On the (in)definiteness of impersonal pronouns
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/linguistica.56.1.363-374Keywords:
impersonal pronouns, German, man, existential use, discourse anaphoric potentialAbstract
This paper addresses the question whether impersonal pronouns should be analyzed as indefinite or definite expressions based on their discourse anaphoric potential. I present new data that support the claim that impersonal pronouns should be analyzed as neither (see Koenig & Mauner 1999). I sketch a formal analysis that captures this behaviour. Furthermore, I show that the availability of quantificational variability effects for impersonal pronouns is not foolproof evidence for their indefiniteness as is usually assumed in the literature (see Malamud 2013).Downloads
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Published
28.12.2016
How to Cite
Zobel, S. (2016). On the (in)definiteness of impersonal pronouns. Linguistica, 56(1), 363–374. https://doi.org/10.4312/linguistica.56.1.363-374
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Copyright (c) 2016 Sarah Zobel
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