A Comparative Study of Personal Pronouns, Demonstrative Pronouns and Relative Pronouns in Arabic, English and Spanish

Abstract

This study aims at conducting a comprehensive comparison of pronouns in three languages namely Arabic, English and Spanish. The comparison is implemented in light of three types of pronouns; personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and relative pronouns. The comparison aims chiefly at revealing areas of differences and similarities between pronouns in the three languages under investigation. The researchers compare pronouns in terms of their types, classifications and main characteristics. The comparison is accompanied with illustrative examples to enhance understanding the use of pronouns in the three languages. The needed data for the study are collected from different linguistic resources so that a detailed examination and exploration of pronouns in the three languages is made based on the collected resources. The results of analysis of pronouns reveal that pronouns in the three languages share the same referential function, which is assigning some elements to their actual referents. The analysis also depicts that the three languages act differently in terms of using those pronouns, in the sense that the differences are mostly exhibited in the pronouns specifying the number of referents, their gender and distance from referent.