Generalizing self-reference with "a pessoa" ('the person'), "uma pessoa" ('a person') and other referentially vague human names

Abstract

This article analyzes data extracted from the Syntax-oriented Corpus of Portuguese Dialects (CORDIAL-SIN) and Corpus Africa with the aim of demonstrating that the arbitrary/indefinite expressions uma pessoa and a pessoa convey first-person-based genericity, that is, what Moltmann (2010) calls ‘generalizing detached self-reference’. Differences in contextual adequacy between uma pessoa and a pessoa are then discussed using intuitive data. It is suggested that such distributional differences are a consequence of the greater interpretative flexibility of a pessoa (which allows an inclusive or exclusive reading) relative to uma pessoa(which only allows an inclusive reading). Finally, the geolinguistic distribution of uma pessoaand a pessoa in the Portuguese territory is compared to the geolinguistic patterns found for other expressions with human general nouns that also seem to convey generalizing detached self-reference (i.e. homem, fulano, fulana, gajo, tipo, indivíduo, mulher).