The interpretation of masculine personal nouns in German and Dutch: a comparative experimental study

In both German and Dutch,2 masculine personal nouns (e.g., smoker, winner, and therapist) can be used either generically, i.e., referring to both women and men, or specifically, i.e., referring to only men. Regarding German, research indicates that generic uses of masculine personal nouns are strongly male-biased in comparison with alternative generics ( Klein, 1988, Schelle and Gauler, 1993, Irmen and Köhncke, 1996, Braun et al., 1998, Stahlberg et al., 2001 and Stahlberg and Sczesny, 2001). In Dutch, masculine terms and neutralising terms are reported to be increasingly used in reference to both women and men (Gerritsen, 2002). This study investigates, by means of two survey experiments, (i) how German and Dutch native speakers interpret masculine personal nouns used in a referential context, (ii) which variables this interpretation is associated with (including subject gender, number, definiteness, type of lexical unit, and relative frequency), and (iii) how the participants evaluate the referential possibilities of these nouns. Firstly, the results of the study indicate that masculine personal nouns are more frequently interpreted as gender-specific terms in German than in Dutch. Secondly, the interpretation of the German and Dutch nouns is found to be significantly associated with the following variables: number, lexical unit type, and relative frequency. Thirdly, German masculine personal nouns appear to be more restrictive in terms of potential references than their Dutch counterparts. In general, the data indicate that there is a clear difference between German and Dutch regarding the interpretation of masculine personal nouns, but this difference is particularly apparent in the singular.

► The interpretation of masculine personal nouns by German and Dutch native speakers. ► Contributing variables are number, lexical unit type, and relative frequency. ► More gender-specific interpretations in German than in Dutch. ► Referential possibilities are more restrictive in German than in Dutch. ► The difference between German and Dutch is most apparent in the singular.