8.4 Indirectness

4.What time is it?

5.Is that the radio again?

B.Indirectness can also involve "questioning" by way of "ordering." That is, the sentence is in the imperative mood, but the speaker is also asking for information and is not merely ordering. List some examples of this kind of indirectness.

C.A third form of indirectness involves "stating" by way of "commanding." That is, the sentence is in the imperative mood, but the speaker is also making a statement. List some examples of this kind of indirectness.

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Section

8.5 "Unclear Reference" of Pronouns: English

In this exercise you will be trying to figure out the nature of a particular problem: an example of what has been described in a college handbook on writing as "unclear reference" of a pronoun. The handbook characterizes the problem in grammatical terms (see question A). The data in questions B-D challenge this conclusion.

Questions

A.In Writing: A College Handbook, the authors offer examples of what they call "unclear reference." One example is as follows:

1.A recent editorial contained an attack on the medical profession. The writer accused them of charging excessively high fees.

The authors provide the following discussion:

Who is meant by the pronoun them? From the phrase medical profession you may guess that the writer is referring to doctors. But profession cannot be the antecedent of them, for them is plural and profession is singular. (Heffernan and Lincoln 1982, 309)

Now consider examples 2 and 3 and answer questions A-l through A-5.

2.Yesterday, the President announced the decision to send aid to numerous countries in Central America. He went on to say that it was time to help our neighbors in this hemisphere.

3.Yesterday, the White House announced the decision to lift all sanctions. He went on to say that this gesture would set the tone for further negotiations.

1.Who is he in example 2?

2.Assume that the noun phrase "antecedent" for he is the White House in example 3. Who would you guess he is? (You may think of several possibilities.)

3.In order to answer question A-2, what kinds of issues must you consider?

4.Examples 2 and 3 are similar in that in each example both the noun phrase "antecedent" (the President and the White House, respectively) and the pronoun he are singular. How are these examples dissimilar with respect to determining the reference of he?

5.In example 3 the White House and the pronoun he are both singular, whereas the college handbook describes the problem of determining the reference of them in example 1 as a problem of number incompatibility (profession is singular, whereas them is plural; therefore, profession cannot be the "antecedent" for them). Is number compatibility between the noun phrase "antecedent" and the pronoun sufficient for determining the reference of the pronoun? Explain, using examples 1 and 3 to back up your arguments.

B.Now consider example 4 and answer questions B-l through B-4.

4.The office threw a surprise birthday party for the boss. They even gave her a beautiful gift.

1.Who are they and how do you know?

2.Is the noun phrase "antecedent" of they singular or plural?

3.How does this bear on your discussion in question A-5?

4.Who is her being used to refer to? How do you know?

C.The authors of Writing suggest that because the pronoun they in example 1 is plural, it cannot have the singular medical profession as its antecedent, hence that the referent has essentially not been introduced and is therefore indeterminate. Although the reference of the pronoun in this example may indeed be "vague," we must ask whether this problem is to be properly characterized in grammatical terms. Sentence-internally we can see that the grammatical requirement of number "agreement" does play a role. Compare example 1 with examples 5 and 6.

5a. *The doctor pays themselves well. b. The doctor pays herself well.

6a. *The medical profession pays themselves well.

b.The medical profession pays itself well.

1.Both examples 5a and 6a are ungramrnatical. Identify the problem, keeping in mind examples 1-3.

2.Describe any differences you notice between examples 5a and 6a.

D. Now consider examples 7-9 and answer the questions that follow.

7.They entered the beauty salon and had their hair done.

8.They're flying south for the winter early this year.

9.They won't graduate in four years if they keep up like that.

1.None of the examples in 7-9 provides a noun phrase "antecedent" for the pronoun they. Can you guess what the reference of they might be in each case?

2.What kind of information did you rely on to make your guesses in question D-l?

3.Does the kind of information you used in question D-2 play a role in helping to identify the reference of the pronoun they in example l? Discuss.

E.In your opinion, is there a problem with the reference of the pronoun them in example l? If your answer is "yes," then discuss why number incompatibility between the noun phrase "antecedent" and the pronoun cannot be the explanation for the problem. If your answer is "no," then explain why the college handbook discussion is inappropriate for you.

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