<em>Sin</em>, <em>hendes</em> og KorpusDK

Abstract

We will briefly present our analysis of the four reflexive/non-reflexive types of pronouns in Danish (jf. Vikner 1985 and Ehlers & Vikner 2017), which each have to comply with two conditions: One type of condition on elements with/without selv (i.e. sig/hende vs. sig selv/ hende selv), and another type of condition on elements with/without sig (i.e. sig/sig selv vs. hende/hende selv). We will then show how the difference between the reflexive possessive and the non-reflexive possessives (sin vs. hendes) fits into this system, and we will examine how compatible our predictions are with data from the Danish national corpus, KorpusDK. We assume that sin corresponds to both sig and sig selv, and we argue against the view that there is a difference between sin and sin egen which corresponds to the difference between sig and sig selv. Finally we will discuss the language change that seems to be taking place at the moment, from a situation where sin may only have a singular antecedent to the new situation where sin may also have a plural antecedent.