6-806msg2.txt

贝叶斯学习算法源码

Subject: feminine-he , singular-they

content - length : 8133 dear language scholar . i be present the follow material as a discussion item . one of my ultimate purpose be to contribute to the revise oed due out in 2005 . for a paper i be currently work on , i ' m request comment and contribution . a summary will be forthcome . feminine-he and singular-they mine be a new set of explanation for the two most regularly discuss grammatical oddity of english : indefinite / proverbial he and singular they . ( i will also touch on them and their . ) the orthodox view of pronoun history ( for she , they , them , their ) involve the north-to - south " wave theory , " as state as early as 1866 by richard morri . it be the theory that be set forth in the oed and have never be question . the feminine h - stem , accord to this accept view , be displace in the language in a wave of cultural diffusion when the feminine pronunciation begin to approximate that of the masculine pronoun in the 12th and 13th century . the other pronoun discuss here also involve the north-to - south wave of diffusion . my contention be that the significant cause for the historical replacement of these pronoun ( except for the h - stem subject plural ) be the standardize force exert by the printing press - - it happen rather quickly - - not wave of cultural diffusion over century . in my analysis of the seventeen manuscript of the a - version of piers plowman , the h - stem feminine be find with great regularity . how can this be explain ? in many line , the occurrence in the manuscript of h - stem feminine outnumber the sh - form find in the same line . many manuscript use both form . the manuscript be copy of copy of copy . on the base of the manuscript that have be date , i place the " average " manuscript within a few generation of the advent of print . my explanation , perhap the anglo - norman ruler have a predilection for a distinction in the masculine / feminine singular . while the folk generally use the bi-gendric " egalitatian " h - stem form in the vernacular , the more politically correct sh - form be prefer at oxford / cambridge , in proper social etiquette , and in write when refer to a " lady . " when caxton begin his enterprise , the sh - form ( as well as the other speak of here ) become enforce as the correct form through the great power of the press . and the h - stem feminine remain know in the speak language , alongside the sh - form , well beyond print . it have not drop from speech and become archaic by 1300 . when the " prescriptive " grammarian prescribe indefinite-he , this h - stem still carry in its semantic domain a bi-gendric reference . although the seventeen manuscript of piers be my main corpus of evidence , there be various kind of other evidence to support my theory for the late survival of the h - stem feminine in the colloquial of the middle age . one of the more interest be the existence of the h - stem feminine in gullah ( when and if west african origin be discount ) . other support evidence can be find in various place in the oed . it be scanty and scatter , but nonetheless there . h - stem and sh - form feminine exist for century , side by side , as formal and informal , although , for sure , in many case the distinction be lose . " hi be a fair wifman " be find in the mid - 14th century agenbite of inwyt ( i be currently translate this work ) . in it , the pronunciation of the feminine pronoun be the same as the modern masculine ! ( the vowel have not yet diphthongize ) . the supposition that this h - stem be a " literary form , " as suggest by the oed ( presumably this means copy in manuscript from an earlier exemplar ) be untenable because the agenbite be translate directly from french . i have extract the pronoun paradigm from all the manuscript of the a - version of piers . in addition to the great evidence for the wide use of the h - stem feminine century beyond its suppose demise , the h - stem plural ( although extremely rare ) can also be find ( in line prologue 63 it be use to satisfy alliteration ! ) . and in every manuscript of piers the h - stem oblique ( modern them and their ) be to be find ( often alongside the th - form ) . and then , in a generation after print , the h - stem for she , they , them , and their seem to vanish ! ! , at least from the write evidence . the h - stem feminine hold wide currency in the colloquial of the middle age and therefore , support by other evidence , be not unknown to the prescriptive grammarian a few century later . the accept theory that the h - stem feminine drop from the language before 1300 , prior to the time the poem " alysoun " be write , be in need of revision . piers show it to have be very much alive in the 15th century . an explanation for the replacement of the h - stem plural nominative by they , a replacement occur earlier than the other pronoun in question , have never be propose . would n't there have be pressure for some alternative to the oe h - stem subject plural as a result of the disappearance of the preterit plural during this period ? because the english verb lose its marker in the preterit for number , the h - stem plural ( which share the same form with the feminine singular nominative ) become in some context ambiguous for number . a new form be need . although a norse form may have reinforce it among northern speaker , there be a native singular form available from the same set of oe demonstrative that give us the . the and they appear to be duplet . if this be so , then the singular morphology of they be in fact historical and have be alive in the colloquial for a very long time ! ! the , in oe a singular , develop as a singular / plural ( the car / car ) , extend to the accusative , but lose its absolute ( stand-alone ) use . they , retain the pronunciation of oe the , be restrict to the nominative , and become the unambiguous written plural by 1400 - - but in the colloquial it retain also its singular morphology . later , in regard to them and their , caxton use the th - form as the unambiguous plurals because the h - stem for these pronoun have throughout england a tremendous diversity of form . for example , in one ( write ) dialect her would be a feminine / singular / possesive , in another it would be an all-gender / plural / possesive . caxton need form that would be universally understand , hence the write th - form oblique replace the h - stem in an historic blink of the eye - - not in a wave of cultural diffusion that coincidentally waft through london at the time caxton set up his print shop . a well support case can be make for the late survival of the h - stem feminine , into the 15th century , and hence a case for its cultural currency at the time of the prescriptive grammarian . if this be so , the exclusion of one gender from " cognitive space " would not apply , and hence the motive of these grammarian would have to be reassess . if in fact the sapir - whorf hypothesis does apply to pronoun , then i invite comment to help me understand two fact . 1 ) that for two-third of the history of english the subject pronoun use to refer to a group of man / boy be a form that be identical to the feminine singular ; and 2 ) the expression by a pronoun of " possess " something by man / boy be also for two-third of the history of english express by a form that be morphologically mark for feminine but not masculine .