Generic antecedents are representatives of classes, indicated by a
referenceA reference, or a references point, is the intensional use of one thing, a point of reference or reference state, to indicate something else...
in ordinary
languageA language is a system for encoding and decoding information. In its most common use, the term refers to so-called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using...
(most often a
pronounIn linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun with or without a determiner, such as you and they in English...
), where
genderGender commonly refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity. As a term, "gender" has more than one valid definition...
is typically unknown or irrelevant. These mostly arise in
generalizationA generalization of a concept is an extension of the concept to less-specific criteria. It is a foundational element of logic and human reasoning. Generalization posits the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements. As such, it...
s and are particularly common in
abstractSociological Abstraction refers to the varying levels at which theoretical concepts can be understood. This idea is very similar to the philosophical understanding of abstraction...
,
theoreticalThe term theory has two broad sets of meanings, one used in the empirical sciences and the other used in philosophy, mathematics, logic, and across other fields in the humanities. There is considerable difference and even dispute across academic disciplines as to the proper usages of the term...
or
strategicA strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word strategy has military connotations, because it derives from the Greek word for general....
discourseDiscourse means either "written or spoken communication or debate" or "a formal discussion of debate." The term is often used in semantics and discourse analysis....
. Examples include
readers of Wikipedia,
the customer in this market, and
each of the compounds analysed.
Frequently, theories or strategies involving generic
antecedentsIn grammar, an antecedent is generally the noun or noun phrase to which an anaphor refers in a coreference. However, an antecedent can also be a clause, especially when the anaphor is a demonstrative...
require consideration of individuals when designing experiments, or personalizing marketing approaches. The question of appropriate style for expressing such generic singulars in the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
became
politicizedA politicized issue is a social, economic, theological, spiritual, scientific or legal issue which has become a political issue, as a result of deliberate action or otherwise, whereby people become politically active over that issue....
in the 1970s.
Pronouns
Pronouns are prototypically words that replace
determiner phraseIn linguistics, a determiner phrase is a syntactic category, a phrase headed by a determiner. On the DP-hypothesis, the noun phrase is strictly speaking a determiner phrase, and NP designates a subpart of the noun phrase, often taken to be the complement of the determiner. This is opposed to the...
s (in other analyses,
noun phraseIn grammar, a noun phrase is a phrase whose head is a noun or a pronoun, optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers.Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, but some languages like Tuscarora and Cayuga have been argued to lack this category.- Form :Noun phrases normally consist of a...
s). They exist in most (but not all) languages. The person, thing,
phraseIn grammar, a phrase is a group of words functioning as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence.For example, the house at the end of the street is a phrase. It acts like a noun. It can further be broken down into two shorter phrases functioning as adjectives: at the end and of the street, a...
,
clauseIn grammar, a clause is a pair or group of words that consist of a subject and a predicate, although in some languages and some types of clauses, the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase. It may instead be marked on the verb...
or idea they replace is called the
antecedent (sometimes
referent).
- The sun and the moon influence life on Earth. They…
Here
they is a pronoun; the determiner phrase
the sun and the moon is its antecedent. Speakers find pronouns useful when the antecedent is obvious to the hearer from the context.
Personal pronouns
English has many different kinds of pronouns. The most common pronouns in English are the
personal pronounPersonal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known human languages have personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
s.
- Personal pronouns: I, you, she, he, it, we, they
These are so common because nearly all verbs require an explicit
subjectThe subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle. The other constituent is the predicate...
in English. The range of different pronouns helps make it clear to the hearer exactly what the antecedent is.
- Example: The sun and the moon influence life on Earth. It…
Choosing the pronoun
it rather than
they (above) signals that
the sun and the moon are
not the antecedent in this case.
Number
I,
she,
he and
it refer to only one person or thing [meaning in usage] and are called
singular [label in grammar];
we refers to more than one person and is called
plural. Sometimes
you is singular, other times it is plural. This article is about the meaning in various usages of
they. The description of a pronoun as either singular or plural is called its grammatical
numberIn linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
.
Person
Personal pronouns in many languages can also be described according to whether they refer to the speaker (first person), the listener (second person) or to a third person or thing.
I and
we are first-person personal pronouns,
you is the second-person personal pronoun, and
she,
he,
it and
they are all third-person personal pronouns. The description of a pronoun as first, second or third person is called its grammatical
personGrammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
.
They is a third-person, personal pronoun.
Case
English allows speakers to communicate to the hearer even more information than simply the person (1st, 2nd or 3rd) of an antecedent and the number (singular or plural).
- Oblique personal pronouns: me, mine, yours, her, hers, him, his, its, us, ours, them, theirs
When the antecedent is
not the subject of a sentence, its alternative function [meaning in usage] is marked by a change of pronoun. This is called a change of grammatical
caseIn grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause; such as the role of subject, of direct object, or of possessor. Usually a language is said to "have cases" only if nouns change their form to reflect their case. Others indicate cases in...
[label in grammar]. Essentially, English retains inflexion in two cases other than the subject case: the
accusativeThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
(object), and the
possessiveThe possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of possession. It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages....
. Cases other than the subject case are called
obliqueAn oblique case in linguistics is a noun case of synthetic languages that is used generally when a noun is the object of a verb or a preposition...
cases.
- Example: You gave me that book of hers.
You is subject case,
me is object case, and
hers is possessive case.
Therefore, when we think about how
they is used in English, we also need to consider
them and
theirs.
Gender
English, like most languages, does not have distinct forms to communicate the
genderIn linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called noun classes, are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words; every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be very few which belong to several classes at once....
of first and second persons. The genders of speaker and hearer are normally obvious, unambiguous or irrelevant when they are communicating. However, gender distinctions in the third person can be very helpful.
- Example: My sister and brother disagree. She likes cars, but he does not.
In contrast to the singular, English does
not provide options in third-person, personal pronouns to distinguish gender in the plural.
- Example: My sisters and brothers disagree. The sisters like cars, but the brothers do not.
The following could be used to negate the need for gender distinction, but subsequently leads to the use of a subordinate clause.
- Example: My sisters and brothers disagree; the former like cars, but the latter do not.
This example is, however, rather clumsy and dated, and would scarcely be used in spoken or written English.
Practical issue
The issue addressed by this article is based on a contrast in English – the awkwardness of
making gender distinctions in the plural and the awkwardness of
avoiding them in the singular. Speakers of languages use words
both to make distinctions, but also to generalize.
- Example of distinction: My mother thinks…, but my father says….
- Example of generalization: My parents believe….
What has become controversial among users of English can be seen from the following examples.
-
All people get hungry, so they eat. Acceptable (All people is plural.)
-
All people get hungry, so she eats. Incorrect (different meaning than first sentence)
-
Each one gets thirsty, so he drinks. Disputed (Is he generic, or are all members of the group male?)
- Each one gets thirsty, so they drink. Disputed (Used by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, condemned by The Elements of StyleThe Elements of Style , by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, is an American English writing style guide. It is the best-known and most influential prescriptive treatment of English grammar and usage, and often is required reading and usage in U.S. high school and university composition classes...
.)
- Each one gets thirsty, so he or she drinks. Awkward (especially if used repeatedly)
- When a person is tired, she sleeps. Disputed (Is she specific or generic?)
- When a person is tired, it sleeps. Incorrect (Pronouns for objects cannot be used to describe people.)
English guidelines before the 1980s supported the use of
he as a singular pronoun that can refer to both men and women (generic usage). (Younger speakers use sometimes
guys in this way in informal situations.) Many recent style guides discourage generic constructions on political grounds. Some writers prefer to alternate between male and female generic usage to provide clarity without the appearance of bias. Other speakers intentionally use female generic forms as a political or cultural statement against the conventional practice of generic use of the masculine form.
General solution
Many languages share the same issue with English. The universal conventional solution is based on the context, which is always the same—the antecedent is a representative individual of a class, whose gender is unknown or irrelevant. Normally masculine, but sometimes feminine, forms of singular pronouns are supplied, in what is called
generic usage. The context makes the generic intent of the usage clear in communication.
- Example: An ambitious academic will publish as soon as she can.
Unless there is reason to believe the speaker thinks ambitious academics are always female, the use of
she in this sentence must be interpreted as a generic use.
Modern problem
It is the overlap of generic use with
gender roleA gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities...
stereotypingA stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals.The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior...
that led to controversy in English.
- A nurse should ensure she gets adequate rest.
- A police officer should maintain his fitness.
- A dancer should watch her diet carefully.
- A boss should treat his staff well.
In these examples, there is very good reason to suppose that the speaker does indeed believe and that all nurses are female, or that all bosses are male.
Modern solutions
Speakers ideologically opposed to gender role stereotyping can use one of the following strategies.
- A boss should treat her staff well. (Use of the pronoun opposite to expected gender.)
- Bosses should treat their staff well. (Rephrasing the sentence.)
- A boss should treat their staff well. (Use of singular they
"Singular they" is a popular, non-technical expression for uses of the pronoun they when plurality is not required by the context. "Singular" they may refer either to a single person whose sex is unknown or not specified , or to an indeterminate number of people "Singular they" is a popular,...
, incorrect according to many sources, especially older or traditional ones, but accepted by later editions of the Chicago Manual of Style)
- A boss should treat eir staff well. (Rare use of a Spivak pronoun
The Spivak pronouns are a proposed set of gender-neutral pronouns in English. They are not in widespread use, but have been employed in gender-neutral language by some people who dislike the more common alternatives "he/she" or singular they....
; also see gender-neutral pronouns.)
There is both historical precedent for the third option, as well as popular contemporary usage. However, there are contemporary, as well as historical,
style guideA style guide or style manual is a set of standards for design and writing of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication or organization...
s that discourage this option.
There are also contexts in which
they used with singular generic antecedent leads to
ambiguityAmbiguity is the property of being ambiguous, where a word, term, notation, sign, symbol, phrase, sentence, or any other form used for communication, is called ambiguous if it can be interpreted in more than one way. Ambiguity is different from vagueness, which arises when the boundaries of meaning...
. Generic questions wanting specific answers.
- Would you like tea or coffee? Yes. Choice is unclear.
- Would you like tea or coffee? Tea, please.
- Did my parents leave a message? Yes, they did. Parental figure unclear.
- Did my parents leave a message? Yes, your mother called.
Other alternatives
Options other than generic pronouns, rephrasing in the plural, or using
they can be well suited to some contexts, but problematic in others.
- A boss should treat her or his staff well. (Issues: cumbersome if overused, have to place genders in an order.)
- If (s)he does, it is good. (Issue: written option only.)
- Thon will be happy and so will they. (Issue: none of the invented pronouns – thon, xe, and many others – have been accepted into the language.)
- They will be happy and so will they. (Note: "singular" they
"Singular they" is a popular, non-technical expression for uses of the pronoun they when plurality is not required by the context. "Singular" they may refer either to a single person whose sex is unknown or not specified , or to an indeterminate number of people "Singular they" is a popular,...
is clearly awful here.)
The indefinite personal pronoun,
oneOne is a pronoun in the English language. It is a gender neutral, third-person singular pronoun, commonly used in English prose...
, is suitably singular, personal and indefinite with respect to gender; but its very indefiniteness precludes it taking any antecedent but itself.
- One takes care of one's own.
Strictly speaking, it is not even third person, it is often used as a
circumlocutionCircumlocution is an ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech. In its most basic form, circumlocution is using many words to describe something simple...
to refer indirectly to speaker or hearer.
- One may indeed have done something like that. (However, I am not going to admit that, in fact, I did.)
- One would do well to be very careful under the circumstances. (Watch your back)
Political opinions
Some modern
prescriptivistsIn linguistics, prescription can refer both to the codification and the enforcement of rules governing how a language ought to be used. These rules can cover such topics as standards for spelling and grammar or syntax, or rules for what is deemed socially or politically correct or proper...
argue from the valid use of
they in certain contexts, to making it valid or even mandatory in all. Other prescritivists argue ideologically that generic
he should be proscribed. Both these points of view have found many followers; however, they generally do not accurately describe the usage or rationale of the wide range of options common in the English language.
See also
- Donkey pronoun
A donkey pronoun is a pronoun that is bound in semantics but not syntax.Some writers prefer the term donkey anaphora, since it is the referential aspects and discourse or syntactic context that are of interest to researchers . The terms d-type or e-type pronoun are also used, mutually exclusively,...
- Epicene
Epicene is an adjective for loss of gender distinction, often specific loss of masculinity. It includes:* effeminacy — a man with characteristics that are traditionally feminine...
- Generic mood
The generic mood, in linguistics, is a mood used to make generalized comments about a class of thing. In English, generic verbs are not morphologically distinct from indicative. In most cases, generic statements can only be recognized by context and linguistic experience.For instance, the sentence...
- Generic you
In English grammar, generic you or indefinite you is the use of the pronoun you to refer to an unspecified person. Generic one is the use of one in the same way....
- Markedness
Markedness is a linguistic concept that developed out of the Prague School. A marked form is a non-basic or less natural form. An unmarked form is a basic, default form. For example, lion is the unmarked choice in English — it could refer to a male or female lion. But lioness is marked because it...
- Quantificational variability effect
Quantificational variability effect is the intuitive equivalence of certain sentences with quantificational adverbs and sentences without these, but with quantificational determiner phrases in argument position instead....
External links
- Helge Lødrup. 'Norwegian Anaphors without Visible Binders'. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 19 (2007): 1–22. Available at http://journals.cambridge.org.
- Anna Pycha, Constance Milbrath and Stephen Eyre. 'Anaphora in African-American English'. Oakland: Linguistics Society of America, 2005.
- Jeffrey T. Runner and Elsi Kaiser. 'Binding in Picture Noun Phrases: Implications for Binding Theory'. In Proceedings of the HPSG05 Conference. Edited by Stefan Müller. Lisbon: CSLI Publications, 2005.
- Marta Luján. 'Determiners as Modified Pronouns'. Círculo de lingüística aplicada a la comunicación 9 (2002).
Literature
- Carlson, Greg. Reference to Kinds in English. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts is a selective research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts...
, 1977.
- De Swart, H. '(In)definites and genericity'. In Quantifiers, Deduction and Context. Edited by M. Kanazawa and others. Stanford: CSLI: 171–199.
- Wilkinson, Karina. Studies in the Semantics of Generic Noun Phrases. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts is a selective research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts...
, 1991.