouns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Verbs%22">Verbs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adjectives%22">Adjectives</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inflection+%28Grammar%29%22">Inflection (Grammar)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender%22">Gender</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Since the sex of the speaker is normally as obvious as can be, there is no point in coding first-person singular gender – or so it may seem. This typological study examines the extent of sex-based gender marking in personal pronouns, possessive determiners, predicative adjectives, and verbs across first-, second-, and third-person singular. A worldwide perusal of grammars in addition to data elicitation yields a total of 115 languages with first-person gender. The paradigms of pronouns and possessives are found to be highly inconsistent, whereas those of verbs show a tendency towards consistency. Gender marking on adjectives is fully consistent. The likelihood of first-person gender is increased by a general sensitivity to gender and a dedicated gender morpheme. A distinction is made between pronouns and possessives as referential units and gender markers on verbs and adjectives as grammatical units. By their very nature, referential markers are sensitive to the contingencies of the extralinguistic world and subject to communicative constraints such as redundancy and economy. They therefore end up being organized in inconsistent paradigms. By contrast, grammatical units are largely untouched by these extraneous influences and may therefore develop consistent paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: Abstract Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Linguistics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1017/S0022226723000191 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 35 StartPage: 527 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Pronouns Type: general – SubjectFull: Verbs Type: general – SubjectFull: Adjectives Type: general – SubjectFull: Inflection (Grammar) Type: general – SubjectFull: Gender Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Gender marking in the first-person singular: A case of paradigm (in)consistency. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: BERG, THOMAS IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 08 Text: Aug2024 Type: published Y: 2024 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00222267 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 60 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Linguistics Type: main |
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