Cross-Germanic variation in binding Condition B
-
Glyn Hicks
Abstract
This paper offers explanations for apparent variation in the effects of Binding Condition B across English, Dutch, Frisian, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic. Three very different factors that influence binding possibilities for pronouns across these languages are identified: language-specific morphosyntactic features such as Case and agreement, an independent constraint blocking subject orientation of pronouns, and phonological properties of minimal binding domains. I argue that a binding theory that applies in narrow syntax (rather than at LF, say) is well placed to account for the observed variation, and offer a unified explanation for various hitherto unrelated empirical facts. With an approach that subsumes the effects of Condition B under more general syntactic principles, an appealing view of the variation emerges: the condition itself exhibits quite remarkable consistency across the languages examined, with different pronouns varying in their sensitivity to Condition B effects according to their individual morphosyntactic properties.
Abstract
This paper offers explanations for apparent variation in the effects of Binding Condition B across English, Dutch, Frisian, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic. Three very different factors that influence binding possibilities for pronouns across these languages are identified: language-specific morphosyntactic features such as Case and agreement, an independent constraint blocking subject orientation of pronouns, and phonological properties of minimal binding domains. I argue that a binding theory that applies in narrow syntax (rather than at LF, say) is well placed to account for the observed variation, and offer a unified explanation for various hitherto unrelated empirical facts. With an approach that subsumes the effects of Condition B under more general syntactic principles, an appealing view of the variation emerges: the condition itself exhibits quite remarkable consistency across the languages examined, with different pronouns varying in their sensitivity to Condition B effects according to their individual morphosyntactic properties.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Comparative Germanic Syntax ix
- Modal complement ellipsis 1
- On the adverbial reading of infrequency adjectives and the structure of the DP 35
- Crossing the lake 67
- Preposition-determiner amalgams in German and French at the syntax-morphology interface 99
- Conditional clauses, Main Clause Phenomena and the syntax of polarity emphasis 133
- Cross-Germanic variation in binding Condition B 169
- Development of sentential negation in the history of German 199
- Contact, animacy, and affectedness in Germanic 223
- Syntactic change in progress 249
- Cross Germanic variation in the realm of support verbs 279
- The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface 311
- Deriving reconstruction asymmetries in Across The Board by means of asymmetric extraction + ellipsis 353
- A morphologically guided matching approach to German(ic) relative constructions 387
- Index 415
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Comparative Germanic Syntax ix
- Modal complement ellipsis 1
- On the adverbial reading of infrequency adjectives and the structure of the DP 35
- Crossing the lake 67
- Preposition-determiner amalgams in German and French at the syntax-morphology interface 99
- Conditional clauses, Main Clause Phenomena and the syntax of polarity emphasis 133
- Cross-Germanic variation in binding Condition B 169
- Development of sentential negation in the history of German 199
- Contact, animacy, and affectedness in Germanic 223
- Syntactic change in progress 249
- Cross Germanic variation in the realm of support verbs 279
- The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface 311
- Deriving reconstruction asymmetries in Across The Board by means of asymmetric extraction + ellipsis 353
- A morphologically guided matching approach to German(ic) relative constructions 387
- Index 415
