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HomeGeneral InterestHow Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone
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How Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone

  • André MüllerEMAIL logo andRachel Weymuth
Published/Copyright:March 14, 2017
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De Gruyter
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Abstract

In the “Greater Burma Zone”, an area that includes Myanmar and adjacent regions of the neighboring countries, there are two different systems of personal pronouns that occur predominantly: a grammatical one and one that we call “hierarchical system”. The aim of this paper is to explain the two systems and their development. A sample of 42 languages shows that smaller language communities have grammatical systems and the most dominant languages today have hierarchical ones. Besides these two groups, there are also some languages with a “mixed system”, which means the grammatical system is retained and only a few honorific terms are added as pronouns. An important question will therefore be why the systems are distributed just in this way. Several factors seem to play a role, among them sociocultural structures, historical developments and language contact.

Funding statement:Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, (Grant/Award Number: ‘100012_150136’)

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Published Online:2017-3-14
Published in Print:2017-3-1

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  2. Nachruf – Obituary – Nécrologie
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  25. Sondersektion: Myanmarforschung im deutschsprachigen Raum Hrsg. von Georg Winterberger
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  29. How Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone
  30. The Point of View Makes the Difference. Explaining the Position of Women in Myanmar
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Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Nachruf – Obituary – Nécrologie
  3. Nachruf auf Sadik Jalal al-Azm
  4. Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
  5. “You Don’t Wear a Fur in Summer”: Kang Youwei’sImpartial Words on Republicanism (1917) and the Fate of Chinese Democracy
  6. Ein Fischlein mit Lästermaul Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmārs liebster Feind, Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl as-Sumayka
  7. Auf der Suche nach einer verlorenen Zeit? – Visuelle Perspektiven der Kindheit in Mittelasien vor 1917
  8. Übersetzungen – Translations – Traductions
  9. Über die Idee und das Wirkliche (1890)Sō jitsu ron 想実論
  10. Josef van Ess Unfertige Studien II
  11. Unfertige Studien II: Bemerkungen zum Korankommentar des Aṣamm
  12. Beiträge zur 8. Nachwuchstagung der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft, Crêt-Bérard Puidoux, 27.–29. April 2016 Contributions aux 8èmes journées de la relève de la Société Suisse-Asie à Crêt-Bérard Puidoux, 27–29 avril 2016
  13. L’assujettissement des textes: quelques réflexions sur le classement par catégories dans les « encyclopédies » (leishu 類書) en Chine ancienne
  14. Se servir de la fiction comme guide: l’exemple des « romans de carrière » chinois contemporains
  15. Le commentaire de Tankuang sur l’Eveil à la Foi dans le Grand Véhicule: la probable influence de Wonhyo
  16. Le « film d’exploration » dans les textes de la critique de cinéma en République populaire de Chine
  17. The Ṣaḍakṣara-vidyā: A translation and study of the Tibetan version of the six-syllables spell
  18. Special Section: “The convergence of soul substances in Southeast Asia, and the spillage of blood: notions of personhood and health in transition” Edited by Elisabeth Hsu
  19. Introduction
  20. Permeable Personhood and Techniques for Negotiating Boundaries of the Self among the Luangans of Indonesian Borneo
  21. Condensing Life Substances within the House: The Rice-Boiling Shuhi of Southwest China
  22. Tying the Hand: Life Sustaining Technique in Northern Thailand
  23. The Dynamics oflennawa: Exchange, Sharing and Sensorial Techniques for Managing Life Substances in Ifugao
  24. The Shuhi House between Reformist China and Revivalist Tibet
  25. Sondersektion: Myanmarforschung im deutschsprachigen Raum Hrsg. von Georg Winterberger
  26. Einleitung
  27. Myanmar-Studien: Ein Überblick
  28. Vom sanktionierten Pariastaat zumJoint-Venture der Welt. Aspekte der ökonomischen Dynamik Myanmars
  29. How Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone
  30. The Point of View Makes the Difference. Explaining the Position of Women in Myanmar
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