scholarly journals Generic variation? Developments in use of generic pronouns in late 20thcentury spoken Danish

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Juel Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Generic Pronouns

Truly Minimal Pronouns

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 11-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Holmberg ◽  
On-Usa Phimsawat
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Generic Pronouns

Tis paper examines the properties of inclusive generic constructions, focusing on languages where the inclusive generic pronoun is a null category. We investigate empirical data from a set of languages with and without agreement to test Phimsawat's (2011) hypothesis that the inclusive generic pronoun lacks all phi-features, and therefore has the least restricted reading, due to there being no restriction on the reference. We show that this hypothesis cannot hold true universally, as phi-features trigger agreement in inflecting languages. We show that there is a correlation between presence of agreement and restriction to human reference for null inclusive generic pronouns, based on comparison of a set of languages without agreement (Tai, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Sinhala) with a set of languages with agreement (Finnish, Brazilian Portuguese, Hebrew, Basque, and Tamil). An explanation in terms of feature architecture is proposed for this correlation. A prediction for generic PRO is discussed and shown to be inconclusive or false.

Is There a Little Pro? Evidence from Finnish

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Holmberg
Keyword(s):  
Traditional View ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Pronouns ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Generic Pronouns ◽  
Null Noun

The traditional view of the null subject as pro identified by Agr (the φ-features of I) cannot be maintained in a theory where Agr is uninterpretable. Two hypotheses are compared with regard to the predictions they make for Finnish null subject constructions: (A) Agr is interpretable in null subject languages, and pro is therefore redundant; (B) null subjects are specified but unpronounced pronouns that assign values to the uninterpretable features of Agr. Since Finnish observes the Extended Projection Principle and has an expletive pronoun, Hypothesis A predicts that null subjects should cooccur with expletives. The prediction is false, favoring B over A. A typology of null subjects is proposed: Null bound pronouns and null generic pronouns in partial null subject languages, including Finnish, are D-less φ, and so are null subjects in consistent null subject languages with Agr, such as Spanish and Greek. Null 1st and 2nd person subjects in Finnish are DPs that are deleted. Null pronouns in languages without Agr, such as Chinese and Japanese, are the only true instances of pro, a minimally specified null noun.

scholarly journals Egocentricity in the English Generic Pronouns: Semantics and Pragmatics

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2 (1)) ◽  
pp. 51-56
Author(s):  
Marika Tonyan
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
The Self ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Semantic Component ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
Generic Pronouns

The article analyses the self-centered semantic component of generic pronouns. The examination of the nature and content of this component in the present article is based on surveys with language bearers. The presence of the meaning described explains the pragmatic and stylistic applications of these pronouns, particularly their linguistic-demagogic function which aims to exert a direct impact on the listener.

Chairperson or chairman? – A study of Chinese EFL teachers’ gender inclusivity

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-49
Author(s):  
Jackie F.K. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Sexist Language ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Gender Role Development ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Generic Pronouns ◽  
Biased Language ◽  
Selection Of

Given the potential influence of teachers’ linguistic practice on children’s language use and gender role development, the present study seeks to examine the extent of linguistic discrimination present in teachers’ language. A total of 215 Chinese EFL teachers were invited to participate in the survey, which included a series of elicitation tests on their selection of English words for occupational titles, and the choice of generic pronouns anaphoric to people of unknown gender. The findings revealed that, while gender-biased language is still widely used, non-sexist linguistic reform has had an impact on Chinese EFL teachers, some of whom have expressed a concern with regard to avoiding sexist language. The study also found that choice of generic pronouns co-varied with such factors as semantic meaning, word structure and the gender stereotypes associated with particular occupations.

The generic person in English and Swedish

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Altenberg
Keyword(s):  
Striking Difference ◽  
Subject Selection ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Restricted Use ◽  
Generic Pronouns

To find out how the ‘generic person’ is expressed in English and Swedish, the use and correspondence of the generic pronouns one in English and man in Swedish are examined in a bidirectional English-Swedish translation corpus. The material demonstrates clearly the greater frequency and versatility of Swedish man and the restricted use of English one. The difference is partly register-related: while man is stylistically neutral one is relatively formal and often replaced by you or various other pronouns. However, the most striking difference is syntactic. The English correspondences of man cut across grammatical systems and can be seen to reflect two diverging tendencies: the English fiction texts often have a subject corresponding to Swedish man, but the non-fiction texts rely to a large extent on syntactic shifts and clause reductions without a corresponding subject. In other words, the difference between the languages is not just a matter of pronoun choice but of syntactic preferences and subject selection.

scholarly journals The status of the narrator in Modernist fiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-97
Author(s):  
Violeta Sotirova
Keyword(s):  
Virginia Woolf ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Katherine Mansfield ◽  
Linguistic Representation ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Status ◽  
Generic Pronouns ◽  
Modernist Fiction

AbstractThis article explores hitherto unexplored complexities in the positioning of the Modernist narrator. Taking as a starting point Banfield’s ‘empty centre’ technique, the article re-evaluates the difficulties posed by this phenomenon and develops a more thorough and a sounder understanding of ‘the empty centre’. Some of the evidence for a new theory of ‘empty centre’ passages comes from pragmatics and naturally occurring discourse data. In particular, an investigation of the impersonal uses of generic pronouns, which Monika Fludernik (1993. The fictions of language and the languages of fiction: The linguistic representation of speech and consciousness. London: Routledge; 1996. Towards a natural narratology. London: Routledge) had established as key to our understanding of the technique, sheds new light on the nature of the ‘empty centre’ technique and leads to a new understanding of the status of the Modernist narrator. I propose that it is most plausible that the reader will naturalise examples of ‘the empty centre’ as stemming from the narrator. I also argue that we need to construct a new understanding of the status of the Modernist narrator which takes into account some of the central tenets of the Modernist aesthetic, those concerning subjectivity and the possibility of objectivity. Thus, what emerges from the analysis is that the self, and the narratorial figure by extension, can no longer be endowed with the power of omniscience. I will develop my theoretical explanation of ‘the empty centre’ and the positioning of the narrator in Modernist fiction with reference to a variety of examples, mainly drawn from Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf.

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