The Interpretation of Plural Pronouns in Discourse: The Case of They
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper presents an experimental study on the interpretation of plural pronoun they in discourse, and offers an answer to two questions. The first question is whether the anaphoric interpretation of they corresponds to that of its antecedent NP(maximal interpretation), or by the “whole” previous sentence (reference interpretation). The second question is whether speakers may access only one interpretation or both, although at different “moments” in discourse. The answers to these questions suggest that an accurate logical and psychological model of anaphora resolution includes two principles. A first principle finds a “default” interpretation, a second principle determines when the “alternative” interpretation can (and must) be accessed.
منابع مشابه
Plural Discourse Reference
The goal of this additional section is to further explore the semantic notion of plurality and argue that, in addition to plural reference to collections, natural language interpretation involves a notion of plural discourse reference that is essential for the interpretation of quantificationally dependent pronouns (and anaphoric expressions in general, e.g., definites, partitives, reciprocals ...
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