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. TÄ°D 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.’