Pronoun: Difference between revisions

In [[linguistics]] and [[grammar]], a '''pronoun''' ([[listInterlinear of glossing abbreviationsgloss|abbreviatedglossed]] '''{{sc|pro}}''') is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]].

Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the [[part of speech|parts of speech]], but some modern theorists would not consider them to form a single class, in view of the variety of functions they perform cross-linguistically. An example of a pronoun is "you", which can be either singular or plural. SubtypesSub-types include [[personal pronoun|personal]] and [[possessive pronoun]]s, [[reflexive pronoun|reflexive]] and [[reciprocal pronoun|reciprocal]] pronouns, [[demonstrative pronoun]]s, [[relative pronoun|relative]] and [[interrogative pronoun]]s, and [[indefinite pronoun]]s.<ref name="Bhat">{{cite book|title=Pronouns|url=https://archive.org/details/pronounsoxfordst00bhat|url-access=limited|last=Bhat|first=Darbhe Narayana Shankara|date=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0199230242|edition=Paperback|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pronounsoxfordst00bhat/page/n13 1]}}</ref>{{rp|1–34}}<ref name=Borjars>{{cite book |last1=Börjars |first1=Kersti |title=Introducing English grammar |date=2010 |publisher=Hodder Education |location=London |isbn=978-1444109870 |edition=2nd |last2=Burridge |first2=Kate |pages=50&ndash;57}}</ref>

The name of the [[adjective]] thatform belongsof withthe aword "pronoun" is called a "'''pronominal'''".{{efn-ua|Not to be confused with ''prenominal'', which means "before the noun". For example, English adjectives are prenominal, –e.g. ''the '''blue''' house''—, andwhile mostthere ofare therare French''postnominal'' adjectivesexceptions are postnominal —like ''la maisonattorneys '''bleuegeneral'''''.}} A pronominal is also a word or phrase that acts as a pronoun. For example, in ''That's not the one I wanted'', the phrase ''the one'' (containing the [[prop-word]] ''one'') is a pronominal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/pronominal |title=What is a pronominal? |publisher=SIL International |work=Glossary of linguistic terms |last1=Loos |first1=Eugene E. |last2=Anderson |first2=Susan |last3=Day |first3=Dwight H. Jr. |last4=Jordan |first4=Paul C. |last5=Wingate |first5=J. Douglas |date=3 December 2015 |access-date=14 November 2018 |archive-date=14 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114141719/https://glossary.sil.org/term/pronominal |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Our as a pronoun or determiner.png|alt=|left|thumb|150x150px|Examples of "our" as a determiner or a noun.]]

! colspan="2" |Number & Gendergender

In English, [[Kin term|kin terms]] like "mother,", "uncle,", "cousin" are a distinct word class from pronouns; however many [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] have more elaborated systems of encoding kinship in language including special kin forms of pronouns. In [[Murrinh-patha language|Murrinh-patha]], for example, when selecting a nonsingular exclusive pronoun to refer to a group, the speaker will assess whether or not the members of the group belong to a common class of gender or kinship. If all of the members of the referent group are male, the MASCULINE form will be selected; if at least one is female, the FEMININE is selected, but if all the members are in a sibling-like kinship relation, a third SIBLING form is selected.<ref>Walsh, Michael James. 1976. ''The Muɹinypata Language of Northern Australia''. The Australian National University.</ref> In [[Arabana-Wangkangurru language|Arabana-Wangkangurru]], the speaker will use entirely different sets of pronouns depending on whether the speaker and the referent are or are not in a common [[Moiety (kinship)|moiety.]] See the following example: