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From: gam@amdahl.UUCP (gam)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Re: "Their" as a substitute for his/her
Message-ID: <928@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 13-Jan-85 05:43:13 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.928
Posted: Sun Jan 13 05:43:13 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Jan-85 00:54:18 EST
References: <1315@dciem.UUCP> <643@bunker.UUCP> <1914@sun.uucp> <401@hou2e.UUCP> <1108@teddy.UUCP> <896@amdahl.UUCP> <717@ihuxa.UUCP>
Organization: Blue Mouse Trailer Resort, Hellmouth, CA
Lines: 45

>  = Ronald R. Anderson [...ihnp4!]ihuxa!andyr

> > From: gam@amdahl.UUCP (gam)
> > Aha!  I _knew_ someone would bite! ...
> >  	"Everyone should sit down when they arrive."
> > Still sound "funny" to you? ...
> 
>    Yes.  When who arrives?  Their Majesty the Monarch of England?
> 
>    While the point that "they" is a genderless substitute for "she"
>    or "he" is well taken, it appears (to me at least) to open the
>    door to greater ambiguity.  It is not apparent to me, based upon
>    the limited context of the statement, to whom "they" refers.
>   	"Our guest speakers will arrive shortly.  Everyone should 
> 	sit down when they arrive."

>   	"Standing in this room is forbidden.  Everyone should sit 
> 	down when they arrive."

>    imply to me  a plural and a singular (respectively) reference
>    by "they".  While "they" may be a valid singular-genderless
>    pronoun, it retains the ability to be a plural pronoun. Clarity
>    is important to understanding.

Your examples are not problems with "they", they are problems
of abiguity of two possibly related statements.

There are ways of removing the abiguity.  In the written form, replace
the period between the two statements with a semicolon.  This makes the
relationship between the two statements more binding.

In speech, one could replace the period with the word "and".

my rewritings:
	"Our guest speakers will arrive shortly, so please be
	seated as they arrive."

	"Standing in this room is forbidden; please be seated
	as you arrive."

(note that "you" in our language often has an abiguity as to whether
it refers to one person or many.  In the case of the above statement
it doesn't matter how "you" is interpreted).
-- 
Gordon A. Moffett		...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!gam