FEATURE: "Do you include the pronoun in the verb?"

I was talking language issues with a specialist and she asked me this question about Romanian, my native language. It struck me a little odd… “When you say ‘I do’, do you say ‘I’ and ‘do’, or does the ending of the verb include the pronoun?" she replied to my puzzled look.

Indeed, the verb includes the pronoun. It is the same in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, from what I know. In French, you keep the pronoun, while in English the ‘I’ is capitalized and stands alone. She mentioned something about the impact of language on the culture of its people. The conversation quickly took another turn, and I was left wandering on the subject.

I see myself as 50% Romanian, 25% French- and 15% English-Quebecker, with hints of wannabe Latino. That roughly estimates my lifespan in the various cultures and the impact they have had on me so far. Communication studies, on the contrary of the other classrooms I have been to, have very few allophone - or non-native language - students. The fact is probably obvious to most. To me, it makes a lot of sense… in retrospect. It also makes the culture clash (and my lack of Canadiana) particularly striking. But what does all that have to do with pronouns?

People from the same culture will often gather together. That's normal, they belong to a community. Then sometimes you see various cultures associating together. "They are identifying because they’re immigrants!" you say? But why do the Spanish and the Germans rarely meddle? The Irish and the Asians? What if the answer laid in the subtleties of language?

This is where pronouns come into play. According to that specialist, it seems that weather or not the verb includes the pronoun in a language is related to the people’s sense of identity. That is, cultures from languages that use the pronoun along with the verb (eg, ‘je fais’) have a stronger identity of the self and the other, while those who don’t (eg.. ‘hago’)… well, don’t.  This translates, she tells me, into a more individually- or community-oriented society.  It also translates into a more active or passive role within that society.

If one little pronoun can have such effects, I know the issue doesn’t stop there. I will not venture here to analyze the intricacies of a subject I know little of. What I try, is to keep that in mind every time someone from another background says or does something I consider odd. You never know what other things their own cultural exposure has taught them! God only knows it's equally odd to them seeing me act the way I do. The mix of so-called clashing cultures gets confusing, even to myself.

So how do you say ‘I do’ in Romanian? ‘Fac’. See what I mean? Language can be the root of big misunderstandings.

*From the Journalism 519 class blog.


See also the New Scientitst's take on language in The secret life of pronouns