Comparing reflexive and personal pronouns in Chinese locative prepositional phrases

Abstract

In many languages, both reflexive and personal pronouns within locative prepositional phrases (LPPs) can be co-construed with a local subject, making LPPs an ideal testing ground for non-syntactic factors influencing pronoun use. Focusing on Chinese, we experimentally tested the extent to which acceptability of reflexives ziji and ta-ziji and personal pronoun ta depends on event type (motion/perception) and relation type (contact/non-contact). We find that effects follow the trend previously reported for English but affect different forms to different degrees. Along with advancing understanding of binding in LPPs, this work contributes to comparisons between ziji and ta-ziji and the typology of pronouns more broadly.