subjecthood

English

Etymology

subject +‎ -hood

Noun

subjecthood (uncountable)

1. The condition or state of being a subject.

   These gendered constructions of subjecthood are explored in more detail in Chapter two of this book.

2. (linguistics) The condition or state of a word or expression, such as a noun phrase, being the subject of a sentence.
   • 1980 December, Peter Cole, Wayne Harbert, Gabriella Hermon, S. N. Sridhar, “The Acquisition of Subjecthood”, in Language‎^[1], volume 56, number 4, pages 719–743:

     We are especially concerned here with the question of whether certain kinds of properties associated with subjecthood are acquired prior to other kinds of properties.

   • 1991, William Croft, “Syntactic Methodology and Universal Grammar”, in Syntactic Categories and Grammatical Relations, →ISBN, page 11:

     One of the best-known examples of this method of argumentation applied to problems of universal grammar is the analysis of ergativity and subjecthood in Anderson (1976), a paper notable for its attention to data from a large number of languages and its continuing importance.

3. (political science) The condition or state of a person being a subject of a nation or a monarch.
   • 1998, Christopher Vincenzi, “From Subjecthood to Citizenship”, in Crown Powers, Subjects and Citizens, →ISBN, page 301:

     Subjecthood emphasizes obedience. Citizenship, on the other hand, recognizes moral obligations to other members of the community and emphasizes responsiveness and participation.

   • 2010, Sukanya Banerjee, “Introduction”, in Becoming Imperial Citizens: Indians in the Late-Victorian Empire, →ISBN, page 25:

     But that should not be confused or conflated with citizenship, for, according to Jebb, "citizenship includes subjecthood, but subjecthood does not include citizenship."

Meronyms

• (of a nation): citizenship