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Dec. 30, 2010 You’d think that personal pronouns would be one of the simplest features of a language, and that the comparative grammar of personal pronouns in different languages would be straightforward and easy, with lists of practically perfect one-to-one correspondences in translation. However, a consideration of the personal pronouns in five major languages—English, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese—shows that there are wide differences, not only in vocabulary, which we would expect, but also in the whole philosophy of personal pronouns. English has seven personal pronouns (in the nominative case): I, you, he, she, it, we, they. An annoying feature of English is that you is innumerate, i.e., either singular or plural, and this leads to such phrases as you guys and y’all. Another annoying feature is the lack of an epicene third-person singular pronoun, i.e., one that means he/she. So people use they as a singular: Nobody likes to admit that they are wrong. It’s embarrassing to have to resort to these makeshifts when you’re trying to be dignified. Curiously enough, of the languages mentioned above, Russian is closest to English, in approach. Russian has eight personal pronouns: ya (I), tu (you, singular), on (he), ona (she), ono (it), my (we), vy (you, plural), oni (they). Unfortunately, though Russian has you (plural), it is sometimes used to address a single person, implying an enhanced level of respect. Russian has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. But things may be masculine or feminine, as well as neuter: gorod (city, masculine), reka (river, feminine), zerkalo (mirror, neuter). It is the grammatical gender, rather than the real gender, that decides the applicable pronoun. So for city, river and mirror, we say he, she and it. Russian has an epicene reflexive pronoun in the third person: sya (self, selves). Spanish has eleven personal pronouns: yo (I), tu (you, familiar singular), usted (you, polite singular), el (he), ella (she), ello (it), nosotros (we), vosotros (you, familiar plural), ustedes (you, polite plural), ellos (they, masculine), ellas (they, feminine). Vosotros is obsolescent, with ustedes serving for you (plural) in all situations. Spanish has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine, and things fall into one or the other gender: tenedor (fork, masculine), cuchara (spoon, feminine). Grammatical gender determines which pronoun is applicable, so we say he or she when speaking of a fork or a spoon. The pronoun ello refers to unspecified antecedents. Spanish also has an epicene reflexive pronoun in the third person: se (self, selves). Arabic has the most complicated system of personal pronouns, which number twelve: ana (I), anta (you, masculine singular), anti (you, feminine singular), huwa (he), hiya (she), antumaa (you, dual), humaa (they, dual), nahnu (we, dual and plural), antum (you, masculine plural), antunna (you, feminine plural), hum (they, masculine plural), hunna (they, feminine plural). Arabic has three numbers—singular, dual and plural (three or more); and two genders—masculine and feminine—to which things as well as people belong. As for number, we have, for example: jabal (mountain), jabalein (two mountains), ajbal (three or more mountains); madina (city), madinatein (two cities), mudun (three or more cities). Moreover, jabal is masculine, but madina is feminine. Pronouns are determined by the number and gender of the nouns they stand for. Arabic has no epicene third-person pronoun, reflexive or otherwise. Chinese has the simplest system of pronouns: wo (I), ni (you, singular), ta (he, she, it), Suffix -men for the plural: women (we), nimen (you, plural), tamen (they). All Chinese pronouns are epicene, and Chinese has no grammatical gender. Just note that wo and ni are in the falling-rising tone while ta is in the level tone. All the pronouns mentioned above are in the nominative case. English has also a possessive (genitive) case and an objective (accusative) case. Russian adds three more cases: dative, instrumental and prepositional. Spanish is like English, but does have a dative in the third person: le, les. These contrast with the objective pronouns: lo, la, los, las. Arabic has accusative suffixes, which are added to verbs, and possessive suffixes, which are added to nouns: ahabb (I love), ahabbak (I love you), ibn (son), ibni (my son), ibnuk (your son). In Chinese, the nominative pronouns are also used objectively, but there is a possessive, gotten by suffixing -de: wode muqin (my mother). I am also familiar with the personal pronouns of Latin, German, Greek, Hebrew and Hindi, and I could comment on them too, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that they are all fairly complex. Generally speaking, then, mastering a language’s personal pronouns is a needless nightmare, but aren’t all nightmares needless? ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written five books: ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR and A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction); A TALE OF UNG, THE ENNUNMENT and GVAGMA (fiction). I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Visit my website here. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com
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