‘truck’ is masculine and used with the masculine article le. In Modern Irish the word cailín ‘girl’ is masculine and the word for ‘stallion’, stail, is feminine! Clearly there is no actual sex or personal gender underlying this categorization. English doesn’t express gender on most nouns, but the pronoun system shows what we might think of as grammatical gender in the distinction between he, she and it pronouns.
Number (singular vs. plural) also seems to have a grammatical usage distinct from the reference of the word. There are a set of nouns that are grammatically plural but clearly refer to singular entities. These words are known as pluralia tantum. For example, pants and scissors have no singular form and they show up with the plural form of verbs (the pants are in the drawer vs. *The pant(s) is in the drawer.) Despite taking plural agreement, they can refer to singular elements. So, number, like gender, can both be personal and grammatical.
PART 1: Non-binary they and subject number agreement.
Many non-binary people (as well as some other transgender people and some cisgender people) are now choosing to refer to themselves with pronouns other than the binary male/female contrasts. It is common for many non-binary people to identify the pronouns they, them, and theirs as the correct ones to use in reference to them.
Consider a person whose name is Chris. They are non-binary and they find that the pronouns that correctly identify their gender are they, them and theirs. Consider the following sentences, which all refer to singular Chris.
1 Chris is leaving.
2 *Chris are leaving.
3 *They is leaving.
4 They are leaving.
Are is the form of the verb to be used with 3rd person plurals and is is the form used with 3rd person singulars. Based on the sentences in (a-d), figure out which of the following determines the form of the verb: biological sex and number, personal gender and number, or grammatical gender and number. How can you tell?
PART 2 : Gender in anaphors
Now let’s consider the form of anaphors. Again, assume in this section that Chris is non- binary (i.e. identifies as neither male nor female in personal gender) and they use the they/them/their pronouns. Consider the following sentences:20
e) Chris is introducing *himself.
f) Chris is introducing *herself.
g) Chris is introducing themselves/themself.
h) They are introducing *himself.
i) They are introducing *herself.
j) They are introducing themselves/themself.
Ignore for the moment the issue of whether it should be themselves or themself, for the moment assume either is ok. What determines the form of the first part of the anaphor (the them/him/her part)? Is it grammatical gender (cf. part 1 above) or is it personal gender? How can you tell? Is this the same as what determines subject agreement?
PART 3 : Number in anaphors
There are at least two speech varieties concerning the self/selves part of the anaphor when the singular they/them/their set is used. Some speakers will tend to use themselves, others will tend to use themself. In the following sentences, they, themselves and themself are both meant to have a singular referent: non-binary Chris.
k) Dialect 1: Chris is introducing themselves to the president.
l) Dialect 2: Chris is introducing themself to the president.
m) Dialect 1: They are introducing themselves to the president.
n) Dialect 2: They are introducing themself to the president.
What determines the number expressed on the anaphor (themselves vs. themself) in each of the dialects? Is it personal number (where non-binary they is singular) or is it grammatical number (where non-binary they is plural)? How can you tell?
PART 4: Revising our hypothesis.
In the text above we proposed the following hypothesis about the form of anaphors:
An anaphor must agree in person, gender and number with its antecedent.
Propose a revision to our hypothesis about what determines the form of anaphors that takes into account your observations in parts 2 and 3.
GPS4. JUDGMENTS
[Application of Skills; Intermediate]
All of the following sentences have been claimed to be ungrammatical or unacceptable by someone at some time. For each sentence,
1 indicate whether this unacceptability is due to a prescriptive or a descriptive judgment, and
2 for all descriptive judgments indicate whether the unacceptability has to do with syntax or semantics (or both).
One- or two-word answers are appropriate. If you are not a native speaker of English, enlist the help of someone who is. If you are not familiar with the prescriptive rules of English grammar, you may want to consult a writing guide or English.
1 Who did you see in Las Vegas?
2 You are taller than me.
3 My red is refrigerator.
4 Who do you think that saw Bill?
5 Hopefully, we’ll make it through the winter without snow.
6 My friends wanted to quickly leave the party.
7 Bunnies carrots eat.
8 John’s sister is not his sibling.
GPS5: PERFORMANCE VS. COMPETENCE
[Application of Skills (Basic)]
For each of the scenarios described below indicate whether the phenomena being described are best thought of as exhibiting the traits of performance or competence or a mix of the two.
1 Joe-Ellen is talking to her father about lending him some money, she starts to speak and says “Dad you need to get a new job, one where your boss …” and then she gets a text from her best friend telling her about the latest chapter in the on-going drama between two of their mutual friends. She reads the text which ends with “those guys”, and she then continues in her conversation with her dad saying “respect you”, using the agreement inflection that would be triggered by “those guys” rather than “your boss”.
2 Josh has been reading a novel from the regency period and comes across a sentence that sounds very convoluted and odd to him. So he thinks about the sentence
