Pronouns: Feature g

<BODY LANG="EN" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <P> <A NAME="efprgen"> </A><H2><A NAME="SECTION000617000000000000000">Pronouns: Feature <B>g</B></A></H2> <P> The feature <B>g</B> (gender) applies to <EM>demonstrative</EM>, <EM>possessive</EM>, <EM>indefinite</EM>, <EM>personal</EM> and <EM>reflexive</EM> pronouns and to the <EM>impersonal</EM> pronoun. Nevertheless, the feature <B>gender</B> does not apply to the <EM>weak personal pronouns</EM> `y' and `en', nor to a range of indefinite pronouns where the opposition of the gender is not marked morphologically (``beaucoup sont venus'';`` beaucoup sont venues''). The feature <B>gender</B> does not apply to <EM>cardinal</EM> pronouns, nor to most of the <EM>relative</EM>, <EM>interrogative</EM>, and <EM>exclamative</EM> pronouns either, except to those which present a morphologically marked gender opposition (`lequel', `laquelle'; `quel', `quelle'). Concerning the <EM>indefinite pronouns</EM>, we can consider the following cases: <P> <OL> <LI> The opposition of the gender is morphologically marked: <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> <B>aucun</B><A NAME="25354"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> n'est venu; <B>aucune</B><A NAME="25362"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> n'est venue. <LI> <B>certains</B><A NAME="25370"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> sont venus; <B>certaines</B><A NAME="25378"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> sont venues. </UL></P></DIV><P> <LI> The feminine form is defective: <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> <B>Tout</B><A NAME="25398"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> n'est pas perdu. The feminine form `toute' cannot be used as pronoun. </UL></P></DIV><P> <LI> Only one form, that is not marked according to the gender, exists. On the morphological level, we interpret these forms as masculine forms, because they do not agree with feminine past participle forms or feminine adjectives. From a semantic point of view, these forms have neuter value. <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI>   <B>Personne</B><A NAME="25431"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> n'est venu.<BR> *Personne n'est venue. <LI>   <B>Rien</B><A NAME="25440"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> ne s'est passé.<BR> *Rien ne s'est passée. </UL></P></DIV><P> <LI> A range of pronouns are not morphologically marked according to the gender, but they may be interpreted either as masculine or as feminine pronouns. We consider that the feature <B> gender</B> does not apply to these pronouns, because the interpretation of the gender depends on the gender of the semantic head of the noun phrase, a semantic head that is not present in the linguistic context. <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> <B>Beaucoup</B><A NAME="25470"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venus; Beaucoup d'hommes sont venus. <LI> <B>Beaucoup</B><A NAME="25478"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venues; Beaucoup de femmes sont venues. <LI> <B>Suffisamment</B><A NAME="25486"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venus; Suffisamment d'hommes sont venus. <LI> <B>Suffisamment</B><A NAME="25494"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venues; Suffisamment de femmes sont venues. <LI> <B>Plusieurs</B><A NAME="25502"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venus; Plusieurs hommes sont venus. <LI> <B>Plusieurs</B><A NAME="25510"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> sont venues; Plusieurs femmes sont venues. </UL></P></DIV><P> <P> Concerning the pronoun `on', the semantic head can be an antecedent: <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> Nous les hommes, <B>on</B><A NAME="25532"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> n'est pas venus; Nous les femmes, <B>on</B><A NAME="25540"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> n'est pas venues. </UL></P></DIV><P> <P> Some of these morphological units can also have semantic neuter value. In this case, they agree with singular verb forms. <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> <B>On</B><A NAME="25563"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> n'est pas venu. <LI> <B>Beaucoup</B><A NAME="25571"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=*</FONT></SMALL> dépend des Etats-Unis. </UL></P></DIV><P> <P> </OL> <P> Concerning the personal and reflexive pronouns, notice that we consider that the values <EM>masculine</EM> and <EM>feminine</EM> do not apply only to the third person where the gender opposition can be marked morphologically (`il', `elle'); we consider that the feature <B>gender</B> applies to the whole paradigm of weak (except for `y' and `en') and strong personal pronouns and to the whole paradigm of weak and strong reflexive pronouns. <P> <EM>Examples</EM>: <P><DIV ALIGN=LEFT><P ALIGN=LEFT><UL> <LI> <B>Je</B><A NAME="25619"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> <B>me</B><A NAME="25627"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> promène; <B>Je</B><A NAME="25635"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> <B>me</B><A NAME="25643"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> promène. <LI> <B>Tu</B><A NAME="25651"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> <B>te</B><A NAME="25659"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> promène; <B>Tu</B><A NAME="25667"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> <B>te</B><A NAME="25675"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> promène. <LI> <B>Il</B><A NAME="25683"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> <B>se</B><A NAME="25691"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=m</FONT></SMALL> promène; <B>Elle</B><A NAME="25699"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> <B>se</B><A NAME="25707"> </A>/<SMALL CLASS=FOOTNOTE><FONT color=#ff0000>g=f</FONT></SMALL> promène. </UL></P></DIV><P> <P> <BR> <HR> <UL><A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"> </A> <LI> <A NAME="tex2html2294" HREF="node125.html#SECTION000617100000000000000" target="_top">Pronouns: Value <EM>m</EM></A> <LI> <A NAME="tex2html2295" HREF="node126.html#SECTION000617200000000000000" target="_top">Pronouns: Value <EM>f</EM></A> <LI> <A NAME="tex2html2296" HREF="node127.html#SECTION000617300000000000000" target="_top">Pronouns: Value <EM>*</EM></A> </UL> <HR> <P><ADDRESS> </ADDRESS> </BODY>