Anaphoric Use of Lexical Nouns

Anaphoric Use of Lexical Noun Phrases

Table 1 below shows the anaphoric use of lexical NP subjects in the data. The first column indicates the morphosyntactic form of the lexical NP. The column titled 'No Mention' indicates the number of referents that are not mentioned in the previous ten lines of discourse. The column titled 'Subset' indicates the number of referents that are part of a subset of a set referred to in the previous ten lines. The column titled 'Previous' indicates the number of referents that are mentioned in the previous ten lines of discourse. Note that this coding scheme overlaps the Familiarity coding found on the Familiarity page.

Table 1. Anaphoric use of lexical NP subjects
	No Mention	Subset	Previous	Total
Definite Determiner	22	12	5	39
Demonstrative Determiner	9	7	23	39
Plural or Mass Nouns	24	3	11	38
Possessive Determiners	28	6	5	39
Proper Nouns	22	1	16	39
Quantified Nouns	31	4	2	37
Indefinite Determined	21	12	4	37
	157	45	66	268

Table 1 indicates that the lexical subjects found in the data tend to be new to the discourse. Only 25 percent of the lexical subjects have been previously mentioned in the discourse. The use of a full lexical NP to refer to a previously mentioned entity requires further study. Among other possibilities, it may be due to ambiguity resolution as in example 6 below, to the use of institutions as agents as in 7 below, and to shifts in perspective discussed under Topic Persistence.

No Mention
A lexical NP subject is coded 'No Mention' if it refers to a referent that has not been previously mentioned. The majority of the lexical NP subjects in the sample have not been mentioned previously. The referents are new to the discourse. Here are some examples:

1. and we caught, the individuals got caught. (sw_1209)

2. but, I mean, you know, people really waking up. (sw_ADD)

3. and this lady was going to work, (sw_0192)

Although both of the referents of the highlighted lexical subjects in 1 and 2 have not been mentioned previously, there is a difference in the familiarity of these referents. In 1, the referent is part of a robbery frame that the speaker has introduced into the conversation. The referent in 2 is generic - a generally available referent. In 3, the referent has not been mentioned previously, is not part of a frame, and is not generally available.

Subset
A lexical NP subject is coded 'Subset' if it refers to a referent that is part of a set that has been referred to in the previous ten lines of discourse. Here are some examples:

4. and so his benefits, his medical benefits are so excellent, you know. (sw_0169)

5. and, uh, and just as that boat took off, a turtle bit me in the middle of the back. (sw_0183)

In 4, the speaker has been talking about medical benefits in general. In the previous clause, the speaker introduced her husband and his place of employment. This set the scene for the reference to a specific member of the set of medical benefits. In 5, the speaker has mentioned that there are a number of turtles in the lake were the action referred to in 5 takes place. One member of the set is picked out by the lexical subject.

Previous Mention
A lexical NP subject is coded 'Previous' if it refers to a referent that has been mentioned in the previous ten lines of discourse. Here are some examples:

6. A shotgun hurts worse than a pistol does.(sw_1204)

7. and the nursing home made them come and take her back because she was being a, a, you know, a, a nuisance.(sw_0005)

Example 6 shows the generic use of the singular indefinite. Shotguns and pistols are under discussion. The speakers choose to refer to the two classes of guns in the singular. In 7, the nursing home has been referred to with an indefinite referring expression in object position in a previous clause. Neither 'they' nor 'it' seem as satisfactory as the full lexical NP, although either use would be unambiguous. The metonymic use of 'they' is awkward and 'it' is awkward here as an agent. Return to Contents