Re: Pro-drop was RE: Conlang collaboration
| From: | Elyse Grasso <emgrasso@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, February 17, 2003, 3:00 |
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On Sunday 16 February 2003 06:19 am, Muke Tever wrote:
> From: "Tristan" <kesuari@...>
> > Dan Sulani wrote:
> >
> > > What exactly is meant by "pro-drop"?
> >
> > A tendency to drop unnecessary subject pronouns that are implied in
> > inflexions on the vowel.
>
> Actually I think it's just a tendency to consider subject pronouns
unnecessary,
> whether or not the inflections encode it--Japanese is pro-drop without
personal
Japanese doesn't really have pronouns to begin with... it just sort of
fakes them. Textbooks of Japanese aimed at speakers of European
languages vastly overstate the use of the words they tell you to use as
pronouns to make the language seem less alien.
If you listen to the way the language is really spoken with no Europeans
around (on videos, etc.) the language patterns are very different.
I think the 'pronouns' are bolt-ons based on polite formulas, not
integral parts of the grammar the way the personal pronouns are in
Europeans. The neutral way to refer to yourself is to say your own
name...
It's as if Spanish never had 'yo' or 'tu' with related verb
conjugations, just 'vuestra merced' and some similar formula used in
first person contexts.
(And if that made any sense, I'll tell you about Japanese grammar and
reverse Polish notation...)
--
Elyse Grasso
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