SEMANTICS OF THE FIRST PERSON PERSONAL PRONOUN

The article considers semantics of the first person personal pronoun in English and Russian within the anthropocentric paradigm. It emphasizes anthropocentrism and egocentrism of the pronoun system. The work outlines theoretical significance of the discussed issue in the works of some leading linguists on the nature, essence and semantics of the first person personal pronouns. The pronoun I is stated to express the personality of the speaker and characterizes any participant of the event as an individual, personality and the Self. The multiple nature of the social and interpersonal roles of the Self is reflected in the language and realized by the personal pronoun I. Therefore, the Self can express itself in a linguistic sense with the help of some grammatical categories and semantic differences given by the language used for self-expression. Moreover, the pronoun I can designate the personality itself as a definite set of traits without its bearer. The empirical data analysis claims the pronoun I not only to indicate the speaker, but also underline some specific traits of the Self (my real I, my happy I) expressing self-appraisal of the personality. Since a human being is biological, psycho-sociological essence or biological part of the personality draws special attention – a living I, a biological I of a person as well as one’s inner I with perceptional, emotional, and mental aspects. The personal pronoun I is connected with the conception of image identifying a public I as a manifestation of the Self. Thus, the research exposes a whole set of meanings describing the essence of a person’s nature with the help of the first person personal pronoun I. The personal pronouns in English and Russian are emotional and expressive forms of the speech. Analysis of the pronoun I demonstrates that its peculiarity is in its reference character and referential use relating to an individual expressing oneself by the use of the pronoun I.