Challenge Activity

◦ Draw a tree with the following properties:

◦ A is a root node.
◦ B, C, D, E, F, and G are all terminal nodes
◦ A, H, I, J, and K are non-terminal nodes
◦ H dominates B, C, and D
◦ B sister-precedes I
◦ I immediately dominates C and D
◦ C immediately precedes D
◦ H immediately precedes J
◦ F and G are exhaustively dominated by J
◦ F symmetrically c-commands G
◦ E asymmetrically c-commands F and G
◦ D immediately precedes F
◦ F precedes E
◦ G precedes E
◦ E and J are immediate constituents of K
Challenge Activity
CHAPTER 5
Binding Theory
Chapter 5 Learning Objectives
(1) Identify and distinguish R-expressions, pronouns, and
anaphors.
(2) Understand antecedent and anaphor.
(3) Distinguish coindexing from binding.
(4) Define and apply binding to a tree.
(5) Apply principles A, B, and C to a tree.
(6) Identify binding domains.
R-expressions
◦ R-expression: An NP that gets its meaning by referring to
an entity in the world.
◦ Examples:
◦ Canada is a country.
◦ Vladimir Putin has a lot of power.
◦ I ate the last octopus.
◦ The vast majority of NPs are R-expressions
Anaphors
◦ Anaphor: An NP that obligatorily gets its meaning from another NP in
the sentence (revised from Ch. 1).
◦ Examples:
◦ Mark accidentally hit himself with a shovel.
◦ My roommate and I bought gifts for each other.
◦ Two types of anaphors:
◦ Reflexive pronouns
◦ Himself, herself, themselves
◦ Reciprocals
◦ Each other, one another
Pronouns
◦ Pronoun: An NP that may (but doesn’t have to) get its meaning from
another word in the sentence.
◦ Examples:
◦ Mark said he discovered the meaning of life.
◦ Maria is crazy. She believes in the tooth fairy.
R-expressions, anaphors, and
pronouns
◦ These different types of NPs can only appear in certain
syntactic positions.
◦ He/Vladimir Putin has a lot of power.
◦ (pronoun & R-expression OK as a subject)
◦ *Himself has a lot of power.
◦ (anaphor not OK as a subject)
◦ *Himself accidentally hit Vladimir Putin.
◦ (anaphor not OK as a subject, and an R-expression can’t follow its anaphor)

◦ These syntactic restrictions are the basis of binding theory.

Antecedents
◦ Antecedent: An NP that gives its meaning to another NP.
◦ Mark hit himself with a shoe.
antecedent anaphor
Indices
◦ To indicate that two NPs refer to the same entity, we use indices.
◦ Different letters for each separate entity (usually starting with i):
◦ [Mark]i gave [Susan]j [a flower]k.
◦ The same letter for the same entity:
◦ [Mark]i hit [himself]i with [a shoe]k.
Coindexation
◦ Coindexed: Two NPs are said to be coindexed if they have
the same index.
◦ [Mark]i hit [himself]i with [a shoe]k.
◦ Coreference: Two NPs corefer if they refer to the same
entity in the world.
◦ Coindexation, coreference, and antecedence hold regardless of
the structural position of an NP.
Practice 1
◦ Identify all of the NPs in the following sentences and determine if they
are anaphors, pronouns, or R-expressions.
(a) Maisy wandered lazily into the store so that she could buy herself
some shampoo.
(b) Pangur thought that he could easily catch it.
(c) He loved giving her a hard time.
(d) I don’t trust myself with a staple gun.
Practice 1
◦ Identify all of the NPs in the following sentences and determine if they are
anaphors, pronouns, or R-expressions.
R-expression R-expression pronoun anaphor
(a) [Maisy] wandered lazily into [the store] so that [she] could buy [herself]

R-expression
[some shampoo].

R-expression pronoun pronoun

(a) [Pangur] thought that [he] could easily catch [it].

pronoun pronoun R-expression

(b) [He] loved giving [her] [a hard time].
pronoun anaphor R-expression
(c) [I] don’t trust [myself] with [a staple gun].
Practice 2
◦ Put indices on each of the following sentences in order to show the reference of
each noun. Some of the sentences are ambiguous.
(a) Maisy wandered lazily into the store so that she could buy herself some
shampoo.
(b) Pangur thought that he could easily catch it.
(c) He loved giving her a hard time.
(d) I don’t trust myself with a staple gun.
Practice 2
◦ Put indices on each of the following sentences in order to show the reference
of each noun. Some of the sentences are ambiguous.
a) [Maisy]i wandered lazily into [the store]k so that [she]i could buy [herself]i
[some shampoo]m.
or
[Maisy]i wandered lazily into [the store]k so that [she]n could buy [herself]n [some
shampoo]m.
b) [Pangur]i thought that [he]i could easily catch [it]m.
or
[Pangur]i thought that [he]k could easily catch [it]m.
c) [He]i loved giving [her]k [a hard time]m.
d) [I]i don’t trust [myself]i with [a staple gun]k.
Binding
◦ The relations between an antecedent and a pronoun or
anaphor must have certain structural relations
◦ Unlike coindexation, coreference, and antecedence.
◦ Contrast:
◦ Marki hit himselfi with a shoe.
◦ [Marki’s brother]k hit [himself]k with a shoe.
◦ *[Marki’s brother]k hit [himself]i with a shoe.
◦ The anaphor himself can refer to the whole subject NP Mark’s
brother but not to the embedded NP Mark.
Binding
 Marki hit himselfi with a shoe.
Binding
 [Marki’s brother]k hit [himself]k with a shoe.
 (There’s a typo in the text on page 152 – this is the correct tree for 12b)
Binding
 *[Marki’s brother]k hit [himself]i with a shoe.

 What’s wrong?
Binding
◦ Binds: A binds B if and only if A c-commands B and A and B are coindexed.

OK
Binding
◦ Binds: A binds B if and only if A c-commands B and A and B are coindexed.

OK

NO
Binding
◦ Binding Principle A (first part): An anaphor must be bound.
◦ The anaphor must be c-commanded by the antecedent that it is
coindexed with.
◦ Why is this tree bad?
◦ *Himself hit Mark with a shoe.
◦ The binder (antecedent, = Mark)
must c-command the bindee (anaphor
or pronoun, = himself), not the other
way around
Locality conditions on binding
◦ Consider:
(1) *Marki said that himselfi bought a car.
◦ But:
◦ Marki said that hei bought a car.
◦ The sentence in (1) is predicted to be grammatical by our
Principle A, since the anaphor is bound by its antecedent and
is coindexed with it.
 Locality conditions on binding
◦ In the ungrammatical sentence, the anaphor
is in the embedded clause (not the main clause)
Locality

◦ An anaphor needs to locate its antecedent in the same clause.

◦ = locality constraint
◦ The syntactic space in which an anaphor must find its
antecedent is its binding domain.
◦ Binding domain: The clause containing the NP (anaphor,
pronoun, or R-expression)
◦ Binding Principle A: An anaphor must be bound in its
binding domain.
Announcements
◦ Mid-term tomorrow (all class period)
◦ Like the quizzes we have taken so far, but longer and more
in depth
◦ Bring something to write with, that’s all
◦ Worth 20% of your final grade for the course
◦ Today:
◦ finish talking about Ch. 5
◦ practice mid-term (answers posted online after class)
Chapter 5 Summary
◦ R-expressions, anaphors, and pronouns are distinct from one another
◦ Binding theory shows this
◦ Two elements that are coindexed share the same index
◦ Binding: A binds B only if A c-commands B and A and B are coindexed
◦ Binding Principle A: An anaphor must be bound in its binding domain.
◦ Binding Principle B: A pronoun must be free in its binding domain.
◦ Binding Principle C: An R-expression must be free.
GPS 2 (p. 158)
◦ (i) Draw trees. (Assume ‘lack of ’ is an AdjP) (ii) Is there a
binding relationship between the bolded elements? If so,
which is the binder/bindee? If not, which definition of
binding is not being met?
(a) [The book about [the president]i]k didn’t bother himi.
(b) [The book about [the president]i]k didn’t bother himi.
(c) [The book about [the president]i]k sold itselfk.
(d) [Andyi’s constant lack of effort]k dismayed [hisi father]m.
(e) [Andyi’s constant lack of effort]k dismayed [hisn father]m.
Distribution of Pronouns
◦ Pronouns can also be restricted as to where they appear:
◦ Marki hit himk with a shoe.
◦ *Marki hit himi with a shoe.
◦ In these sentences, him can refer to anyone except Mark.
◦ This is different when we look at an embedded clause:
◦ Marki said [CP that hei found a shoe].
◦ Marki said [CP that hek found a shoe].
Distribution of Pronouns
◦ Recall Principle A:
◦ An anaphor must be bound in its binding domain.
◦ Marki hit himselfi with a shoe.
◦ *Marki said [CP that himselfi bought a shoe].
◦ The opposite happens with pronouns:
◦ *Marki hit himi with a shoe.
◦ Marki said [CP that hei found a shoe].

◦ Principle B: A pronoun must be free in its binding domain.

◦ Free = not bound
Distribution of R-expressions
◦ R-expressions are different:
◦ *Marki hugged Johni.
◦ *Vladimiri met Susani.
◦ *Hei hugged Vladimiri.
◦ *Shei said that Susani was emperor.
◦ R-expressions cannot be bound by a c-commanding word.
◦ Their meaning comes from outside the sentence.

◦ Principle C: An R-expression must be free.

◦ Important: the binding domain is not relevant to R-

expressions. They must always be free.
GPS 4 (pp. 158-159)
◦ Why are the following sentences ungrammatical? (i) What is the binding
domain of the problematic NP? (ii) Is the problematic NP c-commanded
by its binder? (iii) What is the binding condition that is violated?
(a) *Michaeli loves himi.
(b) *Hei loves Michaeli.
(c) *Michaeli’s father j loves himselfi.
(d) *Michaeli’s father j loves himj.
(e) *Susani thinks that John should marry herselfi.
(f) *John thinks that Susani should kiss heri.