A Correction
Sep. 7th, 2021 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI wrote yesterday that the Native American languages don't have impersonal pronouns. It seemed plausible.
But a reader- a speaker of one of those languages- told me I was wrong
And I was. I went back to the source of the information and this time listened more carefully.
I'd over-dramatized. The indigenous languages do have impersonal pronouns- but their use is restricted. A human artefact- a dead thing- can be referred to as "it", but all living things- people, animals, plants, rocks- are vessels of divine energy- and should be addressed, referred to- and respected- as persons.
But a reader- a speaker of one of those languages- told me I was wrong
And I was. I went back to the source of the information and this time listened more carefully.
I'd over-dramatized. The indigenous languages do have impersonal pronouns- but their use is restricted. A human artefact- a dead thing- can be referred to as "it", but all living things- people, animals, plants, rocks- are vessels of divine energy- and should be addressed, referred to- and respected- as persons.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-07 09:21 am (UTC)I've been referred to that way! :o(