Resolution of the Antecedent of a Plural Pronoun: Symmetry from Relational Noun Phrases

Resolution of the Antecedent of a Plural Pronoun: Symmetry from Relational Noun Phrases

Koh and Clifton (2002) proposed the performance model of the resolution of a plural pronoun with the two stages of construction and selection. They showed that symmetry from verbal symmetric predicates influenced the construction of the possible candidates for resolving a plural pronoun. The present study tried to extend symmetry effect to the relational noun phrases such as 'classmate', 'colleague', 'teammate and so on. Although the results was not statistically signicant, it was discussed that the ad-hoc analysis that excluded the potential pragmatic problem was consistent with the model proposed by Koh and Clifton (2002).