Re: Pronouns...

Barry Garcia wrote:
>
> I was wondering, are there any natlangs (or even conlangs) where the
> pronouns have only one form?
Sure, creoles, such as Tok Pisin (mi = I/me, bilong mi = my [of me])

Japanese pronouns have only one form each, using particles to indicate
grammatical relations just as with nouns.

I think some non-Creole dialects of English use /mi/ for subject,
object, and possessive, presumably due to the collapse of /maj/ and /mi/
(or perhaps even earlier, before the Great Vowel Shift, /me:/ and /mi:/)

Many languages use just one stem form, with regular inflections.
Quechua goes so far as to have regular plurals for third (and, I think,
second) persons, as if we were to say "Is", "Yous" (well, some dialects
do), "Hes", "Shes", "Its" for "we", "you-plural", "they"

Speaking of plurals, is it just me, or does "they" have an animate
"feel" to it.  I tend to have a slight preference for "those" rather
than "they" when referring to inanimate objects.  Perhaps it's due to
the colloquial usage of "they" as an epicene singular?

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