Chinese pronouns

Chinese pronouns (Chinese: 代だい词/代だい詞し; pinyin: dàicí or Chinese: 代名詞だいめいし; pinyin: dàimíngcí) differ somewhat from pronouns in English and other Indo-European languages. For instance, there is no differentiation in the spoken language between "he", "she" and "it" (though a written difference was introduced after contact with the West), and pronouns are not inflected to indicate whether they are the subject or object of a sentence. Mandarin Chinese further lacks a distinction between the possessive adjective ("my") and possessive pronoun ("mine"); both are formed by appending the particle 的てき de. Pronouns in Chinese are often substituted by honorific alternatives.

Personal pronouns

In Mandarin

Personal pronouns
Person	Singular		Plural
1st	我わが wǒ I, me		我わが们 / 我わが們* wǒmen we, us (exclusive)	咱们 / 咱們^† zánmen we, us (inclusive)
2nd	你 nǐ thou, you (informal)	您 nín you (formal)	你们 / 你們 nǐmen you (generic)	您们, 您們 nín you (formal)
3rd	他た, 她, 它 tā he, him / she, her / it		他た们 / 他た們, 她们 / 她們, 它们 / 它們 tāmen they, them

* 我わが们 / 我わが們 can be either inclusive or exclusive, depending on the circumstance where it is used.

^† 咱们 / 咱們 is mainly used by northern speakers.

Following the iconoclastic May Fourth Movement in 1919, and to accommodate the translation of Western literature, written vernacular Chinese developed separate pronouns for gender-differentiated speech, and to address animals, deities, and inanimate objects.

Throughout the 1920s, a debate continued between three camps: those that preferred to preserve the preexisting use of 他た without distinction between genders, those that wished to preserve the spoken non-gendered pronoun but introduce a new female pronoun 她 in writing, and those that wished to introduce a differently pronounced female pronoun 伊い. The pronoun 伊い enjoyed widespread support in the 1920s and 1930s but lost out to 她 after the Chinese Civil War.^[1] Currently, written pronouns are divided between the masculine human 他た (he, him), feminine human 她 (she, her), and non-human 它 (it), and similarly in the plural. This distinction does not exist in the spoken language, where moreover tā is restricted to animate reference; inanimate entities are usually referred to with demonstrative pronouns for 'this' and 'that'.^[2]

Other, rarer new written pronouns in the second person are nǐ (祢 "you, a deity"), nǐ (你 "you, a male"), and nǐ (妳 "you, a female"). In the third person, they are tā (牠 "it, an animal"), tā (祂 "it, a deity"), and tā (它 "it, an inanimate object"). Among users of traditional Chinese characters, these distinctions are only made in Taiwanese Mandarin; in simplified Chinese, tā (它) is the only third-person non-human form and nǐ (你) is the only second person form. The third person distinction between "he" (他た) and "she" (她) remain in use in all forms of written standard Mandarin.^[3]

In the early 21st century, some members of genderfluid and queer Chinese online communities started using X也 and TA to refer to a generic, anonymous, or non-binary third person.^[4] As of June 2022, neither have been encoded as a single code point in Unicode,^[5] and neither are considered standard usage. Since at least 2014, Bilibili has used TA in its user pages.^[6]

Additional notes

The first-person pronouns 俺おれ ǎn and 偶 ǒu "I" are infrequently used in Mandarin conversation. They are of dialectal origin. However, their usage is gaining popularity among the young, most notably in online communications.
According to Wang Li, the second person formal pronoun nín (您 "you, formal; polite") is derived from the fusion of the second person plural nǐmen (你们 "you, formal; polite"), making it somewhat analogous to the T-V distinction in Romance languages. Consistent with this hypothesized origin, *nínmen is traditionally considered to be a grammatically incorrect expression for the formal second person plural. Instead, the alternative phrases dàjiā (大家たいか, "you, formal plural") and gèwèi (各位かくい, "you, formal plural") are used, with the latter being somewhat more formal than the former. In addition, some dialects use an analogous formal third person pronoun tān (怹, "he/she, formal; polite").
Traditional Chinese characters, as influenced by translations from Western languages and the Bible in the nineteenth century, occasionally distinguished gender in pronouns, although that distinction is abandoned in simplified Characters. Those traditional characters developed after Western contact include both masculine and feminine forms of "you" (你 and 妳). In the simplified system, 妳 is rare.

In other Sinitic languages

There are many other pronouns in modern Sinitic languages, such as Taiwanese Hokkien 恁 (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lín) "you" and Written Cantonese 佢哋 (keúih deih) "they." There exist many more pronouns in Classical Chinese and in literary works, including 汝なんじ (rǔ) or 爾なんじ (ěr) for "you", and 吾われ (wú) for "I" (see Chinese honorifics). They are not routinely encountered in colloquial speech.

		Historical			Modern
		Shang and early Zhou period^[7]^[8]	Classical Chinese^[9]^[8]	Northern and Southern dynasties period and Tang dynasty^[10]	Standard Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)	Shanghainese (Wu Chinese)	Hokkien (Min Chinese)^[11]	Meixian Hakka (Hakka Chinese)^[12]^[13]	Cantonese (Yue Chinese)
Singular	1.	余よ la, 予よ laʔ, 朕ちん *lrəmʔ	我わが ŋˤajʔ, 吾われ ŋˤa (subjective and possessive only), 余よ la, 予よ laʔ	我わが ngaX, 吾われ ngu	我わが wǒ	吾われ ŋu˩˧	我わが góa, óa	𠊎 ŋai¹¹	我わが ŋɔː˩˧
	2.	汝なんじ/女おんな naʔ, 乃 nˤəʔ	爾なんじ neʔ, 汝なんじ/女おんな naʔ, 而 nə, 若わか nak	爾なんじ nejX, 汝なんじ/女おんな nyoX, 你 nejX	你 nǐ	儂わし noŋ˩˧	汝なんじ lí, lír, lú	你 n¹¹, ŋ¹¹, ɲi¹¹	你 nei˩˧
	3.	厥 kot (possessive), 之これ tə (objective), 其 gə (possessive), third person subject pronoun did not exist*	之これ tə (objective), 其 gə (possessive), third person subject pronoun did not exist	其 gi, 渠みぞ gjo; 伊い ’jij, 之これ tsyi, 他た tha	他た, 她, 它 tā	伊い ɦi˩˧	伊い i	佢 ɡi¹¹, i¹¹	佢 kʰɵy˩˧
Plural	1.	我わが *ŋˤajʔ	same as singular	Singular + 等ひとし tongX, 曹 dzaw, 輩やから pwojH	Both INCL. and EXCL. 我わが們 wǒmen INCL. 咱們 zánmen	阿おもね拉ひしげ ɐʔ˧ lɐʔ˦	EXCL. 阮 goán, gún, ún INCL. 咱 lán	EXCL. 𠊎兜かぶと/𠊎等ひとし ŋai¹¹ deu²⁴/ŋai¹¹ nen²⁴ INCL. 這兜/大家たいか en²⁴ ia³¹ deu²⁴/en²⁴ tai⁵⁵ ga²⁴	我わが哋 ŋɔː˩˧ tei˨
	2.	爾なんじ *neʔ			你們 nǐmen	㑚 na˩˧	恁 lín	你兜/你等 ŋ¹¹ deu²⁴/ŋ¹¹ nen²⁴	你哋 nei˩˧ tei˨
	3.	(not used)			他た們, 她們, 它們 tāmen	伊い拉ひしげ ɦi˩ lɐʔ˧	𪜶 in	佢兜/佢等 ɡi¹¹ deu²⁴/i¹¹ nen²⁴	佢哋 kʰɵy˩˧ tei˨

Possessives

To indicate alienable possession, 的てき (de) is appended to the pronoun. For inalienable possession, such as family and entities very close to the owner, this may be omitted, e.g. 我わが妈/我わが媽 (wǒ mā) "my mother". For older generations, 令れい (lìng) is the equivalent to the modern form 您的 (nínde), as in 令れい尊みこと (lìngzūn) "your father". In literary style, 其 (qí) is sometimes used for "his" or "her" or as a gender-neutral pronoun; e.g. 其父 means "his father" or "her father".

In Cantonese, for possessive, 嘅 (ge3) is appended to the pronoun. It is used in the same way as 的てき in Mandarin.

In Taiwanese Hokkien, possessive pronouns are homophonous with plural pronouns. For example, 恁 (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lín) can mean either "your" or "you (plural)".

Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns work the same as in English.

	Singular	Plural
Proximal	这个 / 這個 zhège this	这些 / 這些 zhèxiē these
Distal	那な个 / 那な個こ nàge that	那な些 nàxiē those

The distinction between singular and plural are made by the classifier 个/個こ (gè) and 些 (xiē), and the following nouns remain the same. Usually inanimate objects are referred using these pronouns rather than the personal pronouns 它 (tā) and 它們 (tāmen). Traditional forms of these pronouns are: 這個 (zhège), 這些 (zhèxiē), 那な個こ (nàge), 那な些 (nàxiē), and 它們 tāmen.

Interrogative pronouns

Pronoun	Alternative HÉ-system	English
谁 / 誰だれ shéi	何人なんにん hérén (what person)	who
哪个 / 哪個 nǎge	何なに个 / 何なん個こ hége (what one)	which one
什麼いんも / 什么 shénme	何なに何なに物ぶつ hé / héwù (what)	what
哪裡 / 哪里 nǎlǐ 哪兒 / 哪儿 nǎr	何なに处 / 何處どこ héchù 何なに地ち hédì (what location)	where
什麼いんも時候じこう / 什么时候 shénme shíhou	何なに时 / 何時いつ héshí (what time)	when
为什么 / 為ため什麼いんも wèi shénme	爲ため何なに / 為ため何なに wèihé (for what)	why
怎么 / 怎麼 zěnme	如何いか rúhé (what to follow)	how
多少たしょう duōshǎo 几 / 幾いく jǐ	几何 / 幾何きか jǐhé (what the amount)	how much

Indefinite pronouns

Pronoun	English
大家たいか dàjiā	everyone
谁都 shéidōu	everyone
谁也 shéiyě	anybody
谁都不ふ shéidōubù	no one
谁也不ふ shéiyěbù	nobody

Pronouns in imperial times

See also Chinese honorifics.

In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" was commonly omitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status.^{[citation needed]} "I" was usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations.^{[citation needed]} Examples include guǎrén (寡人) during early Chinese history and zhèn (朕ちん) after the Qin dynasty when the Emperor is speaking to his subjects. When the subjects speak to the Emperor, they address themselves as chén (臣しん), or "your official". It was extremely impolite and taboo to address the Emperor as "you" or to refer to oneself as "I".

In modern times, the practice of self-deprecatory terms is still used in specific formal situations. In résumés, the term guì (贵/貴たか; lit. noble) is used for "you" and "your"; e.g., guì gōngsī (贵公司こうし/貴き公司こうし) refers to "your company". Běnrén (本人ほんにん; lit. this person) is used to refer to oneself.

References

^ Zhang, Yun. "A Cultural History of the Chinese Character "Ta (She)"—On the invention and identification of a new female pronoun | Harvard-Yenching Institute". Harvard-Yenching Institute. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^ Sun, pp. 166-167.
^ Shei, Chris (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Discourse Analysis. Routledge. p. 200.
^ "他た/TA/X也: What Pronouns Do Chinese Queer People Use?". RADII | Stories from the center of China’s youth culture. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
^ "Unicode 14.0.0". www.unicode.org. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
^ "bishi的てき空そら间". web.archive.org (in Chinese). 2014-10-24.
^ Laurent Sagart: The Roots of Old Chinese. (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, Series IV, Volume 184) John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1999. ISBN 90-272-3690-9, S. 142–147; W. A. C. H. Dobson: Early Archaic Chinese. A Descriptive Grammar. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1962, S. 112–114.
^ ^a ^b Ancient Chinese reconstructions according to Baxter and Sagart Archived September 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Note: The specified forms represent only a small selection.
^ Note: Middle Chinese pronunciations given in Baxter's notation.
^ Shi, Q.-S. (2016). Personal Pronouns in Southern Min Dialect. In P.-H. Ting et al. (Eds.). New Horizons in the Study of Chinese: Dialectology, Grammar, and Philology (pp. 181-190). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
^ Mataro J. Hashimoto: The Hakka Dialect. A linguistic study of Its Phonology, Syntax and Lexicon. University Press, Cambridge 1973. ISBN 0-521-20037-7
^ Hakka Affairs Council. (2017). Vocabulary Words for the Hakka Proficiency Test: Elementary (Sixian Dialect) [客語かくご能力のうりょく認證にんしょう基本きほん辭彙じい-初級しょきゅう(四よん縣けん腔)]. Retrieved from https://elearning.hakka.gov.tw/ver2015

Bibliography

Kane, Daniel (2006). The Chinese Language: Its History and Usage. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-3853-4. OCLC 77522617.
Sun, Chaofen (2006). Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 166–169. ISBN 0-521-82380-3. OCLC 70671780.
Yip, Po-Ching; Rimmington, Don (2004). Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 47–58. ISBN 978-0-415-15031-6. OCLC 52178249.

[1] Zhang, Yun. "A Cultural History of the Chinese Character "Ta (She)"—On the invention and identification of a new female pronoun | Harvard-Yenching Institute". Harvard-Yenching Institute. Retrieved 21 August 2020.

[2] Sun, pp. 166-167.

[3] Shei, Chris (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Discourse Analysis. Routledge. p. 200.

[4] "他た/TA/X也: What Pronouns Do Chinese Queer People Use?". RADII | Stories from the center of China’s youth culture. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-06.

[5] "Unicode 14.0.0". www.unicode.org. Retrieved 2022-06-06.

[6] "bishi的てき空そら间". web.archive.org (in Chinese). 2014-10-24.

[7] Laurent Sagart: The Roots of Old Chinese. (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, Series IV, Volume 184) John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1999. ISBN 90-272-3690-9, S. 142–147; W. A. C. H. Dobson: Early Archaic Chinese. A Descriptive Grammar. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1962, S. 112–114.

[Rekonstruktionen_Baxter_Sagart-8] Ancient Chinese reconstructions according to Baxter and Sagart Archived September 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.

[9] Note: The specified forms represent only a small selection.

[10] Note: Middle Chinese pronunciations given in Baxter's notation.

[11] Shi, Q.-S. (2016). Personal Pronouns in Southern Min Dialect. In P.-H. Ting et al. (Eds.). New Horizons in the Study of Chinese: Dialectology, Grammar, and Philology (pp. 181-190). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

[12] Mataro J. Hashimoto: The Hakka Dialect. A linguistic study of Its Phonology, Syntax and Lexicon. University Press, Cambridge 1973. ISBN 0-521-20037-7

[13] Hakka Affairs Council. (2017). Vocabulary Words for the Hakka Proficiency Test: Elementary (Sixian Dialect) [客語かくご能力のうりょく認證にんしょう基本きほん辭彙じい-初級しょきゅう(四よん縣けん腔)]. Retrieved from https://elearning.hakka.gov.tw/ver2015

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