GB030
This question targets the existence of any gender distinction in phonologically independent third person pronouns. For the purposes of this feature we define third person pronouns as including demonstratives. A masculine/feminine distinction is commonly encoded in third person pronouns, but distinctions in any other noun class/gender categories such as animacy also satisfy the criterion for coding a 1 for this feature. For languages with no third person independent pronouns or no noun class/gender distinctions in third person pronouns, a gender distinction in demonstratives would be sufficient to trigger a 1 here. If pronouns with just inanimate referents (or alternatively, just animate referents) agree with the noun class/gender of the corresponding noun that also suffices for 1. If a language has any gender distinction for third person pronouns but not for demonstratives, this is also sufficient for a 1. For more information on the difference between grammatical gender and social, cultural, and biological constructs or traits, see the gender wiki page.
- If there are grammaticalized independent third person pronouns which encode a distinction in gender, including categories such as masculine and feminine or animacy, code 1.
- If there are independent third person pronouns that are marked for the gender/noun class of the referent, code 1.
- If there are no third person pronouns that specify gender/noun class but there are demonstratives that encode gender distinctions, code 1. Note that this includes cases where the language's third person pronouns do not encode any noun class/gender distinctions as well as cases where there are no independent third person pronouns.
- If pronouns are used only for animate third person referents and demonstratives are used for inanimate third person referents, but no noun class/gender contrasts are encoded within the third person pronouns nor within the set of demonstratives, this can be interpreted as an animacy contrast in third person pro-forms and is sufficient for 1 coding.
- If neither independent third person pronouns nor demonstratives are marked for noun class/gender, code 0.
- If you are uncertain whether the categories distinguished in third person pronoun forms or demonstratives are relevant to this feature, code ? and provide a comment describing the potentially relevant categories in the language's third person pronouns and/or demonstratives.
Kuot (ISO 639-3: kto, Glottolog: kuot1243)
Kuot has no third person pronouns (Lindström 2002: 132). It does have demonstratives that can function as third person pronouns, and these forms index masculine vs. feminine gender (Lindström 2002: 134). Kuot would be coded 1.
Biak (ISO 639-3: bhw, Glottolog: biak1248)
Biak has independent third person pronouns in several number categories: singular i, dual su, paucal sko. For only the third person plural pronouns there is a distinction between animate (si) and inanimate (na) (van den Heuvel 2006: 66). Biak is coded 1.
Ingush (ISO 639-3: inh, Glottolog: ingu1240)
Ingush third person pronouns are historically related to demonstratives (Nichols 2011: 172). Neither singular nor plural third person pronouns distinguish any categories of noun class/gender (including animacy, noun class, etc.) (Nichols 2011: 174). Ingush is coded 0.
Bhat, Darbhe Narayana Shankara. 2007. Pronouns. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Corbett, Greville G. 1991. Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Siewierska, Anna. 2013. Gender distinctions in independent personal pronouns. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Lindström, Eva. 2002. Topics in the grammar of Kuot. Stockholm: Stockholm University. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Nichols, Johanna. 2011. Ingush grammar. (University of California Publications in Linguistics.) Berkeley: University of California Press.
van den Heuvel, Wilco. 2006. Biak: Description of an Austronesian language of Papua. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit. (Doctoral dissertation.)
- GB051 Is there a noun class/gender system where masculine and feminine categories are a factor in class assignment?
- GB052 Is there a noun class/gender system where shape is a factor in class assignment?
- GB053 Is there a noun class/gender system where animacy is a factor in class assignment?
- GB054 Is there a noun class/gender system where plant status is a factor in class assignment?
- GB192 Is there a noun class/gender system where a noun's phonological properties are a factor in class assignment?
- GB196 Is there a masculine/feminine distinction in phonologically independent second person pronouns?
- GB197 Is there a masculine/feminine distinction in phonologically independent first person pronouns?
- GB321 Is there a large class of nouns whose noun class/gender is not phonologically or semantically predictable?
Hannah J. Haynie