{"pk":30928,"title":"Functional Constraints on Backwards Pronominal Reference","subtitle":null,"abstract":"How does the syntax of a sentence constrain speakers' selection of pronominal referents? Drawing on work by functionalist grammarians, we describe the communicative effect of using a pronoun vs. a definite noun phrase, a matrix vs. a subordinate clause, and the simple past tense vs. anterior/imperfective aspect. Our analysis allowed us to predict differences in coreference judgements for the following three sentence types: He worked on a top-secret project when John was ordered to quit. He was working on a top-secret project when John was ordered to quit. When he worked on a top-secret project, John was ordered to quit. Coreference judgements from 70 speakers supported our predictions and our research program: A n adequate characterization of how syntax constrains sentence comprehension requires reference to the communicative functions performed by syntactic forms.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[],"section":"Paper Presentations -- Group 2: Language","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0jn6r2gz","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Catherine","middle_name":"L.","last_name":"Harris","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, San Diego","department":""},{"first_name":"Elizabeth","middle_name":"A.","last_name":"Bates","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, San Diego","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"1990-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/30928/galley/20777/download/"}]}