LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 26:3 March 2026
ISSN 1930-2940

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Morphology of Pronominals of Sheikha Gal: A Descriptive Study

Mehnaz Rashid

Abstract

The present study primarily aims to provide a description of the pronominal system in Sheikha Gal, a language spoken by the marginalized indigenous community of the Kashmir region of India. The different types of pronouns have been presented with their detailed paradigms to show the variation in pronouns along the grammatical categories of person, number, and case. Interestingly, the pronouns in Sheikha Gal take case inflections like regular nouns which have been explained in a detailed manner.

Keywords: Pronominals, Case, Sheikha Gal, Number, Oblique.

Introduction

Pronouns constitute a closed class of deictic and anaphoric expressions that function as pro-forms or substitutes for noun phrases in a language. As noted by Thomas E. Payne (2006), pronouns are free forms (as opposed to affixes) that can independently occupy the position of a noun phrase within a clause. Similarly, Paul R. Kroeger (2005: 45–46, 138–140) observes that virtually every position where a noun phrase may occur can be replaced by a pronoun. Kroeger further emphasizes that a pronoun substitutes not merely for a noun but for an entire noun phrase (NP). Because pronouns display a distribution distinct from that of common nouns but comparable to proper names, they are best analysed as belonging to the NP category rather than the Noun category.

Pronouns are typically not modified by determiners and only rarely by adjectives, reinforcing their status as complete noun phrases. Across languages, pronominal systems commonly encode grammatical categories such as person, number, and gender. In addition to these core categories, some languages exhibit specialized pronominal forms that reflect the speaker’s social relationship with the hearer. In such cases, the choice of personal pronouns serves as an important marker of politeness, shaped by factors such as relative social status, age, and degree of intimacy. For instance, in both Hindi and Urdu, the personal pronoun /a?p/ functions as an honorific form of address for singular as well as plural referents, signalling respect toward the addressee.

Scholarly work on pronouns, politeness, and linguistic ideology highlights the complex relationship between linguistic structure and social practice. Such research demonstrates that pronominal choice is not merely a grammatical matter but also reflects ideological processes that connect language with power, identity, and social hierarchy. In this sense, language can be viewed as a system through which power relations are negotiated, as the question of who is permitted to say what to whom is closely tied to social status and authority.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mehnaz Rashid
PhD from Department of Linguistics, University of Kashmir,
Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India, 190006.
mehnazku2022@gmail.com

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