Directed Pronunciation of the Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns

Using the Directed Pronunciation grammar approach, we can see that the pronouns use distinct directions thus aiding
meaning:

I – The first person singular is
swallowed – pointing inside of us.

You – The second person singular is
thrown forward, towards a person
directly in front of the speaker.

You (plural) – In English, the second
person singular also operates as the
plural; however, it suffers a slight
alteration. The mouth corners widen
and the sound expanded and lifted
slightly to open the idea of plurality.

He / she / it – The third person
singular is angled into the lower forward quadrant. There are significant differences though between masculine and feminine and neuter angles. HE is pushed forward whilst SHE is pulled back, with the neutral sense IT being dropped.

We – The sound of WE is lifted higher in the mouth than the first person singular subject pronoun - I. It reflects back to show first person but is high to indicate the plural sense.

They – Instead of being directed downward the third person plural is lifted high and slightly away.

These basic movements form the basis upon which all the other pronouns (object, possessives etc.) are based. They literally map out our concept of space in relation to other speakers

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Directed Pronunciation - A New English Grammar

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