Sloppy identity

In linguistics, sloppy identity^[1] refers to cases where an ellipsis gives rise to a meaning which differs along some dimension from the strict meaning of its antecedent. Typical cases involve mismatches in person or gender features of pronouns:

(1) a. I finished my homework before you did.

b. Ralph finished his homework before Suzy did.

In these examples, there is a reading in which the elided verb phrase has a meaning that is equivalent to the nonelliptical verb phrases in (2):

(2) a. I finished my homework before you finished your homework.

b. Ralph finished his homework before Suzy finished her homework.

There is also a reading in which the missing elements are interpreted exactly as they are in the antecedent verb phrases, giving rise to strict readings (the examples in (1) are chosen to make the sloppy reading more salient, but the strict reading is also available):

(3) a. I finished my homework before you finished my homework.

b. Ralph finished his homework before Suzy finished his homework.

Notes

See also

• Verb phrase ellipsis
• Sluicing

References

• Fiengo, Robert and Robert May. 1994. Indices and identity. MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass.
• Ross, John R. Constraints on variables in syntax. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1967