1.5. Impersonal reference
Impersonal reference refers to cases where the referent of an individual in the discourse is not clear or its degree of reference is very low. TİD employs the following strategies to express impersonal reference: non-specific indefinite pronouns, see [Pragmatics - Section 1.4.], a multiple/plural marker on the verb [Morphology - Section 3.1.2.] that does not refer to a referential set of individuals, (non-deictic use of) 2nd person pronouns with impersonal reference, and null subjects.
In the following example the verb understand is marked with multiple/plural. This sentence is possible in a context where the subject of the verb was not mentioned before in the discourse, and thus, it is understood not to refer to a definite set of people.
federatıon presıdent3a ten mınute late say ıx3a drunk late ø understand3pl
‘They said the president of the federation was ten minutes late and they/people (impersonal) understood that he was drunk.’
(Kelepir et al. 2018a: 263)
understand3pl
(recreated from Kelepir et al. 2018a: 263)
Null subjects with impersonal reference, marked with the symbol ø in the examples below, can occur in sentences where, for instance, a generalization is made regarding the people in a certain location:
france ø snaıl eat
‘In France, they eat snails.’
They can also be used in contexts where the signer does not know the identity of or does not want to identify a corporate entity such as the municipality or the government.
ø taksim mosque buıld
‘They will build a mosque in Taksim.’
When a signer uses a 2nd person pronoun non-deictically, the pronoun does not refer to the addressee but it has a generic, impersonal reference. For instance, an example like the following can be uttered even when the addressee is male:
re
h-th
ıx2 pregnant, heavy somethıng lıft not necessary
‘If you are pregnant, you should not lift something heavy.’