Pleonastic Pronoun
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A dummy pronoun, also known as an expletive pronoun, is a
deictic In linguistics, deixis () is the use of words or phrases to refer to a particular time (e.g. ''then''), place (e.g. ''here''), or person (e.g. ''you'') relative to the context of the utterance. Deixis exists in all known natural languagesLyons, J ...
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...
that fulfills a
syntactical In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency) ...
requirement without providing a contextually explicit meaning of its
referent A referent ( ) is a person or thing to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers. For example, in the sentence ''Mary saw me'', the referent of the word ''Mary'' is the particular person called Mary who is being spoken o ...
. As such, it is an example of
exophora In pragmatics, exophora is reference to something extratextual, i.e. not in the immediate text, and contrasts with endophora. Exophora can be deictic, in which special words or grammatical markings are used to make reference to something in the c ...
. A dummy pronoun is used when a particular
verb argument In linguistics, an argument is an expression that helps complete the meaning of a predicate, the latter referring in this context to a main verb and its auxiliaries. In this regard, the '' complement'' is a closely related concept. Most predicate ...
(or
preposition Adpositions are a part of speech, class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in, under, towards, behind, ago'', etc.) or mark various thematic relations, semantic roles (''of, for''). The most common adpositions are prepositi ...
) is nonexistent, but when a reference to the argument (a pronoun) is nevertheless
syntactically In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency) ...
required. This is commonly the case if the verb is an
impersonal verb In linguistics, an impersonal verb is one that has no determinate subject. For example, in the sentence "''It rains''", ''rain'' is an impersonal verb and the pronoun ''it'' corresponds to an exophoric referrent. In many languages the verb takes ...
, but it could also be that the argument is unknown, irrelevant, already understood, or otherwise taboo (as in
naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...
). For example, in the phrase " is obvious that the violence will continue", the term 'it' is a dummy pronoun, not referring to any
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
. Unlike a regular pronoun of English, it cannot be replaced by any
noun phrase A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently ...
. The term 'dummy pronoun' refers to the function of a word in a particular sentence, not a property of individual words. For example, 'it' in the example from the previous paragraph is a dummy pronoun, but 'it' in the sentence "I bought a
sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...
and ate " is a referential pronoun (referring to the sandwich). Dummy pronouns are used in many languages across language families. Some of these families include
Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
, such as
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
,
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
, such as
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
and Irish, and Volta-Niger languages, such as Ewe and Esan. Other common languages with dummy pronouns include
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and, colloquially, in Thai. Pronoun-dropping languages such as
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
, Portuguese,
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
, and
Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...
do not require dummy pronouns.


Dummy subjects


Weather ''it''

One of the most common uses of dummy pronouns is with weather verbs, such as in the phrases "''it'' is snowing" or "''it'' is hot." In these sentences, the verb (''to snow, to rain'', etc.) is usually considered
semantically Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction between sense and reference ...
impersonal even though it appears syntactically
intransitive In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb, aside from an auxiliary verb, whose context does not entail a transitive object. That lack of an object distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additi ...
; in this view, the required ''it'' in "it is snowing" is a dummy word that does not refer. In English literature, there is also marginal use of the feminine ''she'', such as in the phrase "''She''s going to rain."


Other views

Although the weather ''it'' is frequently considered a dummy pronoun, there have been a few objections to this interpretation.
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
has argued that the ''it'' employed as the
subject Subject ( "lying beneath") may refer to: Philosophy *''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing **Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or ...
of English
weather verb In linguistics, an impersonal verb is one that has no determinate subject. For example, in the sentence "''It rains''", ''rain'' is an impersonal verb and the pronoun ''it'' corresponds to an exophoric referrent. In many languages the verb takes ...
s can control the subject of an adjunct clause, just like a "normal" subject. For example, compare: :''She brushes her teeth before having a bath.'' ::→ ''She brushes her teeth before she has a bath.'' :''It sometimes rains after snowing.'' ::→ ''It sometimes rains after it snows''. If this analysis is accepted, then the "weather ''it''" is to be considered a "quasi-(verb)
argument An argument is a series of sentences, statements, or propositions some of which are called premises and one is the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to give reasons for one's conclusion via justification, explanation, and/or persu ...
" and not a dummy word. Some
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
s such as D. L. Bolinger go further, claiming that the "weather ''it''" simply refers to a general state of affairs in the context of the utterance. In this case, it would not be a dummy word at all. Possible evidence for this claim includes exchanges such as: :''Was it nice (out) yesterday?'' :''No, it rained.'' where ''it'' is implied to mean "the local weather".


Existential ''there''

Another common use of dummy pronouns in English is the use of ''there'' in
existential clause An existential clause is a clause (grammar), clause that refers to the existence or presence of something, such as "There is a God" and "There are boys in the yard". The use of such clauses can be considered analogous to existential quantificati ...
s, such as in the phrase "''there'' are polar bears in Norway." This is also occasionally referred to as the anticipatory ''there''. This should be distinguished from the locative ''there'', as in "I saw a polar bear over ''there.''" This use of ''there'' acts as a
locative adverb A locative adverb is a type of adverb that refers to a location or to a combination of a location and a relation to that location. Generally, a locative adverb is semantically equivalent to a prepositional phrase involving a locative or directiona ...
rather than a subject. While the existential use of ''there'' has generally been analyzed as a subject, it has been proposed that elements like expletive ''there'' in existential sentences and ''pro''-''forms'' in inverse copular sentences play the role of dummy predicate rather than dummy subject, so that the postverbal
noun phrase A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently ...
would rather be the embedded subject of the sentence.


Raising verbs

Other examples of semantically empty pronouns are found with
raising Raising may refer to: *Raising (syntax), a syntactic construction *Raising (sound change), a sound change *Raising (metalworking), a metalworking technique *Barn raising, a community event to erect the wooden framework for a building *Fundraising, ...
verbs in "unraised" counterparts. For example: :''It seems that John loves
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
.'' (Corresponding "raised" sentence: ''John seems to love coffee.'') :''There is a bird flying outside.'' (Corresponding "raised" sentence: ''A bird is flying outside.'')


Extraposition

Dummy ''it'' can also be found in
extraposition Extraposition is a mechanism of syntax that alters word order in such a manner that a relatively "heavy" constituent appears to the right of its canonical position. Extraposing a constituent results in a discontinuity and in this regard, it i ...
constructions in English, a process known as ''it''-extraposition. For example: :''It is fun living in Paris.'' (Corresponding non-extraposed sentence: ''Living in Paris is fun.'') At least in English, ''it''-extraposition appears much more frequently than non-extraposition.


Dummy objects

In English, dummy
object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an a ...
pronouns tend to serve an ''
ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
'' function, applying with less regularity than dummy subjects, though use of the dummy object can be traced at least as far back as the early sixteenth century. Dummy objects are sometimes used to transform transitive verbs to a transitive
light verb In linguistics, a light verb is a verb that has little semantic content of its own and forms a predicate with some additional expression, which is usually a noun. Common verbs in English that can function as light verbs are ''do'', ''give'', ''hav ...
form: e.g., ''do'' → ''do it'', "to engage in
sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...
"; ''make'' → '' make it'', "to achieve success"; ''get'' → '' get it'', "to comprehend". Prepositional objects are similar: e.g., '' with it'', "up to date"; '' out of it'', "dazed" or "not thinking". All of these phrases, of course, can also be taken literally. For instance: :He ordered a
cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...
, and even though it took them a while to make it, he did get some
French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...
with it.


See also

*
Impersonal verb In linguistics, an impersonal verb is one that has no determinate subject. For example, in the sentence "''It rains''", ''rain'' is an impersonal verb and the pronoun ''it'' corresponds to an exophoric referrent. In many languages the verb takes ...
*
Null-subject language In linguistic typology, a null-subject language is a language whose grammar permits an independent clause to lack an explicit subject; such a clause is then said to have a null subject. In the principles and parameters framework, the null s ...


References

*Everaert, M. - van Riemsdijk, H - Goedemans, R. (eds) 2006 The Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Volumes I-V, Blackwell, London: see "existential sentences and expletive there" in Volume II. * Graffi, G. 2001 200 Years of Syntax. A critical survey, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dummy Pronoun Pronouns Transitivity and valency