From early childhood, this rule has been pounded into my head by my
German-speaking father in a Hebrew-speaking society and later in an
English-speaking society. In fact, he used to correct me saying: "Why is the
donkey always first?" (It sounds better in Hebrew.) Another words, be modest
and don't start with yourself first.
Dalia Stein
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 4:33 AM
Subject: Re: pronoun rule?
> Pam,
>
> I can't tell you where the rule comes from, but I was taught it as a
child, back in the 40s and 50s. I can, however, tell you that it is not a
natural language rule. There is a widespread constraint in the languages of
the world that when more than one grammatical person (I, II, III) is listed
in a construction in which the ordering is not syntactically determined, the
order will default to I II III, that is, "I you he/she". In virtually all
non-standard dialects of English, the coordinate structure is "me and X",
even in subject position, not even "I and X." The I-last rule is a rule of
politeness in Formal Standard English. My guess is that it would go back to
the 19th or even 18th c., but I don't have the details. on that.
>
> Herb Stahlke
>
>
> Subject: pronoun rule?
>
>
>
> Dear ATEG folks,
>
> I need some advice about using pronouns in compound constructions. The
rule, as I understand it, is that the first-person pronoun I occurs last in
a compound construction. (We say, for example, John and I went home – not I
and John.) I have 3 questions. First, did I state the rule correctly?
Second, where is this rule found – Chicago Manual? Third, is this noun-first
pattern limited to just the first-person personal pronoun? Thanks for your
help! Pam
>
>
> _____
>
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>
> Tismal asscnnd iaBet er Pnepp
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