A Linguistic Adaptation Theory-Based Approach to Singular They in English
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Based on the Linguistic Adaptation Theory outlined in Verschueren (1999), Qiang (2013), and Al-Gublan (2015), we argue that the rise of singular they starts from filling a lexical gap for a gender-neutral pronoun for the third-person singular human in English. Singular they is said to be the best candidate because it is highly adaptable in contextualization and meets the needs of interlocutors’ social, physical, and mental worlds in real communication. To be precise, it has more advantages than other candidates: (ⅰ) It has a historical precedent to follow and gains much support from authors of many canonical works; (ⅱ) It has no sexist mark and is totally indeterminate on number, gender, abstractness, animacy, and humanness; (ⅲ) It is simple in form and easier to recognize than the newly invented items.
Abstract
Based on the Linguistic Adaptation Theory outlined in Verschueren (1999), Qiang (2013), and Al-Gublan (2015), we argue that the rise of singular they starts from filling a lexical gap for a gender-neutral pronoun for the third-person singular human in English. Singular they is said to be the best candidate because it is highly adaptable in contextualization and meets the needs of interlocutors’ social, physical, and mental worlds in real communication. To be precise, it has more advantages than other candidates: (ⅰ) It has a historical precedent to follow and gains much support from authors of many canonical works; (ⅱ) It has no sexist mark and is totally indeterminate on number, gender, abstractness, animacy, and humanness; (ⅲ) It is simple in form and easier to recognize than the newly invented items.
참고문헌 (20)
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