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Pronominal disagreements: The stubborn problem of singular epicene antecedents1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Michael Newman
Michael Newman
Affiliation:
Department of English, Hunter College/CUNY, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021
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Abstract

This study examines how speakers on certain TV interview programs resolve problems of agreement with formally singular epicene antecedents. The form most frequently used is they, although he does appear fairly often. Some forms found in written English hardly occur. It appears that they is not used simply to avoid a commitment to gender. Rather, three factors appear to contribute to speakers' choice of pronominal: presuppositions about gender roles associated with the referent, notional number of the referent, and the extent to which the referent can be posited as a specific individual. The idea that there is a gap in third person singular pronouns in spoken English is criticized. (Pronominal gender, agreement, semantics, usage, English)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , September 1992 , pp. 447 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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