this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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[–] superduperenigma 67 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

First person = someone describing their own point of view (ex: I, me)

Second person = someone being addressed (ex: you, y'all)

Third person = someone talking about someone else (ex: they, them)

Fourth person = the point of view of a collective group (ex: we, us)

[–] Rolando 106 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can't tell if you're making a joke or not, but when I learned it "we" was first person plural. Likewise "y'all" was second person plural, etc.

[–] superduperenigma 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The difference is that we as a first person plural is generally used for a more discrete group of people, but still from the perspective of a single narrator. Fourth person we is generally used for a collective of people with a shared perspective; there is no single narrator that is separate from the collective group, the entire group is there narrator. Fourth person is a concept that has only recently begun to be recognized as a distinct point of view.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

If you believe in string perspective there are infinite narrators narrating each other's narrations and we have only just started to make words for the infinities.

[–] misterundercoat 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Bird Person = friend of Rick Sanchez and generally good guy who doesn't appreciate dick moves

[–] samus12345 1 points 1 year ago

Wubba lubba dub dub.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fourth person

Doesn't exist. We/us is first person plural. Some languages have a little complexity here (e.g. Tagalog has "kami" which means "we without you" and "tayo" which means "we with you," but they're both still first person plurals).

  • first person - speaker
  • second person - audience excluding speaker
  • third person - everything else
[–] superduperenigma 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some linguists disagree and have recently begun accepting the existence of a fourth person point of view. Languages evolve, and I guess we'll just have to see if it catches on and becomes more widely accepted in the future.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I'll have to look into that, and I'd appreciate why sources you have handy.

[–] ShortFuse 6 points 1 year ago

One does not simply just make a fourth person point of view.