Re: Person distinctions in languages?

>From: Carsten Becker <naranoieati@...>
>
>On Wednesday 02 February 2005 18:31, Kevin Athey wrote:
>
> > **In the first person plural, of course.  I've seen this
> > somewhere in the second person plural, but I don't
> > remember where.  I don't even remember if it was a
> > natlang or a conlang, although I'm mostly sure it was the
> > former. Can anyone help me with that?
>
>I've had a 2nd person inanimate when Ayeri was still
>"young". But I dropped that device because I couldn't think
>of a possible sensible use.
My context was actually a second person inclusive/exclusive distinction,
whatever that means.

Many natlangs have 2nd person gender/class distinctions, and I can think of
two reasons why a 2nd person animacy distinction might occur.

1.  Humans have a universal tendancy to talk to inanimate objects.
2a.  Animacy is not necessarily entirely semantic based.  Certain words can
break that, just as Mädchen being neuter in German.
2b.  There could also be a diminutive or pejorative convention in which the
"second person inanimate" is actually an affectionate or an insult most of
the time.

Athey

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