Re: Origin of the word 'kivismi'

On Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:06:16 -0400 Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
writes:
> Well, I don't personally have anything against this system, but
> since some
> people I know have claimed that English is inherently sexist on the
> basis of
> similar habits ('he' being the default animate 3rd sg pronoun for
> instance),
>
>                                                 Andreas
-

Well, descriptively speaking, in many dialects now "they" is becoming the
default animate 3rd sg pronoun... it has even acquired a reflexive form
different than it's original plural:

subject / object / reflexive
they ~ them ~ themselves  =  plural
they ~ them ~ themself  =  singular

I seem to remember that this shift goes all the way in someone here's
(Nik?) Future English conlang, with the "plural they" becoming a
descendent of "them-all", and "they" becoming completely singular.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "yom ha`atzma'ut sameiahh!"

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