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Dummy pronoun
A dummy pronoun, also known as an expletive pronoun, is a pronoun that does not refer to anything, and exists only to satisfy a syntactic requirement. For example, in the sentence "It rained" the English pronoun "it" is generally analyzed as a dummy pronoun, inserted to fill the subject position, but not referring to anything.
The term 'dummy pronoun' refers to the function of a word in a particular sentence, not a property of individual words. For example, 'it' in the example from the previous paragraph is a dummy pronoun, but 'it' in the sentence "I bought a sandwich and ate it" is a referential pronoun (referring to the sandwich).
Unlike a regular pronoun, dummy pronouns cannot be replaced by any noun phrase.
Dummy pronouns are used in many languages across language families. Some of these families include Germanic languages, such as German and English, Celtic languages, such as Welsh and Irish, and Volta-Niger languages, such as Ewe and Esan. Other common languages with dummy pronouns include French and, colloquially, in Thai. Pronoun-dropping languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Turkish do not require dummy pronouns.
One of the most common uses of dummy pronouns is with weather verbs, such as in the phrases "it is snowing" or "it is hot." In these sentences, the verb (to snow, to rain, etc.) is usually considered semantically impersonal even though it appears syntactically intransitive; in this view, the required it in "it is snowing" is a dummy word that does not refer. In English literature, there is also marginal use of the feminine she, such as in the phrase "She's going to rain."
Although the weather it is frequently considered a dummy pronoun, there have been a few objections to this interpretation. Noam Chomsky has argued that the it employed as the subject of English weather verbs can control the subject of an adjunct clause, just like a "normal" subject. For example, compare:
If this analysis is accepted, then the "weather it" is to be considered a "quasi-(verb) argument" and not a dummy word.
Some linguists such as D. L. Bolinger go further, claiming that the "weather it" simply refers to a general state of affairs in the context of the utterance. In this case, it would not be a dummy word at all. Possible evidence for this claim includes exchanges such as:
Hub AI
Dummy pronoun AI simulator
(@Dummy pronoun_simulator)
Dummy pronoun
A dummy pronoun, also known as an expletive pronoun, is a pronoun that does not refer to anything, and exists only to satisfy a syntactic requirement. For example, in the sentence "It rained" the English pronoun "it" is generally analyzed as a dummy pronoun, inserted to fill the subject position, but not referring to anything.
The term 'dummy pronoun' refers to the function of a word in a particular sentence, not a property of individual words. For example, 'it' in the example from the previous paragraph is a dummy pronoun, but 'it' in the sentence "I bought a sandwich and ate it" is a referential pronoun (referring to the sandwich).
Unlike a regular pronoun, dummy pronouns cannot be replaced by any noun phrase.
Dummy pronouns are used in many languages across language families. Some of these families include Germanic languages, such as German and English, Celtic languages, such as Welsh and Irish, and Volta-Niger languages, such as Ewe and Esan. Other common languages with dummy pronouns include French and, colloquially, in Thai. Pronoun-dropping languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Turkish do not require dummy pronouns.
One of the most common uses of dummy pronouns is with weather verbs, such as in the phrases "it is snowing" or "it is hot." In these sentences, the verb (to snow, to rain, etc.) is usually considered semantically impersonal even though it appears syntactically intransitive; in this view, the required it in "it is snowing" is a dummy word that does not refer. In English literature, there is also marginal use of the feminine she, such as in the phrase "She's going to rain."
Although the weather it is frequently considered a dummy pronoun, there have been a few objections to this interpretation. Noam Chomsky has argued that the it employed as the subject of English weather verbs can control the subject of an adjunct clause, just like a "normal" subject. For example, compare:
If this analysis is accepted, then the "weather it" is to be considered a "quasi-(verb) argument" and not a dummy word.
Some linguists such as D. L. Bolinger go further, claiming that the "weather it" simply refers to a general state of affairs in the context of the utterance. In this case, it would not be a dummy word at all. Possible evidence for this claim includes exchanges such as: