Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources

This paper investigates the variation between null and overt subject pronouns in Catalan, a null subject language. We account for this variation in game-theoretical terms: that is, we analyze the distribution of both overt and null pronouns as a result of the strategic interaction between participan...

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Authors: Mayol, Laia, Clark, Robin
Format: article
Status:Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación
Publication Date:2010
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/34188
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34188
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Anaphora
Game theory
Null-subject languages
Catalan
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spelling Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resourcesMayol, LaiaClark, RobinAnaphoraGame theoryNull-subject languagesCatalanThis paper investigates the variation between null and overt subject pronouns in Catalan, a null subject language. We account for this variation in game-theoretical terms: that is, we analyze the distribution of both overt and null pronouns as a result of the strategic interaction between participants in a communicative exchange. First, we examine the Position of Antecedent Hypothesis (PAH), as put forward by Carminati (2002). This hypothesis proposes that null and overt pronouns have difeerent biases: null pronouns prefer antecedents in subject positions, while overt pronouns prefer antecedents in non-subject positions. Carminati (2002) tested the PAH for Italian in a variety of intrasentential contexts. In this paper, we show experimentally that the PAH also holds for Catalan even in across-sentence contexts. In the second place, we also show how the PAH can be naturally redefined as a game of partial information, in which speaker and hearer are trying to communicate. This redefinition does not just translate the PAH into a different notation, but it extends the PAH into a model that makes more accurate predictions, since it can account also for the cases in which the biases predicted by the PAH are not obeyed.Elsevier201820182010info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/34188http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPFinstname:Universitat Pompeu FabraInglésJ Pragmat. 2010;42(3):781-99. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004© Elsevier http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/341882026-06-12T07:21:37Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
title Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
spellingShingle Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
Mayol, Laia
Anaphora
Game theory
Null-subject languages
Catalan
title_short Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
title_full Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
title_fullStr Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
title_full_unstemmed Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
title_sort Pronouns in Catalan: games of partial information and the use of linguistic resources
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Mayol, Laia
Clark, Robin
author Mayol, Laia
author_facet Mayol, Laia
Clark, Robin
author_role author
author2 Clark, Robin
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Anaphora
Game theory
Null-subject languages
Catalan
topic Anaphora
Game theory
Null-subject languages
Catalan
description This paper investigates the variation between null and overt subject pronouns in Catalan, a null subject language. We account for this variation in game-theoretical terms: that is, we analyze the distribution of both overt and null pronouns as a result of the strategic interaction between participants in a communicative exchange. First, we examine the Position of Antecedent Hypothesis (PAH), as put forward by Carminati (2002). This hypothesis proposes that null and overt pronouns have difeerent biases: null pronouns prefer antecedents in subject positions, while overt pronouns prefer antecedents in non-subject positions. Carminati (2002) tested the PAH for Italian in a variety of intrasentential contexts. In this paper, we show experimentally that the PAH also holds for Catalan even in across-sentence contexts. In the second place, we also show how the PAH can be naturally redefined as a game of partial information, in which speaker and hearer are trying to communicate. This redefinition does not just translate the PAH into a different notation, but it extends the PAH into a model that makes more accurate predictions, since it can account also for the cases in which the biases predicted by the PAH are not obeyed.
publishDate 2010
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2010
2018
2018
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion
format article
status_str submittedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34188
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34188
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv J Pragmat. 2010;42(3):781-99. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv © Elsevier http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv © Elsevier http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.004
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
instname:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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