TY - JOUR
TI - Strict and Sloppy Readings of Pronominal Objects in Polish
AU - Ruda, Marta
TI - Strict and Sloppy Readings of Pronominal Objects in Polish
AB - Pronominal clitics in South Slavic languages have been shown to manifest the strict/sloppy reading ambiguity effect. In this paper I examine Polish object pronouns from this perspective, observing that even though they are not clitics, they can still be compatible with the sloppy interpretation if the right type of context is provided. The data speak against an ellipsis-based approach, aligning with the view that the sloppy reading is not a viable test for ellipsis. I thus pursue an alternative analysis on which the strict and sloppy readings are associated with a structural difference in the composition of the pronoun (PersP vs. NumP respectively), offering along the way additional evidence pointing to the importance of pragmatic distinctions in investigations of the interpretive properties of different types of nominal elements. From a more general point of view, the discussion suggests that the empirical picture related to the sloppy interpretation is highly complex, making an investigation of a broader spectrum of languages and contexts indispensable for disentangling all the relevant factors and developing an optimal theoretical approach.
VL - Volume 16 (2021)
IS - Vol. 16, Issue 2
PY - 2021
SN - 1732-8160
C1 - 2300-5920
SP - 121
EP - 144
DO - 10.4467/23005920SPL.21.006.13960
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/studies-in-polish-linguistics/article/strict-and-sloppy-readings-of-pronominal-objects-in-polish
KW - strict and sloppy reading
KW - pronouns
KW - clitics
KW - argument drop