In Pursuit of Condition C: (non-)coreference in grammar, discourse and processing
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Abstract
A substantial literature has shown that Condition C (Lasnik 1976; Chomsky 1981) is essentially correct in ruling out cases where a non-pronominal NP is c-commanded by a coreferential pronoun. At the same time, many have noted a number of counterexamples to Condition C (CCCs). These suggest that there may be factors other than syntactic configuration that govern whether two expressions in the same sentence may be used to corefer. In this chapter, we explore the hypothesis that both Condition C effects and CCCs are explained by a conspiracy of three non-syntactic factors: (i) interpretive economy, which favors binding over coreference (Reinhart 1983; Reuland 2001), (ii) antilogophoricity, which we take to be a semantic property of r-expressions (Patel-Grosz 2012; Yashima 2015) and (iii) processing complexity, which embodies factors related to the accessibility of discourse referents (Ariel 1990, 2001; Arnold 2010, i.a.).
Abstract
A substantial literature has shown that Condition C (Lasnik 1976; Chomsky 1981) is essentially correct in ruling out cases where a non-pronominal NP is c-commanded by a coreferential pronoun. At the same time, many have noted a number of counterexamples to Condition C (CCCs). These suggest that there may be factors other than syntactic configuration that govern whether two expressions in the same sentence may be used to corefer. In this chapter, we explore the hypothesis that both Condition C effects and CCCs are explained by a conspiracy of three non-syntactic factors: (i) interpretive economy, which favors binding over coreference (Reinhart 1983; Reuland 2001), (ii) antilogophoricity, which we take to be a semantic property of r-expressions (Patel-Grosz 2012; Yashima 2015) and (iii) processing complexity, which embodies factors related to the accessibility of discourse referents (Ariel 1990, 2001; Arnold 2010, i.a.).
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements
- Contents VII
- Exploring the interplay of information structure, discourse and common ground: Theoretical and empirical perspectives 1
- Focusing operators – Semantic differences and modes of interaction 15
- Questions Underpin Deletion: A response to Barros and Kotek (2019) 51
- Ambiguity of wh-questions 87
- In Pursuit of Condition C: (non-)coreference in grammar, discourse and processing 127
- Questions under discussion, salience and the acceptability of fragments 157
- Ellipsis and the QUD: Sluicing with nominal antecedents 191
- Which syntactician which kind of ellipsis: An experimental investigation of multiple sluicing 231
- Complex verbal adjuncts in declaratives and interrogatives: Experimental evidence 275
- Adverbial modification and (non-)at-issue content 315
- The information structure and common ground status of weil-fragments in German 337
- Index
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements
- Contents VII
- Exploring the interplay of information structure, discourse and common ground: Theoretical and empirical perspectives 1
- Focusing operators – Semantic differences and modes of interaction 15
- Questions Underpin Deletion: A response to Barros and Kotek (2019) 51
- Ambiguity of wh-questions 87
- In Pursuit of Condition C: (non-)coreference in grammar, discourse and processing 127
- Questions under discussion, salience and the acceptability of fragments 157
- Ellipsis and the QUD: Sluicing with nominal antecedents 191
- Which syntactician which kind of ellipsis: An experimental investigation of multiple sluicing 231
- Complex verbal adjuncts in declaratives and interrogatives: Experimental evidence 275
- Adverbial modification and (non-)at-issue content 315
- The information structure and common ground status of weil-fragments in German 337
- Index
