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#5181. 複数人称代名詞 we, you, they の総称的用法 (2)[pronoun][personal_pronoun][generic][indefinite_pronoun]

2023-07-04

 「#5171. 複数人称代名詞 we, you, they の総称的用法」 ([2023-06-24-1]) に続く話題.LGSWE で関連する話題を調べてみた.§§4.10.1.1--3, 4.10.2 より該当箇所を引用しよう.まず1人称代名詞から.総称的用法といってよいのか微妙なケースではある.

By choosing the plural pronoun we rather than I, a single author avoids drawing attention to himself/herself, and the writing becomes somewhat more impersonal. On the other hand, when we is used to include the reader, it has a rather different effect and the writing becomes more personal. (§4.10.1.1)


 次に2人称代名詞の総称的用法について.

A particular problem in the use of you is that it may refer to people in general, including the speaker/writer. This is found both in speech and writing:
   You've got to be a bit careful when you're renting out though. (CONV)
   I have got this little problem you see. Sometimes I forget. And the trouble with "sometimes" is that you never know when to expect it. (NEWS) (§4.10.1.2)


 3人称代名詞の総称的に用法については,特に記述がなかったので省略する.
 上記を総括する形で,人称代名詞の総称的な用法について次のようにコメントがあった.

When we, you, and they are used with reference to people in general (4.10.1.1--3), they tend to retain a tinge of their basic meaning.


 先の記事でも述べた通り,人称代名詞の総称的な用法に「それぞれの人称の原義がうっすらと残存している」点が味わい深い.

 ・ Biber, Douglas, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad, and Edward Finegan, eds. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education, 1999.

Referrer (Inside): [2023-10-14-1]

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