Representations underlying pronoun choice in Italian and English

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Linguistic Theory
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Pronoun production is influenced by referential competition.
• Previous research suggests increased similarity between referents leads to reduced pronoun use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the locus of competition affecting pronoun use: non-linguistic (situational) vs. linguistic (antecedent similarity).
• To determine if pronoun type (null vs. overt) influences sensitivity to competition and similarity.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of Italian null pronouns and English overt pronouns.
• Examining pronoun rates relative to full noun use under varying situational and linguistic competition conditions.

Main Results:

• Both Italian null and English pronouns were used less when referential candidates had higher situational competition.
• Semantic, grammatical, or phonological similarity between antecedents did not affect pronoun rates.
• Italian null pronouns were not affected by gender congruence, unlike English pronouns.

Conclusions:

• Pronoun use is primarily driven by non-linguistic (situational) competition, supporting the non-linguistic competition account.
• The influence of similarity on non-linguistic competition is modulated by pronoun type.
• Linguistic competition arising from antecedent similarity does not significantly impact pronoun production in this context.