Generalised meaning of pronouns
| Author | Merita Balliçi |
| Position | University 'Aleksandër Xhuvani', Elbasan (Albania) |
| Pages | 134-140 |
Vo
l. 4 N
o
. 2
J
u
ly
, 2018
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Science
s
II
PCCL Publishin
g
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ustri
a
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34
Generalised meaning of pronouns
Merita Balli
çi
U
niversit
y
“Aleksandër Xhuvani”, Elbasan (Albania
)
Abs
tr
act
This manuscript aims to provide a view over the generalised meaning of pronouns in the
A
lbanian language, basically the personal, refl exive, demonstrative, possessive, relative and
i
ndefi nite pronouns, based on our viewpoint.
I
n some uses, pronouns can refl ect ambiguity. They can state a generalised or an individualised
r
eferent. This ambiguity is clarifi ed in context. We will provide examples of the
A
lbanian
l
anguage to illustrate and analyse this phenomenon, but there will also be cases which we
e
ncounter in various
E
n
g
lish and French
g
rammars.
H
owever, in linguistics, generalization is viewed as a problematic and controversial
phenomenon (Galmiche, 1985, 2), thus our explanations can be considered at the stage o
f
d
ebatable hypotheses.
K
e
y
words
:
a
mbiguity, pronoun, generalised meaning, specifi c/individualised meaning.
I
ntr
oduc
t
io
n
P
ersonal
p
ronouns are described as a s
y
stem o
f
three
p
ersons, singular and
p
lural:
fi
rst
p
erson
(
I,
we
), t
h
e s
p
ea
k
er is in o
pp
osition to t
h
e secon
d
p
erson
(
you
)
, t
h
e
p
erson
t
o whom the s
p
eaker is s
p
eaking to. The third
p
erson is not
p
art o
f
this o
pp
ositional
s
y
stem. As third
p
erson
p
ersonal
p
ronouns uses the demonstratives (he
/
she
/
it, the
y
)
(
Benveniste, 1996
).
I
n the grammatical tradition,
p
ersonal
p
ronouns are treated as
p
art o
f
the s
p
eech
a
p
art, outside the nominal grou
p
and the verbal grou
p
, and most o
f
the time in a
c
ha
p
ter that includes all kinds o
f
p
ronouns (Charaudeau, 1992, 119).
I
n addition to the above de
fi
nitions which are linked to the most
f
re
q
uent uses o
f
the
p
ersonal
p
ronouns, in the
A
lbanian language, there are cases when we use the
p
lural
You
to re
fl
ect the singular
p
oliteness or the
p
lural we
f
or the modest
y
in the scienti
fi
c
singu
l
ar.
1.1 The
fi
rst person (I, we)
The
p
ersonal
p
ronoun
I
/
we
w
ith a generalised meaning is accom
p
lished in those
c
on
d
itions w
h
en t
h
e s
p
ea
k
er is situate
d
as an a
b
stract actor w
h
o ex
p
resses a genera
l
action. T
h
e
p
ersona
l
p
ronoun
I
/
we
t
akes this generalisation
f
or granted as to
p
rovide
an exam
p
le which allows its anal
y
sis,
f
or instanc
e
:
i
f
I
/ we should go
f
ar,
I
need to wal
k
slowl
y
(
C
h
arau
d
eau, 1992
).
In the French language we encounter uses of
I
f
as an individual which applies to
I
all, considered as a continuit
y
o
f
the exam
p
le to be
f
ollowed:
T
omorrow, I vote (=
y
ou
vote
)
1
,
but even an
I
f
or a third
p
erson, collective in scienti
fi
c ex
p
eriments:
If
I
add
1
“Demain, je vote (votez)…. Procedé d’exem
p
larité. Mise en scène d’un locuteur
q
ui décrit ce
q
u’il
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