Re: Fourth Person

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
To: Multiple recipients of list CONLANG <CONLANG@...>
Date: Sunday, October 04, 1998 8:38 PM
Subject: Re: Fourth Person


>Nik Taylor wrote:
>
>> The term "fourth person" is often used for "obviate", i.e., referring to
>> a second third-person, so:
>
>But then how does one classify the English use of "one"? It can refer
>to something even more distant than a particular third person, i.e.,
*anyone*
>who might be in that position
>
English has several words that I would classify with "one" (when it's used
in that way): For example, "that" (when it means "the thing to which my
finger is pointing"), and "this" (when it means "the thing which my hand is
touching"), and "some" (when it refers to a portion of a group that's
already been identified).  What this class of words have in common are that,
when they are used in these ways, they function as pronouns, and that they
otherwise function as adjectives.

-- Tommie