In:
Zeitschrift für germanistische Linguistik, Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Vol. 43, No. 2 ( 2015-8-1), p. 233-260
Abstract:
The gender specification of personal pronouns in German which refer to lexical hybrids like Mädchen (neuter noun; eng.: girl ) can either be determined directly by the grammatical features of these nouns ( das Mädchen […] es ) or by the sex of their referents ( das Mädchen […] sie ). This phenomenon is a typical example of the alternation of grammatical and semantic agreement, which can be observed in many variations among the world’s languages. In order to explain the distribution of these two agreement types, many authors argue that there is a positive correlation of the linear and/or structural distance between the agreeing elements (controller and target) on the one hand and the acceptability of semantic agreement on the other hand. Based on empirical data, I argue for the additional integration of semantic factors which are strongly related to structural aspects. It is shown that the choice of agreement type for German personal pronouns depends on the interpretation of these words as bound or free variables, whereby semantic agreement is less likely with bound variables.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1613-0626
,
0301-3294
DOI:
10.1515/zgl-2015-0015
Language:
English
Publisher:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2045557-4
detail.hit.zdb_id:
7502-4
SSG:
7,20
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