linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

, allocutive agreement (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

or ) refers to a morphological feature in which the gender of an addressee is marked overtly in an utterance using fully grammaticalized markers Trask, L. ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997 even if the addressee is not referred to in the utterance. The term was first used by Louis Lucien Bonaparte in 1862.Bonaparte, L.-L. ''Langue basque et langues finnoises'' (1862) London

Basque

:''See also Basque verbs: Familiar forms and allocutive indices (hika).'' Hi aizan

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, allocutive forms are required in the verb forms of a main clause when the speaker uses the familiar (also called "intimate") pronoun "thou" (as opposed to formal "you"). This is distinct from

grammatical gender In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all noun ...

as it does not involve marking nouns for gender; it is also distinct from

gender-specific pronoun A third-person pronoun is a pronoun that refers to an entity other than the speaker or listener. Some languages with gender-specific pronouns have them as part of a grammatical gender system, a system of agreement where most or all nouns have a va ...

s, such as

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

"he/she" or

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

("I", used by males) and ("I", used by females). In Basque, allocutive agreement involves the grammatical marking of the gender of the addressee in the verb form itself. Grammatically this is done by introducing an additional additional person marker in the verb form (marked ALL): versus Eastern dialects have expanded on this by adding the polite (formerly plural) pronoun to the system; in some,

hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for ...

palatalization converts this to : Some varieties have done away with the unmarked forms except in subordinate clauses: vs. 'that I go' Its use is diminishing, especially the feminine forms. Basque speakers who use allocutive agreement sometimes apply the masculine forms to women, making a genderless marker of solidarity.

Beja

Beja, a

Cushitic language The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As ...

, has allocutive forms, marking the gender of a masculine addressee with the clitic ''=a'' and with ''=i'' for feminine addressees: : :

References

External links

Allocutive agreement at Everything2.com
Linguistic morphology Grammar Grammatical gender Basque language {{ling-morph-stub