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"Pronouns"
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Pronominal System of Soikkola Ingrian: Interrogative/Relative, Indefinite, and Negative Pronouns and Their Variation
The paper analyses several classes of pronouns in the Soikkola dialect of the Ingrian language, namely interrogative/relative, indefinite, and negative pronouns. These classes of pronouns belong to one of the most underdescribed parts of Ingrian morphology, so the main goal of the paper is descriptive. Special focus is placed on the analysis of variation within pronoun classes. While variation in interrogative/relative pronouns mostly concerns minor aspects of their formation, indefinite and negative pronouns show many competing variants. In the case of indefinite pronouns, this variation arises from indefinite suffixes with different origins and functions. Negative pronouns have another source of variation: the morphophonological processes that can occur when a pronominal stem is concatenated with the negative particle kaa/kää. In all these classes of pronouns, we usually observe idiolectal and free variation, while contextual and register variation occurs less frequently.
Journal Article
Theoretical and experimental aspects of syntax-discourse interface in heritage grammars
In 'Theoretical and Experimental Aspects of Syntax-Discourse Interface in Heritage Grammars', Tanya Ivanova-Sullivan investigates comprehension and production of anaphoric dependencies with null and overt subject pronouns. She discusses the divergent behaviour of the heritage speakers of Russian by providing a closer look at their proficiency level, quantity of input and order of language acquisition. She explains the results with various degrees of successful application of pragmatic principles and efficiency in allocating cognitive resources.0The contribution of the monograph lies in the discussion of theoretical and experimental issues related to anaphora resolution along with an investigation of all aspects of representation and processing of anaphoric pronouns by various kinds of bilinguals: heritage speakers, L2 learners and L1 attriters.
Book
Making a Pronoun: Fake Indexicals as Windows into the Properties of Pronouns
This article argues that natural languages have two binding strategies that create two types of bound variable pronouns. Pronouns of the first type, which include local fake indexicals, reflexives, relative pronouns, and PRO, may be born with a \"defective\" feature set. They can acquire the features they are missing (if any) from verbal functional heads carrying standard X-operators that bind them. Pronouns of the second type, which include long-distance fake indexicals, are born fully specified and receive their interpretations via context-shifting X-operators (Cable 2005). Both binding strategies are freely available and not subject to syntactic constraints. Local anaphora emerges under the assumption that feature transmission and morphophonological spell-out are limited to small windows of operation, possibly the phases of Chomsky 2001. If pronouns can be born underspecified, we need an account of what the possible initial features of a pronoun can be and how it acquires the features it may be missing. The article develops such an account by deriving a space of possible paradigms for referential and bound variable pronouns from the semantics of pronominal features. The result is a theory of pronouns that predicts the typology and individual characteristics of both referential and bound variable pronouns.
Journal Article
Revisiting Pronominal Typology
The overarching goal of this article is to shed new light on the debate over whether pronouns (she/he/it) generally have the syntax and semantics of definite descriptions (the woman/the man/the thing) or that of individual variables. As a case study, we investigate the differences between personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns in German. We argue that the two types of pronouns have the same core makeup (both contain a null NP and a definite determiner), but demonstrative pronouns have additional functional structure that personal pronouns lack. This analysis is shown to derive both their commonalities and their differences, and it derives the distribution of demonstrative vs.personal pronouns by means of structural economy constraints.
Journal Article
Microvariation in the division of labor between null- and overt-subject pronouns: the case of Italian and Spanish
In Italian, null pronouns are typically interpreted toward antecedents in a prominent syntactic position, whereas overt pronouns prefer antecedents in lower positions. Interpretation preferences in Spanish are less clear. While comprehension and production have never been systematically compared in Italian and Spanish, here we look at the preferences for overt- and null-subject pronouns in the two languages using the same production and comprehension materials. Using an offline comprehension task with a group of Spanish and Italian speakers, we tested sentences where the type of pronoun (null vs. explicit) and position of the pronoun (anaphoric vs. cataphoric) are manipulated, to determine how context affects speakers’ interpretations in the two languages. With two production tasks, we measured referential choice in controlled discourse contexts, linking the production patterns to the differences observed in comprehension. Our results indicate microvariation in the two null-subject languages, with Spanish following the Position of Antecedent Hypothesis but to a lesser degree than Italian. More specifically, in Spanish, the weaker object bias for overt pronouns parallels with a higher use of overt pronouns (and with fewer null pronouns) in contexts of topic maintenance.
Journal Article
Theoretical and Experimental Aspects of Syntax-Discourse Interface in Heritage Grammars
InTheoretical and Experimental Aspects of Syntax-Discourse Interface in Heritage Grammars,Tanya Ivanova-Sullivan investigates comprehension and production of anaphoric dependencies in heritage Russian. She explains the representational and processing mechanisms behind the divergent behaviour of the experimental group.
eBook
Navigating Pronoun-Antecedent Challenges: A Study of ESL Academic Writing Errors
Effective communication and academic writing in English hinge on a solid grasp of grammar, with pronouns representing a pivotal aspect. However, non-native, particularly English as a second language (ESL) students, often find difficulties in employing pronouns effectively, especially in reference to their antecedents within sentences. The current study investigates errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement among ESL students in their academic writing by employing content analysis. By using purposive sampling technique, 40 students from four universities in Karachi city were selected and assigned to write a paragraph on any personality they are familiar with. Subsequently, all of the writing samples were examined thoroughly utilizing a systematic approach. The analysis revealed that errors predominantly occurred with personal pronouns, followed by possessive pronouns, relative pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns. While this study offers valuable insights into the difficulties ESL students face in mastering pronoun-antecedent agreement, it is essential to note limitations. The sample size may not fully represent the diverse range of ESL students, and the focus on academic writing may not capture all contexts in which pronoun-antecedent agreement challenges arise. Despite these limitations, the findings provide important considerations for ESL teachers. The implications of these findings extend to the design of effective language instruction, aimed at enhancing students’ writing skills and mitigating common pronoun-antecedent agreement errors.
Journal Article
The role of gender suffixes in number suppletion
A well-known empirical generalization is that suppletion is sensitive to the presence of intervening morphemes: for suppletion to take place, the trigger and the target must be adjacent. In this article, we focus on one manifestation of this generalization in Romance pronouns: number-triggered suppletion (NTS) is blocked by the presence of overt gender markers. We show how the Nanosyntactic Lexicalization Algorithm can derive the generalization without having to postulate any type of post-syntactic operation by focusing on the analysis of the three situations compatible with the generalization, and by showing how the fourth, unattested logical possibility cannot be generated by the Lexicalization Algorithm. This will also serve as an argument that the generalization on suppletion should be stated in terms of syntactic constituency, not locality.
Journal Article
A LITTLE WORD THAT MEANS A LOT
Singular they has emerged as a key term in contemporary gender politics, reflecting growing usage of they/them as nonbinary personal pronouns. Drawing on interviews with 54 progressive gender activists, we consider how singular they can be used to resist and redo aspects of the prevailing gender structure. We identify three distinct usages of singular they: (1) as a nonbinary personal pronoun, (2) as a universal gender-neutral pronoun, and (3) as an indefinite pronoun when a person’s self-identified gender is unknown. While previous research on singular they as a gender-inclusive language practice has focused primarily on its usage as a nonbinary personal pronoun, our findings point to the relevance for gender politics of all three usages. Our analysis offers new insight into how nonbinary they challenges dominant gender norms and practices beyond incorporating additional gender categories. Given our findings, we propose further investigation of how using gender-neutral pronouns for everyone in specific contexts can advance progressive activists’ goals. Finally, we argue that the longstanding usage of singular they as an indefinite pronoun has new importance today in affirming gender as a self-determined identity.
Journal Article