RT Book, Section T1 Impersonalisation and reference in English and Spanish: evidence from newspaper discourse A1 Martínez Caro, Elena A2 Marín Arrese, Juana Isabel AB In this chapter I investigate the use of impersonal pronouns and other non-specific NPs in semantically impersonal constructions in newspaper reports in English and Spanish. These linguistic strategies are used by the writer in order to hide and mitigate the agency or avoid culpability. In English the impersonal use of ‘we’ and ‘they’ often occur as “corporative” reference to non-specific groups of individuals. In Spanish their omission may perform the same function. Other impersonalisation strategies include the use of indefinite pronouns with a generic or ‘vague’ interpretation, other non-specific NPs ranging from generic ones, such as ‘people’, to more specific and modified NPs referring to a single individual or groups of individuals, whose identity is still not fully specified. PB Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Proyectos Complutense 2000 SN 84-699-9724-6 YR 2002 FD 2002 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/61031 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/61031 LA eng NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid DS Docta Complutense RD 27 abr 2024