The use and prescription of epicene pronouns : a corpus-based approach to generic he and singular they in British English
In English the personal pronouns are morphologically marked for grammatical number, whilst the third-person singular pronouns are also obligatorily marked for gender. As a result, the use of any singular animate antecedent coindexed with a third-person pronoun forces a choice between he and she, whether or not the biological sex of the intended referent is known. This forced choice of gender, and the corresponding lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun where gender is not formally marked, is the primary focus of this thesis. I compare and contrast the use of the two main candidates for epicene status, singular they and generic he, which are found consistently opposed in the wider literature. Using corpus-based methods I analyse current epicene usage in written British English, and investigate which epicene pronouns are given to language-acquiring children in their L1 input. I also consider current prescriptions on epicene usage in grammar texts published post-2000 and investigate whether there is any evidence that language-external factors impact upon epicene choice. The synthesis of my findings with the wider literature on epicene pronouns leads me to the conclusion that, despite the restrictions
Paterson, Laura Louise
Epicene pronouns ; Singular they ; Generic he ; Corpus linguistics ; Pronoun acquisition ; Traditional grammatical prescriptivism ; Second-wave feminism ; Non-sexist language ; Language reform
The use and prescription of epicene pronouns : a corpus-based approach to generic he and singular they in British English. In English the personal pronouns are morphologically marked for grammatical number, whilst the third-person singular pronouns are also obligatorily marked for gender. As a result, the use of any singular animate antecedent coindexed with a third-person pronoun forces a choice between he and she, whether or not the biological sex of the intended referent is known. This forced choice of gender, and the corresponding lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun where gender is not formally marked, is the primary focus of this thesis. I compare and contrast the use of the two main candidates for epicene status, singular they and generic he, which are found consistently opposed in the wider literature. Using corpus-based methods I analyse current epicene usage in written British English, and investigate which epicene pronouns are given to language-acquiring children in their L1 input. I also consider current prescriptions on epicene usage in grammar texts published post-2000 and investigate whether there is any evidence that language-external factors impact upon epicene choice. The synthesis of my findings with the wider literature on epicene pronouns leads me to the conclusion that, despite the restrictions
use prescription pronoun corpus_based generic singular british_english english personal_pronoun morphologically mark grammatical number whilst third_person singular pronoun also mark gender use singular animate antecedent third_person pronoun force choice whether biological sex intend referent know force choice gender correspond lack gender neutral third_person singular pronoun gender formally mark primary_focus thesis compare_contrast use two_main candidate status singular generic find consistently oppose wider literature using corpus_based method analyse current usage write british_english investigate pronoun give language child input also_consider current prescription usage grammar text_publish post investigate_whether evidence language external_factor impact_upon choice synthesis finding wider literature pronouns lead_conclusion despite restriction