Glizdka
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- Apr 13, 2019
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This is a follow-up to a few other threads I've started on the topic of the plurality/singularity of pronouns in English.
I think I've found an example where using ourself and themself could be justified.
When playing Stellaris, I found a hive-minded, long-extinct species of plantoids, eradicated by foreign invaders. Or at least I thought they were long extinct. When I found the last of them, the last Baol, they told their story.
Me: Tell us about yourself.
Baol: Ourself? Our...self. Yes. What is there to tell? We sat beneath the stars on soft earth, unfurled our leaves like sails to the sun overhead. We remember every drop of water that quenched them in the parched summers. Every shivering hoar that blanketed them in winters. We bent in the wind as the stars wheeled overhead.
I'm pretty sure it's a literary device, not a language error. The last Baol only uses we, us, our, and ourself throughout the conversation. It never uses I, me, my, myself, or ourselves.
As a hive mind with collective consciousness, it would make sense for the Baol to refer to themself as we. At the same time, there's a strong feeling of unity, so singular ourself also seems to make sense.
Here's another quote from the Baol to give you an idea of how they felt about themself.
When the burners came, entire colonies were silenced before the danger was known to us. Like a limb gone limp, nerves cut suddently and totally at the base. And then we lost the next, and the next, and the next. One by one, their voices left the chorus. We lost our others. Their silence deafened us who remained.
The only good example of extreme collectivism I know of from real life is communism, where it was very common to use the type of narration that included we, us, our rather than I, me, my. The Baol, however, is collectivism on a whole nother level.
Is there a place for ourself in English? Can you justify using ourself with enough context? Is it grammatical even if very rarely appropriate?
I think I've found an example where using ourself and themself could be justified.
When playing Stellaris, I found a hive-minded, long-extinct species of plantoids, eradicated by foreign invaders. Or at least I thought they were long extinct. When I found the last of them, the last Baol, they told their story.
Me: Tell us about yourself.
Baol: Ourself? Our...self. Yes. What is there to tell? We sat beneath the stars on soft earth, unfurled our leaves like sails to the sun overhead. We remember every drop of water that quenched them in the parched summers. Every shivering hoar that blanketed them in winters. We bent in the wind as the stars wheeled overhead.
I'm pretty sure it's a literary device, not a language error. The last Baol only uses we, us, our, and ourself throughout the conversation. It never uses I, me, my, myself, or ourselves.
As a hive mind with collective consciousness, it would make sense for the Baol to refer to themself as we. At the same time, there's a strong feeling of unity, so singular ourself also seems to make sense.
Here's another quote from the Baol to give you an idea of how they felt about themself.
When the burners came, entire colonies were silenced before the danger was known to us. Like a limb gone limp, nerves cut suddently and totally at the base. And then we lost the next, and the next, and the next. One by one, their voices left the chorus. We lost our others. Their silence deafened us who remained.
The only good example of extreme collectivism I know of from real life is communism, where it was very common to use the type of narration that included we, us, our rather than I, me, my. The Baol, however, is collectivism on a whole nother level.
Is there a place for ourself in English? Can you justify using ourself with enough context? Is it grammatical even if very rarely appropriate?
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