Chinese complex reflexive ta-ziji as an exempt anaphor

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5560

Keywords:

Mandarin Chinese, complex reflexive ta-ziji, discourse, logophoricity, anaphora resolution

Abstract

This study examines whether the complex reflexive ta-ziji in Mandarin Chinese can be used as an exempt anaphor. To this end, an offline antecedent choice experiment and an online self-paced reading experiment were conducted to explore whether and how discourse-level factors influence the interpretation of ta-ziji. The offline and online experiments provide converging evidence that the logophoric role (source vs. perceiver) of the non-local subject impacts the interpretation of ta-ziji. Crucially, the online experiment shows that when the non-local subject is an empathized source, non-local binding is preferred; when it is an empathized perceiver, there is no clear binding preference. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to linguistic theories of anaphora and logophoricity.

Author Biography

  • Jun Lyu, University of Southern California
    Department of Linguistics

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Published

2023-04-27

How to Cite

Lyu, Jun, and Elsi Kaiser. 2023. “Chinese Complex Reflexive Ta-Ziji As an Exempt Anaphor”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 8 (1): 5560. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5560.