PRONOUNS

3.1 Personal Pronouns

3.1.1 Interpretation of Personal Pronouns

(a)   To call oneself "James Bond" is appropirate only if one is James Bond (and not Ludmila Veselovská.

(b)  To call oneself "I" is always correct, no matter whether one is James Bond or Ludmila Veselovská.

In (a) is true no matter who says so only when James Bond actually did so. (b) is true if the person, who pronounces it, did so. (a) James Bond was flying to Hawaii. (b) I was flying to Hawaii.

Contrary to referrential Nouns, Pronouns do not have independent referrence. Their semantic interpretation can be defined only in the terms of discourse, i.e. ccording to the conditions and circumstances of the specific speech act.

(a) this and that [±PROXIMATE]

(b) here and there

(c) now and then

(d) Give me that.

(e) This one here is better than that one there.

(f) I am reading this book here and now, not that one.

Discourse bound interpretation of personal Pronouns:

(a) I (=1sg) = the speaker (= the person who performs the speech act)

(b) you (=2sg) = the hearer (= the intended adresee of the speech act)

(c) (s)he (=3sg,m/f) = the ‘other’ (human non-participant of the discourse)

(d) it (=3sg) = non-human non-participant

(e) we (=1pl) = a set of people one of which is the speaker. The hearer can

be a member of the group (inclusive we) or not (exclusive we).

(f) you (=2pl) = a set of people including the hearer, not the speker

(g) they (=3pl) = the ‘others’ (non-participants of the discourse)

Consider the characteristics of Number [plural] with personal Pronouns

(a) books / boys [plural] = book+book+book... / boy+boy+boy

(b) we [1 plural] ≠ speaker + speaker + speaker....

(c) you [2 plural] = / ≠ hearer + hearer + hearer...

(d) they [plural] = the other + the other + the other

Stylistic / Pragmatic usage of we

(a) As we just showed... (Inclusive/authorial/ editorial WE)

(b) Today we are much more concerned ... (Rhetorical WE)

(c) How are we feeling today? (= you)

(d) We are really in a bad mood today... (= he)

It and there: referential and expletive Pronouns

(a) I want this book. She wants it, too. (Referring it)

(b) It is raining. (Weather it)

(c) It is not true that he did it. (Propositional it and Linking it)

(d) There is a man in the middle of the room. (Expletive there)

3.1.2 Pronoun Function and Form

Case : English pronouns have three/ four morphologically distinct Case forms.

(a) SUBJECT (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

(b) SAXON-GENITIVE (my/mine. your/yours, her/hers, their/theirs...)

(c) OBJECT (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)

            The other forms Pronoun:

(a) Possessives This is my book.

(b) P independent /predicative The book is mine. That brother of mine is here.

(c) Object of a Verb I saw him /*he frequently.

(d) ‘Object’ of a Preposition I went there with him/*he last week.

Subject Case in English is more marked (less used) than the nominative is in Czech. Consider the Case on the English Pronouns below. Compare with the Czech translations.

(a) Who did it? - Me. It was me.               (c) Mary and him often go abroad.

(b) It was she/ her that Adam criticised.   (d) Nobody but her/ ?she/ does it well.

(e) We/ us students have many expenses. (f) We got home before them/ ?they.

In current English, subject pronouns are preferred and obligatory only as uncoordianated subjects of overt predicates that immediately follow them. Otherwise spoke Enlgish prefers object pronouns.

Recall which part of a structure is replaced by (which) Pronouns.

[The smart girl] with [the two foreign friends] was awarded [the first prize]

SHE                                 THEM                                                 IT

(a) My younger brother    bought a new car.

(b) *My younger he          bought * a new it.

(c) He                               bought it.

(d) My younger one          bought a new one.

Personal Pronouns replace Noun Phrases (not Nouns). Pronouns therefore can express nominal functions. There are some distinction between Ns/NPs/and pronominals.

Restricted (Post) Modification of Pronominals

Unlike Nouns, Pronouns cannot be freely modified, they cannot be the head of a phrase like Nouns. There are some idiosyncratic exceptions, e.g. relative clauses:

(a) hardly any, nothing at all, almost anybody

(b) We all......, They each....., You both.... (vs. floating Qs)

(c) emphasis: you yourself

(d) Silly me! we doctors, us visitors

(e) you there, you in the raincoat

(f) we of the modern age

(g) He/ she who hesitates is lost.

(h) Those/ we/ you/ *they who work hard deserve some reward.

(i) cf. *It that/ What stands over there is a church.

3.1.3 The Pro-N One

Numeric one (pro-Q):

(a) I met one young boy / two other boys.

(b) One / many of the boys arrived at five.

Substitute one (pro-N):

(a) I'd like another steak /one other big one.

(b) Those red cars / red ones I like most.

Generic one (pro-NP):

(a) One / they would assume that...

(b) She makes one / my brother Adam feel well.

3.2 R elative Pronouns

These Pronouns introduce a relative clause.

(a) kdo, co, jaký, který, čí, jenž.

(b) wh-Pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, and also: that, Ø

3.2.1 The form of the relative Pronouns

The wh-Pronouns show (agree with) the morphological features of Nouns and Adjectives. The agreement is built with two elements:

(a)   Gender (Animacy)/ Number features depend on the head Noun (in the main clause).

(b)   Case depends on the function of the Pronoun in the relative clause.

The WH relative Pronouns (only) can be preceded by Prepositions or other material:

(a) The boys with who(m)/ which/ *that I go out

(b) I can see the book, the name of which I have forgotten

(c) Here is the answer, the importance of which you did not realize in time.

(d) I can see the guy whose name I have forgotten.

Case with relative Pronouns

Relative Pronouns show pronominal Case morphology, i.e. Subject/ Possessive/ Object:

(a) he - his - him               (b) who - whose - whom

The Object Case of the relative Pronoun is more likely to appear overtly in English if the Pronoun is close/ adjacent to its Case assigner (Verb/ Preposition), and much less likely if the Case assigner is dissociated/ stranded from the Pronoun.

(a) I know the man who/ %whom you met yesterday.

(b) I know the man who/ %whom everyone says they like.

(c) Let’s not rely on your cousein, to find whom/ *who might be difficult.

(d) I know the man with whom/ %who you were talking.

(e) I know the man who/ *whom you were talking with.    Preposition stranding

3.2.2 Omitting the relative Pronoun

Only those relative Pronouns can be deleted in English which neither have the function of a Subject nor follow a Preposition or other fronted material.

(a) I know the man whom you invited for dinner.

(b) I know the man --- you invited for dinner.

(c) Can you give me the book which is laying on the table?

(d) *Can you give me the book --- is laying on the table?

(e) Show me the man at whom you are looking.

(f) *Show me the man at --- you are looking.

(g) Show me the man -- you are looking at.

3.3 Interrogative Pronouns

3.3.1 The form of the interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative Pronouns are elements used in WH-questions, i.e. questions which ask to identify some sentence constituent. The form of the Pronoun depends on the constituent it replaces. The repertory and forms are like relative Pronouns plus how (many/ Adjective) and why but not including that or Ø.

Consider which constituents (parts of speech, phrases, sentence members?) can be questioned and what is the right morphological form of the WH Pronoun.

Her younger brother/ He met her/ my sister very briefly yesterday in front of their new school twice.

(a)   Who met her yesterday in front of their new school twice?

(b)   Whom/ Who did he meet yesterday in front of their new school?

(c)   When did he meet her in front of their new school?

(d)   Where did he meet her yesterday twice?

(e)   In front of which school did he meet her yesterday? - In front of their new school.

(f)   In front of whose new school did he meet her yesterday? -In front of their new school.

(g)   How many times/ How often did he meet her yesterday in front of their new school?

(h)   How did he meet her yesterday in front of their new school?

(i)    Why did he meet her yesterday in front of their new school?

As with relatives, the Case marking of the interrogative WH Pronouns depends on their sentence function, i.e.on the function of the sentence member they are asking about. In Modern English overt Case marking is most likely if the Pronoun is adjacent to the Case assigner.

I am waiting for hi-m.                              The P for is a Case assigner

(a) Who are you waiting for?

(b) % Who-m are you I waiting for?        Pronoun is stranded from the Case assigner (for)

(c) For who-m are you waiting?

(d) % For who are you waiting?              Pronoun is adjacent to the Case assigner (for)

I saw hi-m.                                               The V saw is a Case assigner

(a) Who did she meet?                              Prounoun is not adjacent to the Case assigner (meet)

(b) % Whom did she meet?

(c) In order to meet whom did she go to the square? Pronoun is adjacent to meet.

3.3.2 The position of the WH-Pronouns

The interrogative Pronoun in the WH-question is moved from its position, it is fronted in the clause. Notice that the size of the fronted interrogative element (the material preceding the inverted Auxiliary and containing some interrogative WH element) can be far bigger that one word. It is a phrase (it replaces the whole sentence member we are asking about).

He bought [OBJECT NP the three books] [ADVERBIAL PP in the new shop on the square].

(a) [OBJECT NP What ] did he buy in the new shop?

(b) [OBJECT NP How many books ] did he buy in the new shop?

(c) [ADVERBIAL PP Where ] did he buy the three books?

(d) [ADVERBIAL PP In which shop on the square] did he buy the three books?

If there is more than one WH Pronoun (in so called Multiple Wh-questions), only the hierarchically highest is fronted in Standard English. The other(s) remain in the position of the sentence member they represent, i.e. they remain ‘in situ’.

[SUBJECT NP Emily] bought [OBJECT NP several books] [ADVERBIAL PP in the new shop].

(a) Who bought what where? *What did who buy where?

(b) What did Emily buy where? *What did who buy on the square?

(c) *Where did Emily buy what?

(d) What did Mary buy why? *Why did Mary buy what?

Notice that in English the interrogative element can appear in a clause which it does not belong to (often in an initial main clause). Consider the sentence functions of the WH Pronouns in such Long-distance WH-Movement:

(a) When do you think that Emily arrived?

(b) Who(m) did Emily tell you (that) Bill met at the raiway station?

(c) Which jacket did John persuade Emily (that) she should take on the trip?

(d) Who did Emily say (that) Bill thought (*that) would arrive late?

(e) How/ Why should Mary make public (that) she plans to divorce?

While the long distance WH-questions appear often in English, in Czech this kind of WH question is 'substandard', and their frequency is highest with Adverbials.

(a) Kdo si myslíš, že Marušce pomohl? (O kom so myslíš, že Marušce pomohl)

(b) Kam si myslíš, že Petr řekl, že to Jana dala.

(c) ??Který kabát se Petr ptal Marie že si Jan vzal na výlet?

Interpretation of interrogative Pronouns

Indefinite (who, what) vs. definite (which)

(a) Who is your favourite conductor? What is your favourite type of music?

(b) Which is your favourite conductor/ type of music??

(c) What's the name of this tune?                           *Which is the nature of music?

(d) What / Which conductor do you like best?

(e) What / Which newspaper do you read?

(f) Which (of these) do you prefer?                        *What of these do you prefer?

Independent vs. determinative function

(a) Whose jacket is this? - This is Peter's jacket.

(b) Whose is this jacket? - This jacket is Peter's.