Inclusive Readings of the Spanish Pronoun «Uno» (‘One’): Grammatical and Pragmatic Properties

ABSTRACT: The third person indefinite pronoun «uno» ‘someone’ has readings in which it includes the speaker, and is similar to the pronoun «yo» (‘I’) (a first person definite pronoun). What factors allow a third person indefinite pronoun to refer to the speaker has not been thoroughly investigated f...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gutiérrez Rodríguez, María Edita, Pérez Ocón, Pilar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/114074
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/114074
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:811.134.2’36
Pronoun «uno»
Person
Evidentiality
Genericity
Intersubjectivity
Speaker concealment
Pronombre «uno»
Persona
Evidencialidad
Genericidad
Intersubjetividad
Encubrimiento del hablante
Lengua española
Lingüística
57 Lingüística
5505.10 Filología
Descripción
Sumario:ABSTRACT: The third person indefinite pronoun «uno» ‘someone’ has readings in which it includes the speaker, and is similar to the pronoun «yo» (‘I’) (a first person definite pronoun). What factors allow a third person indefinite pronoun to refer to the speaker has not been thoroughly investigated from a grammatical point of view. Our first objective is to study the contexts in which reference to the first person is possible (so-called «arbitrary» and «concealing» uses of «one»). Our second objective is to articulate a proposal that explains the inclusion of the speaker in both cases. We hypothesize that in the arbitrary use the speaker’s inclusion derives from a pragmatic inference, while in the concealing reading «uno» behaves as a definite pronoun. We will investigate why the speaker chooses «uno» (‘one’) instead of «yo» (‘I’) to refer to himself/herself, and how grammar and pragmatics interact to convey subjectivity. Our third goal is to explain the inclusive uses of «uno» from the notions of «evidentiality» and «intersubjectivity». The pronoun «uno» gives clues about the source of information expressed by the proposition (personal experience or general knowledge) and about the access to the information (unshared/shared information).