Early Germanic Agreement with Mixed-Gender Antecedents with Focus on the History of German

Conjoined mixed-gender antecedents pose challenges for agreement. Most theoretical publications focus on Gender Resolution. A recently recognized alternative is Nearest Conjunct agreement, which avoids Gender Resolution; other Avoidance strategies have received less attention. Focusing on Germanic, I argue that neuter default Gender Resolution results from the merger of masculine dual and neuter plural endings. I further present evidence for Nearest Conjunct agreement and; more important, for two other Avoidance strategies-deflection/gender neutralization in Old High German and Old Saxon, and recasting of the utterance in Modem German. Avoidance, thus, must be recognized as a serious alternative to Gender Resolution.