The Unique Structure of the Pronoun "you" in Arabic Variety Associated with This Pronoun in Term of Gender and Number

Abstract

This paper examines the second person pronoun in Arabic with much focus on how this pronoun can affect the antecedent; the word that the pronoun stands for. Obviously, the Arabic pronoun "you" can have various types to encode the gender and the number of the addressee. The detailed matter of this pronoun can be noticed when the person to whom we direct the talk is masculine or feminine and if this person singular, dual or plural. All these concepts have a certain rule that must be added to the noun, the verb or the preposition that follows. As a result, the listener or the reader can easily decide on the identity of the addressee in the cases of using the pronoun "you". This is because diacritical mark is used to indicate singular form of the pronoun "you" which is used in the written discourse to reflect which gender is being addressed. Furthermore, we can find diversity of suffixes at the end of such noun or verb without any change in the meaning but they change the grammar of that word according to gender and dual or plural forms. Therefore, this paper will stand on clarifying and analyzing some important points related to the unique structure of the pronoun "you".