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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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Nachruf – Obituary – Nécrologie
- Nachruf auf Sadik Jalal al-Azm
- Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
- “You Don’t Wear a Fur in Summer”: Kang Youwei’sImpartial Words on Republicanism (1917) and the Fate of Chinese Democracy
- Ein Fischlein mit Lästermaul Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmārs liebster Feind, Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl as-Sumayka
- Auf der Suche nach einer verlorenen Zeit? – Visuelle Perspektiven der Kindheit in Mittelasien vor 1917
- Übersetzungen – Translations – Traductions
- Über die Idee und das Wirkliche (1890)Sō jitsu ron 想実論
- Josef van Ess Unfertige Studien II
- Unfertige Studien II: Bemerkungen zum Korankommentar des Aṣamm
- 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
- L’assujettissement des textes: quelques réflexions sur le classement par catégories dans les « encyclopédies » (leishu 類書) en Chine ancienne
- Se servir de la fiction comme guide: l’exemple des « romans de carrière » chinois contemporains
- Le commentaire de Tankuang sur l’Eveil à la Foi dans le Grand Véhicule: la probable influence de Wonhyo
- Le « film d’exploration » dans les textes de la critique de cinéma en République populaire de Chine
- The Ṣaḍakṣara-vidyā: A translation and study of the Tibetan version of the six-syllables spell
- 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
- Introduction
- Permeable Personhood and Techniques for Negotiating Boundaries of the Self among the Luangans of Indonesian Borneo
- Condensing Life Substances within the House: The Rice-Boiling Shuhi of Southwest China
- Tying the Hand: Life Sustaining Technique in Northern Thailand
- The Dynamics oflennawa: Exchange, Sharing and Sensorial Techniques for Managing Life Substances in Ifugao
- The Shuhi House between Reformist China and Revivalist Tibet
- Sondersektion: Myanmarforschung im deutschsprachigen Raum Hrsg. von Georg Winterberger
- Einleitung
- Myanmar-Studien: Ein Überblick
- Vom sanktionierten Pariastaat zumJoint-Venture der Welt. Aspekte der ökonomischen Dynamik Myanmars
- How Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone
- The Point of View Makes the Difference. Explaining the Position of Women in Myanmar
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Nachruf – Obituary – Nécrologie
- Nachruf auf Sadik Jalal al-Azm
- Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
- “You Don’t Wear a Fur in Summer”: Kang Youwei’sImpartial Words on Republicanism (1917) and the Fate of Chinese Democracy
- Ein Fischlein mit Lästermaul Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmārs liebster Feind, Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl as-Sumayka
- Auf der Suche nach einer verlorenen Zeit? – Visuelle Perspektiven der Kindheit in Mittelasien vor 1917
- Übersetzungen – Translations – Traductions
- Über die Idee und das Wirkliche (1890)Sō jitsu ron 想実論
- Josef van Ess Unfertige Studien II
- Unfertige Studien II: Bemerkungen zum Korankommentar des Aṣamm
- 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
- L’assujettissement des textes: quelques réflexions sur le classement par catégories dans les « encyclopédies » (leishu 類書) en Chine ancienne
- Se servir de la fiction comme guide: l’exemple des « romans de carrière » chinois contemporains
- Le commentaire de Tankuang sur l’Eveil à la Foi dans le Grand Véhicule: la probable influence de Wonhyo
- Le « film d’exploration » dans les textes de la critique de cinéma en République populaire de Chine
- The Ṣaḍakṣara-vidyā: A translation and study of the Tibetan version of the six-syllables spell
- 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
- Introduction
- Permeable Personhood and Techniques for Negotiating Boundaries of the Self among the Luangans of Indonesian Borneo
- Condensing Life Substances within the House: The Rice-Boiling Shuhi of Southwest China
- Tying the Hand: Life Sustaining Technique in Northern Thailand
- The Dynamics oflennawa: Exchange, Sharing and Sensorial Techniques for Managing Life Substances in Ifugao
- The Shuhi House between Reformist China and Revivalist Tibet
- Sondersektion: Myanmarforschung im deutschsprachigen Raum Hrsg. von Georg Winterberger
- Einleitung
- Myanmar-Studien: Ein Überblick
- Vom sanktionierten Pariastaat zumJoint-Venture der Welt. Aspekte der ökonomischen Dynamik Myanmars
- How Society Shapes Language: Personal Pronouns in the Greater Burma Zone
- The Point of View Makes the Difference. Explaining the Position of Women in Myanmar