Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every
The goal of this article is to investigate the factors that affect the acceptability and processing of they. Previous research has sought to determine whether there are acceptability and processing differences between they/themselves with plural vs. singular antecedents, with mixed results. The stud...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.880687/full |
| _version_ | 1811245655745626112 |
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| author | Keir Moulton Trevor Block Holly Gendron Dennis Storoshenko Jesse Weir Sara Williamson Chung-hye Han |
| author_facet | Keir Moulton Trevor Block Holly Gendron Dennis Storoshenko Jesse Weir Sara Williamson Chung-hye Han |
| author_sort | Keir Moulton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The goal of this article is to investigate the factors that affect the acceptability and processing of they. Previous research has sought to determine whether there are acceptability and processing differences between they/themselves with plural vs. singular antecedents, with mixed results. The studies reported here address this question using bound variable singular they (e.g., Every customer claimed that they were first in line). We asked whether bound singular they is sensitive to both the morphological number and the semantic distributivity of the binding quantifier phrase. We contrasted morphologically singular quantified antecedents (every and each) with plural quantified antecedents (all). Instead of finding an effect of number, we found an effect of semantic distributivity in acceptability, with bound singular they demonstrating a cline of preference toward more distributive antecedents. Neither number nor distributivity, however, registered as an effect on reading times. Rather, for all types of quantified antecedents, encountering a pronoun like he or she rather than they registered a processing delay, in contrast to non-quantified antecedents. Our results are most fully compatible with the view that they is underspecified for number properties. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:41:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89198a077275453b9aa62070ce1a4a10 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:41:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-89198a077275453b9aa62070ce1a4a102022-12-22T03:28:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-06-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.880687880687Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. EveryKeir Moulton0Trevor Block1Holly Gendron2Dennis Storoshenko3Jesse Weir4Sara Williamson5Chung-hye Han6Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, CanadaSchool of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, CanadaThe goal of this article is to investigate the factors that affect the acceptability and processing of they. Previous research has sought to determine whether there are acceptability and processing differences between they/themselves with plural vs. singular antecedents, with mixed results. The studies reported here address this question using bound variable singular they (e.g., Every customer claimed that they were first in line). We asked whether bound singular they is sensitive to both the morphological number and the semantic distributivity of the binding quantifier phrase. We contrasted morphologically singular quantified antecedents (every and each) with plural quantified antecedents (all). Instead of finding an effect of number, we found an effect of semantic distributivity in acceptability, with bound singular they demonstrating a cline of preference toward more distributive antecedents. Neither number nor distributivity, however, registered as an effect on reading times. Rather, for all types of quantified antecedents, encountering a pronoun like he or she rather than they registered a processing delay, in contrast to non-quantified antecedents. Our results are most fully compatible with the view that they is underspecified for number properties.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.880687/fullpronoun comprehensionbound variable anaphorasingular theydistributivityquantification and number |
| spellingShingle | Keir Moulton Trevor Block Holly Gendron Dennis Storoshenko Jesse Weir Sara Williamson Chung-hye Han Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every Frontiers in Psychology pronoun comprehension bound variable anaphora singular they distributivity quantification and number |
| title | Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every |
| title_full | Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every |
| title_fullStr | Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every |
| title_short | Bound Variable Singular They Is Underspecified: The Case of All vs. Every |
| title_sort | bound variable singular they is underspecified the case of all vs every |
| topic | pronoun comprehension bound variable anaphora singular they distributivity quantification and number |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.880687/full |
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