1887
The referential ambiguity of personal pronouns and its pragmatic consequences
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

In modern Danish, the most frequently used pronoun for generic reference is , developed from the noun ‘man’. Recently, though, the second person singular pronoun has gained ground, in parallel to similar recent developments in other languages. A large-scale, longitudinal study of the LANCHART corpus of spoken Danish has documented a rise in the use of generic in Copenhagen (and later in the rest of Denmark) during the period from the early 1970s, where generic was practically non-existent, till the late 1980s where du comprised around 25% of all pronouns with generic meaning. However, recordings from the 2000s show that the use of has peaked and is now decreasing or stabilizing at a lower level.This article focuses on intra-individual and intra-conversational variation within the LANCHART corpus with the aim of uncovering the pragmatic effect of using instead of other generic pronouns. All passages in the recordings have been coded according to macro speech act, activity type, type of interaction and genre as well as enunciation. The results of a statistical analysis using mixed models show a number of correlations as to the use of generic (in comparison with ), and by and large support the claim that generic du is used as a resource for construing involvement, arguably by exploiting the ambiguity of between a generic and a specific second person meaning. These quantitative results make up the point of departure for corroborating qualitative analyses of the discourse framing of the use of generic pronouns.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.26.3.04jen
2016-09-01
2025-02-16
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Norsk ordbok - Ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet (1966-) Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Ordbok över Finlands svenska folkmål (1982-) Helsingfors: Forskningscentralen för de inhemska språken.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Føroysk orðabók (1998) Tórshavn: Føroya Fródskaparfelag & Fródskaparsetur Føroya.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Íslensk orðabók (2002) Reykjavik: Edda.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Albris, Jon
    (1991) Style analysis. In F. Gregersen , and I.L. Pedersen (eds.), The Copenhagen study in urban sociolinguistics vol 1. Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, pp.45-106.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bakhtin, Mikhail M
    (1986) The problem of speech genres. In C. Emerson , and M. Holquist (eds.), Speech genres and other late essays. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp.60-102.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Beck Nielsen, Søren , Christina Fogtmann Fosgerau , and Torben Juel Jensen
    (2009) From community to conversation – and back. Exploring the interpersonal potentials of two generic pronouns in Danish. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia41: 116-142. doi: 10.1080/03740460903364151
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03740460903364151 [Google Scholar]
  8. Berman, Ruth A
    (2004) Introduction: Developing discourse stance in different text types and languages. Journal of pragmatics37: 105-124. doi: 10.1016/S0378‑2166(04)00189‑4
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(04)00189-4 [Google Scholar]
  9. Blondeau, Hélène
    (2001) Real-time changes in the paradigm of personal pronouns in Montreal French. Journal of Sociolinguistics5.4: 453-474. doi: 10.1111/1467‑9481.00160
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00160 [Google Scholar]
  10. Bock, J. Kathryn
    (1986) Syntactic persistence in language production. Cognitive psychology18: 355-387. doi: 10.1016/0010‑0285(86)90004‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(86)90004-6 [Google Scholar]
  11. Bolinger, Dwight
    (1979) To catch a metaphor: You as norm. American Speech54: 194-209. doi: 10.2307/454949
    https://doi.org/10.2307/454949 [Google Scholar]
  12. Brown, Roger , and Albert Gilman
    (1960) The pronouns of power and solidarity. In T.A. Sebeok (ed.), Style in Language. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp.253-276.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Baayen, R. Harald
    (2008) Analyzing Linguistic Data. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511801686
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801686 [Google Scholar]
  14. Cameron, Richard
    (1996) A community-based test of a linguistic hypothesis. Language in Society25.1: 61-111. doi: 10.1017/S0047404500020431
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500020431 [Google Scholar]
  15. Carlson, Greg N
    (1982) Generic terms and generic sentences. Journal of philosophical logic11: 145-181. doi: 10.1007/BF00278382
    https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00278382 [Google Scholar]
  16. Cheshire, Jenny
    (1987) Syntactic variation, the linguistic variable and sociolinguistic theory. Linguistics25.2: 257-282. doi: 10.1515/ling.1987.25.2.257
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1987.25.2.257 [Google Scholar]
  17. Coveney, Aidan
    (2003) 'Anything you can do, tu can do better': Tu and vous as substitutes for indefinite on in French. Journal of Sociolinguistics7.2: 164-191. doi: 10.1111/1467‑9481.00218
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00218 [Google Scholar]
  18. Fauconnier, Gilles
    (1994) Mental spaces. Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511624582
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511624582 [Google Scholar]
  19. Fauconnier, Gilles , and Mark Turner
    (2002) The way we think. Conceptual blending and the mind's hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Fosgerau, Christina Fogtmann
    (2007) Samtaler med politiet: Interaktionsanalytiske studier af sprogtestning i danske naturalisationssamtaler. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Nordic Studies and Lingustics, University of Copenhagen.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Fremer, Maria
    (2000) Ve e du då - generisk du hos ungdomar och vuxna talare. In U.-B. Kotsinas , A.-B. Stenström , and E.-M. Drange (eds.), Ungdom, språk og identitet. København: Nordisk Ministerråd, pp.133-147.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Fuller, Janet
    (1993) Hearing between the lines: Style switching in a courtroom setting. Pragmatics3: 29-43. doi: 10.1075/prag.3.1.02ful
    https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.3.1.02ful [Google Scholar]
  23. Goffman, Erving
    (1981) Footing. In E. Goffman (ed.), Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp.124-159. doi: 10.1515/semi.1979.25.1‑2.1
    https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1979.25.1-2.1 [Google Scholar]
  24. Goodwin, Charles , and Marjorie Harness Goodwin
    (1992) Assessments and the construction of context. In A. Duranti , and C. Goodwin (eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Presss, pp.85–117.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Gregersen, Frans
    (2009) The data and design of the LANCHART study. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia41: 3-29. doi: 10.1080/03740460903364003
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03740460903364003 [Google Scholar]
  26. Gregersen, Frans , Jon Albris , and Inge Lise Pedersen
    (1991) Data and design of the Copenhagen study. In F. Gregersen , and I.L. Pedersen (eds.), The Copenhagen study in urban sociolinguistics vol 1. København: C.A. Reitzels Forlag, pp.5-43.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Gregersen, Frans , and Michael Barner-Rasmussen
    (2011) The logic of comparability: On genres and phonetic variation in a project on language change. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory7: 7-36. doi: 10.1515/cllt.2011.002
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt.2011.002 [Google Scholar]
  28. Gregersen, Frans , Søren Beck Nielsen , and Jacob Thøgersen
    (2009) Steeping into the same river twice: On the discourse context analysis in the LANCHART project. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia41: 30-63. doi: 10.1080/03740460903364045
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03740460903364045 [Google Scholar]
  29. Gregersen, Frans , Jens Normann Jørgensen , and Janus Spindler Møller
    (forthcoming) Sideways. 5 methodological studies of the sociolinguistic interview. Unpublished ms. under revision before resubmittance.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Gregersen, Frans , Torben Juel Jensen , and Nicolai Pharao
    (forthcoming) Comparing speech samples: On the challenge of comparability in panel studies of language change in real time. In Isabelle Buchstaller , and Suzanne Wagner (eds.) Panel studies of Language Variation and Change. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Hasan, Ruqaiya
    (2009) On semantic variation. In J.J. Webster (ed.), Meaning in society and in sociolinguistics. London/Oakville: Equinox, pp.41-72.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Hyman, Eric
    (2004) The indefinite you . English Studies85.2: 161-176. doi: 10.1076/enst.85.2.161.30496
    https://doi.org/10.1076/enst.85.2.161.30496 [Google Scholar]
  33. Jensen, Torben Juel
    (2009a) Generic variation? Developments in the use of generic pronouns in late 20th century spoken Danish. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia41: 83-115. doi: 10.1080/03740460903364128
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03740460903364128 [Google Scholar]
  34. (2009b) Standardisering, globalisering og lokalisering - generiske pronominer i Vinderup. In H. Hovmark , I. Stampe Sletten , and A. Gudiksen (eds.), I mund og bog. København: Københavns Universitet, pp.157-169.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. (forthcoming) Generic ‘du’ in time and context. A study of intra-individual variation and change. In D. Duncker , and P. Bettina (eds.) Creativity and Continuity. Perspectives on the Dynamics of Language Conventionalization.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Jensen, Torben Juel , and Marie Maegaard
    (2010) Stability and change in adult speech. A real time panel study. Paper read at Sociolinguistics Symposium 18, at Southampton.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Johnson, Daniel Ezra
    (2009) Getting off the GoldVarb standard: Introducing Rbrul for mixed-effects variable rule analysis. Language and Linguistics Compass3.1: 359–383. doi: 10.1111/j.1749‑818X.2008.00108.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00108.x [Google Scholar]
  38. Jørgensen, Jens Normann , and Kjeld Kristensen
    (1994) Moderne sjællandsk. København: C.A. Reitzel.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine
    (1997) A multilevel approach in the study of talk-in-interaction. Pragmatics7.1: 1-20. doi: 10.1075/prag.7.1.01ker
    https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.7.1.01ker [Google Scholar]
  40. Kitagawa, Chisato , and Adrienne Lehrer
    (1990) Impersonal uses of personal pronouns. Journal of Pragmatics14: 739-759. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(90)90004‑W
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90004-W [Google Scholar]
  41. Kluge, Bettina
    (2012) Referential ambiguity in interaction. Establishing generic reference with second person pronouns in the Romance languages. Habilitationsschrift, Universität Bielefeld.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Kristensen, Kjeld
    (1977) Variationen i vestjysk stationsby-mål. Dialektstudier4.1: 29-109.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Kristiansen, Tore
    (1991) Sproglige normidealer på Næstvedegnen. Ph.D. dissertation, Institut for Nordisk Filologi, University of Copenhagen.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Laberge, Suzanne
    (1976) The changing distribution of indefinite pronouns in discourse. In R.W. Shuy , and A. Shnukal (eds.), Language use and the uses of language. Washington: Georgetown University Press, pp.76-87.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Laberge, Suzanne , and Gillian Sankoff
    (1980) Anything you can do. In G. Sankoff (ed.), The social life of language. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp.271-293.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Labov, William
    (1966) The social stratification of English in New York city. Washington: Center for applied linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. (1972) Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. (2001) The anatomy of style-shifting. In P. Eckert , and J.R. Rickford (eds.), Style and Sociolinguistic Variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.85-108.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Langacker, Ronald
    (1997) Generics and habituals. In A. Athanasiadou , and R. Dirven (eds.), On conditionals again. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/cilt.143.11lan
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.143.11lan [Google Scholar]
  50. Lavandera, Beatriz L
    (1978) Where does the sociolinguistic variable stop?Language in Society7.2: 171-182. doi: 10.1017/S0047404500005510
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500005510 [Google Scholar]
  51. Leino, Pentti , and Jan-Ola Östman
    (2008) Language change, variability, and functional load. Finnish genericity from a constructional point of view. In J. Leino (ed.), Constructional Reorganization. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp.37-54. doi: 10.1075/cal.5.03lei
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.5.03lei [Google Scholar]
  52. Lundeby, Einar
    (1996) Om man og en og du . In S. Språknämnden (ed.), Språket lever - festskrift til Margareta Westman. Stockholm: Svenska Språknämnden, pp.137-144.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Maegaard, Marie , Torben Juel Jensen , Tore Kristiansen , and Jens Normann Jørgensen
    (2013) Diffusion of language change: Accommodation to a moving target. Journal of Sociolinguistics17.1: 3-36. doi: 10.1111/josl.12002
    https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12002 [Google Scholar]
  54. Malamud, Sophia A
    (2012) Impersonal indexicals: One, you, man, and du. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics15.1: 1-48. doi: 10.1007/s10828‑012‑9047‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-012-9047-6 [Google Scholar]
  55. Neely, James H
    (1977) Semantic priming and retrieval from lexical memory: Roles of inhibitionless spreading activation and limited-capacity attention. Journal of experimental psychology: General106.3: 226-254. doi: 10.1037/0096‑3445.106.3.226
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.106.3.226 [Google Scholar]
  56. Nielsen, Bent Jul , and Magda Nyberg
    (1992) Talesprogsvariation i Odder kommune. I. Lokalsprog og rigsmål i sociolingvistisk belysning. Danske Folkemål34: 45-202.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. (1993) Talesprogsvariation i Odder kommune. II. Yngre og ældre rigsmålsformer i sociolingvistisk belysning. Danske Folkemål35: 249-348.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Rubba, Jo
    (1996) Alternate grounds in the interpretation of deictic expressions. In G. Fauconnier , and E. Sweetser (eds.), Spaces, worlds and grammars. Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp.227-261.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Scherre, Maria Marta Pereira , and Anthony J. Naro
    (1991) Marking in discourse: "Birds of a feather". Language Variation and Change3: 23-32. doi: 10.1017/S0954394500000430
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500000430 [Google Scholar]
  60. Schilling-Estes, Natalie
    (2002) Investigating stylistic variation. In J.K. Chamber , P. Trudgill , and N. Schilling-Estes (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford/Malden: Blackwell, pp.375-401.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Siewierska, Anna
    (2004) Person. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511812729
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812729 [Google Scholar]
  62. Stewart, Miranda M
    (1995) Personally speaking ... or not? The strategic value of on in face-to-face negotiation. French Language Studies5: 203-223. doi: 10.1017/S0959269500002763
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959269500002763 [Google Scholar]
  63. Tarenskeen, Sammie
    (2010) From you to me (and back). The flexible meaning of the second person pronoun in Dutch. MA thesis, Department of Linguistics, Radboud University Nijmegen.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Thibault, Pierette
    (1991) La langue en mouvement: Simplification, régularisation, restructuration. LINX: Linguistique Institut Nanterre-Paris-X25: 79-92.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Ushie, Yukiko
    (1994) Who are you? And what are you doing? Discourse and pragmatic functions of the impersonal pronoun you in conversational narratives. Ochanomizu University Studies in Art and Culture47: 127-147.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Westerberg, Anna
    (2004) Norsjömålet under 150 år. Uppsala: Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.26.3.04jen
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error