Animacy and long distance binding in Norwegian

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Lødrup
Keyword(s):  
Binding Theory ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Binding Properties ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Local Binding

Norwegian allows binding into finite subordinate clauses when the subordinate subject is inanimate and has a thematic role that is low on the hierarchy of thematic roles (e.g.Hun trodde hun gjorde det som var best forseg selv‘she thought she did that which was best forrefl self’). This kind of long distance binding is productive, and generally acceptable, but it has never been mentioned in the literature. This article discusses its syntactic and semantic properties. It is shown that the reflexives in question are not necessarily logophoric, and that they prefer a distributive interpretation. The general binding properties of inanimate subjects are discussed, and it is proposed that binding theory must have the option to disregard them. Binding across inanimate subjects can then be treated as local binding.

Anaphor binding

2019 ◽  
pp. 289-302
Author(s):  
Jan Terje Faarlund
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Reflexive Pronoun ◽  
Infinitival Clauses ◽  
Verbal Content ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Small Clauses ◽  
Local Binding

Scandinavian has a reflexive pronoun and a reflexive possessive for the 3rd person, and a reciprocal pronoun for all persons. Regular binding domains are finite and non-finite clauses, small clauses, and noun phrases with a verbal content and a genitive ‘agent’. There are also less expected binding relations within NPs, possibly involving an invisible binder. Within VP an indirect object may bind a direct object. Even non-c-commanding binders within VP do exist. Non-local binding into small clauses and infinitival clauses is frequent. Some varieties, especially Norwegian, also allow long distance binding, i.e. binding into finite subordinate clauses. At this point, there is a great deal of variation in acceptability, and definite rules are hard to identify.

Intrasentential binding and extrasentential binding in child and adult Korean

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 633-651
Author(s):  
Kum-Jeong Joo ◽  
Kamil Ud Deen
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Binding Properties ◽  
Korean Children ◽  
Preceding Sentence ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Local Binding

This article investigates the binding properties of the Korean reflexive caki. Korean caki allows a local antecedent, a long-distance sentence-internal antecedent, and (unusually) an extrasentential antecedent. Two experiments were conducted with Korean-speaking child participants (mean age = 5;8; age range = 5;1–6;4) and adult controls. The first tested local binding versus long-distance intrasentential binding, and the second tested extrasentential binding. The results show, first, that the children allowed both a local and a long-distance antecedent for caki, with a preference for the long-distance reading (counter to many claims that children show a robust preference for local antecedents crosslinguistically). Second, the children allowed caki to refer to an antecedent in a preceding sentence. These results indicate that, at an early stage, Korean children have acquired adult-like knowledge of the complex properties of caki, including what might be considered the computationally taxing option of extrasentential binding.

scholarly journals HIERARQUIA TEMÁTICA: UMA PROPOSTA PARA O PB

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcia Cançado
Keyword(s):  
Current Literature ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Complex Predicate ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
In Memoriam ◽  
Per Se ◽  
And Control ◽  
Semantic Properties

Primeiramente, eu dedico este artigo à memória do Prof. Carlos Franchi. Apresento, aqui, uma proposta alternativa para o Princípio da Hierarquia Temática. A proposta é diferente de outras no sentido que, para construir o Princípio da Hierarquia, uso somente quatro propriedades semânticas – desencadeador, afetado, estado e controle – e suas combinações. Além disso, o princípio não é construído por papéis temáticos como o usual na literatura corrente. Diferentemente de outras propostas, a localização de um argumento em uma posição sintática específica deve-se à propriedade que compõe o papel temático (e não o próprio papel temático). Papel temático aqui, é definido como uma relação estabelecida entre um predicador simples ou complexo e seus argumentos. Abstract First of all, I dedicate this paper to Prof. Carlos Franchi (in memoriam). It presents an approach for the Thematic Hierarchy Principle applied to BP. The approach is different from others in the sense that, to construct the Thematic Hierarchy Principle, I deal only with four semantic properties – trigger, affected, state, and control – and their combinations. Besides, the principle is not constructed by thematic roles as is usual in the current literature. Differing from other proposals, the localization of an argument in a specific syntactic position is due to the property that composes the thematic role (and not to the thematic role per se). Thematic roles here are defined as a set of entailments (the semantic properties) derived from the relation established between a single or complex predicate and its arguments.

The morphological basis of anaphora

1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Burzio
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Morphological Basis ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Local Binding

Chomsky (1981: 188, 220; 1986a: 166) formulates the Binding Theory essentially as in (1).(1) (A) An anaphor must belocally bound(B) A pronoun must not belocally bound(C) An R-expression must not be boundThe notion ‘bound’ is defined as ‘c-commanded by a co-referential element’. As for the notion ‘locally’, that of Chomsky (1986a) differs somewhat from that of Chomsky (1981), and much recent literature addresses the issue, especially in connection with the phenomenon of ‘Long Distance Anaphora’. (For relevant discussion see Burzio (1989c and references therein) and also Levinson, this volume.) For most of our purposes, it will be sufficient to assume Chomsky's (1981: 188) ‘within its [i.e. the anaphor's/pronoun‘s] governing category’, or even the formally simpler (though empirically less adequate) ‘within the same minimal clause’. The empirical effects of the Binding Theory in (1) can then be illustrated as in (2a, b, c) – instances of local binding, non-local binding, and no binding respectively. In each case the connecting line expresses intended co-reference, much as co-indexation in later examples. Each ungrammatical case is accounted for by the principle indicated in parentheses.

Kokborok and the simple-complex reflexive distinction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gargi Roy ◽  
Kārumūri V Subbārāo ◽  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
Martin Everaert
Keyword(s):  
Binding Theory ◽  
Simple Complex ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Established Fact ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Local Binding

Abstract This paper presents an in-depth investigation of the binding strategies in Kokborok and we will look more specifically how this sheds light on the theories of reflexivization. Kokborok, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Tripura, a state in the North-East of India, has two reflexives: sak sak ‘self self’ and sak baithaŋ ‘self self’. The form sak sak ‘self self’ conforms to Principle A of classic Binding Theory, blocking long-distance binding, but this does not hold true for sak baithaŋ allowing non-local binding. It is a well-established fact that some reflexives allow non-local binding, but it is generally assumed that this phenomenon is limited to a certain type of reflexive, morpho-syntactically ‘simple reflexives.’ The so-called ‘complex reflexives’ generally bar non-local binding, and the Kokborok reflexive sak baithaŋ seems an exception to that. This paper explores the uniqueness involved in the nature of anaphoric binding in Kokborok.

A Feature-Based Account of Long-Distance Anaphora

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 133-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeran Lee
Keyword(s):  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Morphological Properties ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Subject Orientation ◽  
Local Binding

In this paper, I aim to give a unified account of long-distance and localbinding phenomena and provide a single constrained theory of anaphors in the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1992, 1994, 1995a&b). In section 1, I criticize the LF movement theory which has been argued by Lebeaux (1983), Chomsky (1986), Pica (1987, 1991), Battistella (1989), Katada (1991) and others. In section 2, I provide a feature-based account of long-distance and local binding anaphors. In section 3, I discuss how feature-raising analysis can account for apparent long-distance binding phenomena in Picture-DP(or Picture-NP) constructions which have been treated exceptionally so far. Extending Section 3, I argue in section 4 that apparent long-distance binding phenomena in constructions containing expletives and non-person NPs result from morphological properties of the anaphor. In section 5, I argue that orientation of the antecedent (i.e. subject orientation or no particular orientation) naturally results from interaction between the proposed LF structure and feature raising. Finally, in section 6, I conclude that binding reduces to morphological properties, and hence Condition A of the binding theory can be dispensed with.

THEMATIC ROLE ASSIGNMENT IN ENGLISH SENTENCES: A QUICK GLANCE AT AN INTERFACE BETWEEN SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eni Maharsi
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Role Assignment

This paper examines the role of elements of English sentences by employing the approach ofthematic role assignment. The emphasis is on how the positioning of words and phrases insyntactic structure helps determine the roles that the referents of NPs play in the situationdescribed by the sentences. The results reveal that the position of an NP’s determines itsthematic role and. There is a relevance between deep syntactic structure and the assignmentof thematic roles for every NP in the sentence.

Locality and Logophoricity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Charnavel
Keyword(s):  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Morphological Identity

Anaphors such as English herself, French elle-même, and Mandarin ziji are usually claimed to obey locality requirements stated by Condition A of Binding Theory. But we observe that in various languages, the same anaphors can be exempt from these locality requirements under certain conditions. The goal of this book is to describe and explain this widespread dual behavior of anaphors on the basis of French, English, Mandarin, Korean, and Icelandic. First, several strategies are proposed for distinguishing between the two possible behaviors of anaphors. Plain instances of anaphors require local and exhaustive binding, as well as sloppy readings in ellipsis. Exempt instances of anaphors, however, only require a logophorical interpretation, that is, to occur in phrases expressing the first-personal, mental perspective of their antecedent. Second, a new theory of exempt anaphora is proposed, which consists in deriving all properties distinguishing exempt from plain anaphors to one: the presence of a silent, syntactically represented logophoric operator introducing a local, perspectival binder for superficially exempt anaphors. This hypothesis parsimoniously reduces exempt to plain anaphors obeying Condition A, thus directly accounting for the cross-linguistically widespread morphological identity of plain and exempt anaphors. Under this proposal, the reason why exempt anaphors appear to escape locality requirements is that their binder is implicit, and their mandatory logophoric interpretation derives from the nature of this binder. Finally, several diagnostics are provided for testing the hypothesis that so-called long-distance anaphors can be analyzed just like exempt instances of anaphors.

scholarly journals Instrumental with and use: modality and implicature

2015 ◽  
pp. 532
Author(s):  
Lilia Rissman
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role

I present an analysis of the instrumental elements with and use, as in Betty cut the cake with a knife. A variety of evidence indicates that with and use do not make the same semantic contribution, casting doubt on the theory that these elements introduce the thematic role Instrument. For use, I adopt the analysis in Rissman (to appear): use expresses modal, goal-related content. For with, a modal reading may be implicated but is not entailed, explaining a variety of contrasts between with and use. The implications of this analysis for a theory of thematic roles is discussed.

scholarly journals Is children's acquisition of the passive a staged process? Evidence from six- and nine-year-olds' production of passives

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 991-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE MESSENGER ◽  
HOLLY P. BRANIGAN ◽  
JANET F. McLEAN
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Strong Tendency ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Constituent Structure ◽  
Role Mapping ◽  
Transitive Actions

ABSTRACTWe report a syntactic priming experiment that examined whether children's acquisition of the passive is a staged process, with acquisition of constituent structure preceding acquisition of thematic role mappings. Six-year-olds and nine-year-olds described transitive actions after hearing active and passive prime descriptions involving the same or different thematic roles. Both groups showed a strong tendency to reuse in their own description the syntactic structure they had just heard, including well-formed passives after passive primes, irrespective of whether thematic roles were repeated between prime and target. However, following passive primes, six-year-olds but not nine-year-olds also produced reversed passives, with well-formed constituent structure but incorrect thematic role mappings. These results suggest that by six, children have mastered the constituent structure of the passive; however, they have not yet mastered the non-canonical thematic role mapping. By nine, children have mastered both the syntactic and thematic dimensions of this structure.

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