1Episode 4a. Binding Theory, NPIs, c-command, ditransitives, and little v4.3-4.4CAS LX 522Syntax IA phrase A full phrase canhave all of thesepieces(plus perhaps someadditional adjuncts)specifiercomplementhead[X, …]X′XPintermediateprojectionmaximalprojectionminimalprojectionadjunctXPmaximalprojectionComplements vs. adjuncts PPs seem to be freely reorderable— when they areadjuncts. I ate lunch on Tuesday at Taco Bell with Pat I ate lunch on Tuesday with Pat at Taco Bell I ate lunch with Pat on Tuesday at Taco Bell I ate lunch on Tuesday with Pat at Taco Bell etc… But consider glance at Chris. I glanced at Chris on Tuesday *I glanced on Tuesday at Chris Ok: Why?Binding Theory Binding Theory consists of threePrinciples that govern the alloweddistribution of NPs. Pronouns: he, her, it, she, … Anaphors: himself, herself, itself, … R-expressions: John, the student, …R-expressions and anaphors R-expressions are NPs like Pat, or the professor, oran unlucky farmer, which get their meaning byreferring to something in the world. Most NPsare like this. An anaphor does not get its meaning fromsomething in the world—it depends onsomething else in the sentence. John saw himself in the mirror. Mary bought herself a sandwich.Pronouns A pronoun is similar to an anaphor in thatit doesn’t refer to something in the worldbut gets its reference from somewhereelse. John told Mary that he likes pizza. Mary wondered if she agreed. …but it doesn’t need to be something inthe sentence. Mary concluded that he was crazy.2The problem There are very specific configurations in which pronouns,anaphors, and R-expressions can/must be used. Eventhough both he and himself could refer to John below, youcan’t just choose freely between them. John saw himself. *John saw him. John thinks that Mary likes him. *John thinks that Mary likes himself. John thinks that he is a genius. *John thinks that himself is a genius. The question Binding Theory strives to answer is: Whendo you use anaphors, pronouns, and R-expressions?Indices and antecedents Anaphors and pronouns are referentiallydependent; they can (or must) be co-referential with another NP in the sentence. The way we indicate that two NPs are co-referential is by means of an index, usually asubscripted letter. Two NPs that share thesame index (that are coindexed) also sharethe same referent. Johni saw himselfi in the mirror.Indices and antecedents Johni saw himselfi in the mirror. An index functions as a “pointer” into our mentalmodel of the world. John here is a name that “points” to our mentalrepresentation of some guy, John, which we notateby giving the pointing relation a label (“i”). himself here shares the same pointing relation, it“points” to the same guy John that John does. So, any two NPs that share an index (pointingrelation) necessarily refer to the same thing.Indices and antecedents Johni saw himselfi in the mirror. The NP from which an anaphor orpronoun draws its reference is called theantecedent. John is the antecedent for himself. John andhimself are co-referential.Constraints on co-reference Johni saw himselfi. *Himselfi saw Johni. *Johni’s mother saw himselfi. It is impossible to assign the same referentto John and himself in the second and thirdsentences. What is different between thegood and bad sentences?John’s mother John’s mother is an NP. [John’s mother]i saw herselfi. She saw John. But it’s an NP that is made up of smaller pieces(John’s and mother). So what is the internal structure of the NPJohn’s mother?3[NP John’s mother] Remember that pronouns come in threedistinguishable forms (in English): I, he, she nominative Me, him, her accusative My, his, her genitive The genitive case forms seem to have prettymuch the same kind of “possessive” meaningthat John’s does. So, let’s suppose that John’s is the genitive caseform of John.[NP John’s mother] Another point about John’s mother is that it seemsthat the head should be mother. John’s sort of modifies mother. Sort of like an adjective does… sort of like anadverb does for a verb… Let’s suppose (for now! In chapter 7 we’ll revisethis) that John’s is just adjoined to the NP mother. (Hard to draw clearly)NPmotherJohn’sNPiNPBinding What is the difference between therelationship between John and himself in thefirst case and in the second case?seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPBinding We think of the position that John is in in the firsttree as being a position from which it “commands”the rest of the tree. It is hierarchically superior in aparticular way.seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPTree relations A node X c-commands itssisters and the nodesdominated by its sisters.AB CD ETree relations A node X c-commands itssisters and the nodesdominated by its sisters. B c-commands C, D, and E.AB CD E4Tree relations A node X c-commands itssisters and the nodesdominated by its sisters. B c-commands C, D, and E. D c-commands E.AB CD ETree relations A node X c-commands itssisters and the nodesdominated by its sisters. B c-commands C, D, and E. D c-commands E. C c-commands B.AB CD EBinding So, again what is the difference between therelationship between John and himself in thefirst case and in the second case?seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPBinding In the first case, the NP John c-commandsthe NP himself. But not in the second case.seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPBinding When one NP c-commands and iscoindexed with another NP, the first is saidto bind the other.seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPBinding Definition: A binds B iff A c-commands B A is coindexed with B “if and only if”seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NP5Binding Principle A of the Binding Theory (preliminary):An anaphor must be bound.seehimselfNPNPiVJohnsaw himselfNPiVPNPiVV′motherJohn’sNPi*VPV′NPPrinciple A This also explains why the followingsentences are ungrammatical: *Himselfi saw Johni in the mirror. *Herselfi likes Maryi’s father. *Himselfi likes Mary’s fatheri. There is nothing
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