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  • Rădulescu and Van Olmen (full)

    Rights statement: This article has been accepted for publication in Languages in contrast, Volume 22, Issue 1, 2022, pages: 1-42, © 2021 John Benjamins, the publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use the material in any form.

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A questionnaire-based study of impersonalization in Romanian and English: With special attention to passivization

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A questionnaire-based study of impersonalization in Romanian and English: With special attention to passivization. / Rădulescu, Valentin; Van Olmen, Daniel.
In: Languages in Contrast, Vol. 22, No. 1, 31.01.2022, p. 1-42.

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Rădulescu V, Van Olmen D. A questionnaire-based study of impersonalization in Romanian and English: With special attention to passivization. Languages in Contrast. 2022 Jan 31;22(1):1-42. Epub 2021 May 21. doi: 10.1075/lic.20004.rad

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@article{a4f125e0067644bd8838738bcff25a63,
title = "A questionnaire-based study of impersonalization in Romanian and English: With special attention to passivization",
abstract = "This paper is the first contrastive study of impersonalization in Romanian and English. Taking an acceptability judgment approach, we describe the functional potential in all impersonal uses of not only the pronouns {\textquoteleft}one{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}you{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}they{\textquoteright} but also the lesser studied passive. We find inter alia: a similar division of labor in the languages between {\textquoteleft}you{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}they{\textquoteright} for contexts paraphrasable as, respectively, {\textquoteleft}everyone{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}someone/some people{\textquoteright}; a wider range of uses for pro-dropped {\textquoteleft}they{\textquoteright} than for its overt counterpart, as hypothesized in previous research; and a preference in English, but not Romanian, for passives to {\textquoteleft}they{\textquoteright} especially in contexts like {\textquoteleft}they{\textquoteright}ve stolen my wallet!{\textquoteright}, where the referent is entirely unidentifiable and likely to be singular. Levels of identifiability and number, each of which has been suggested in a separate semantic map as necessary for capturing impersonalization, are also shown to interact, supporting a proposal to combine them in one map.",
keywords = "pronoun, semantic map, passive, impersonal, English/Romanian",
author = "Valentin R{\u a}dulescu and {Van Olmen}, Daniel",
note = "This article has been accepted for publication in Languages in contrast, Volume 22, Issue 1, 2022, pages: 1-42, {\textcopyright} 2021 John Benjamins, the publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use the material in any form.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1075/lic.20004.rad",
language = "English",
volume = "22",
pages = "1--42",
journal = "Languages in Contrast",
issn = "1387-6759",
publisher = "John Benjamins Publishing Company",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - A questionnaire-based study of impersonalization in Romanian and English

T2 - With special attention to passivization

AU - Rădulescu, Valentin

AU - Van Olmen, Daniel

N1 - This article has been accepted for publication in Languages in contrast, Volume 22, Issue 1, 2022, pages: 1-42, © 2021 John Benjamins, the publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use the material in any form.

PY - 2022/1/31

Y1 - 2022/1/31

N2 - This paper is the first contrastive study of impersonalization in Romanian and English. Taking an acceptability judgment approach, we describe the functional potential in all impersonal uses of not only the pronouns ‘one’, ‘you’ and ‘they’ but also the lesser studied passive. We find inter alia: a similar division of labor in the languages between ‘you’ and ‘they’ for contexts paraphrasable as, respectively, ‘everyone’ and ‘someone/some people’; a wider range of uses for pro-dropped ‘they’ than for its overt counterpart, as hypothesized in previous research; and a preference in English, but not Romanian, for passives to ‘they’ especially in contexts like ‘they’ve stolen my wallet!’, where the referent is entirely unidentifiable and likely to be singular. Levels of identifiability and number, each of which has been suggested in a separate semantic map as necessary for capturing impersonalization, are also shown to interact, supporting a proposal to combine them in one map.

AB - This paper is the first contrastive study of impersonalization in Romanian and English. Taking an acceptability judgment approach, we describe the functional potential in all impersonal uses of not only the pronouns ‘one’, ‘you’ and ‘they’ but also the lesser studied passive. We find inter alia: a similar division of labor in the languages between ‘you’ and ‘they’ for contexts paraphrasable as, respectively, ‘everyone’ and ‘someone/some people’; a wider range of uses for pro-dropped ‘they’ than for its overt counterpart, as hypothesized in previous research; and a preference in English, but not Romanian, for passives to ‘they’ especially in contexts like ‘they’ve stolen my wallet!’, where the referent is entirely unidentifiable and likely to be singular. Levels of identifiability and number, each of which has been suggested in a separate semantic map as necessary for capturing impersonalization, are also shown to interact, supporting a proposal to combine them in one map.

KW - pronoun

KW - semantic map

KW - passive

KW - impersonal

KW - English/Romanian

U2 - 10.1075/lic.20004.rad

DO - 10.1075/lic.20004.rad

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

SP - 1

EP - 42

JO - Languages in Contrast

JF - Languages in Contrast

SN - 1387-6759

IS - 1

ER -