Transforamtional Syntax

11. Binding

(1) Three types of NP: (i) anaphors,  (ii) pronominals,  (iii) lexical NPs

(i)  anaphors: reciprocal anaphor -> John and Mary like each other.

reflexive anaphor -> John cut himself.

(ii) pronominals: two semantic funcitons

John1 thinks he1 is clever.

John1 thinks he2 is clever.

(iii) lexical NPs: overt NPs except for anaphors or pronomials

Nim Chimpsky, Snotty Snodgrass, the man next door, Debbie Harry,...

(2) Indexing Rule: Assign every NP in a sentence an index.

(Any random pair of NPs in a sentence can either be interpreted as

coreferential(anaphor, pronominal) or as noncoreferential(lexical NP).

Matching Condition: If two NPs are assigned the same index, they must ‘match’ in features

(e.g. number, gender, person, etc.) = ‘semantic filter’

(15)  a.  *John2 hurt himself3

b.  *John2 hurt him2

c.  *John2 hurt Fred2

(3) Binding Conditions:

(16)  (A) An anaphor must be bound in its governing category, if it has one.

(B) A pronominal NP must be free in its governing category if it has one.

(C) A lexical NP must be free everywhere.

To understand (16), the following definitions are needed:

(a), (b), (c) : see p. 367

(d) X is the governing category for Y if X is the minimal NP or S which contains the

constituent which governs Y

(e) X governs Y if X is the minimal potential governor (=V, A, N, P, or Tense)

c-commnading Y, and there is no intervening S-bar or NP barrier between X and Y

(18)             S’            governing category

COMP                  S

-WH         NP2     TENSE      VP      governee

e         John2     +past     V    NP2/3

e      hurt  himself2/*3

him*2/3

governor      Fred*2/3

(23)-(24)

S’               governing category

COMP                         S

-WH           NP2/3       TENSE            VP

e           *himself2      +past       V        NP2

he3

governee                 might      hurt      John2

governor

governor    governee

(27)

S’              governing category

COMP                        S

-WH           NP3                         VP

e      NP2          N’              V         NP2/3/4

the soldiers’  behaviour      disgraced     them2/*3/4

themselves*2/*3/*4

governor      governee

- NP3(the soldiers’ behaviour) c-commnads them/themselves.

- NP2(the soldiers’) does not c-command them(selves), and is not an antecedent for

them(selves), so themselves is free from the soldiers’. Therefore, themselves2 violates

Binding Condition (16A). But them2 obeys BC (16B).

Themselves3 can be c-commanded and governed by NP3 but it does not match in

a semantic feature, number, violating Matching Condition.

Themselves4 violates BC (16A) since it does not have any coindexed antecedent within

its governing category.

- NP them2/4 is free in its governing category because it isn’t c-commanded by NP2

and any other NP. However, them3 is bound by NP3, so it violates BC(16B)