Abstract
The interpretation of ordinary pronouns, such as him in English, is syntactically constrained by Principle B of the Binding Theory (Chomsky, 1981, Chomsky, 1986). Essentially, what Principle B states is that if an NP c-commands a pronoun within the same clause, they cannot be coindexed, hence they cannot be anaphorically linked (Crain & Thornton, 1998). According to this constraint, him in (1) cannot refer to John:
-
(1)
John likes him
-
a
John; likes him; (John likes Bill)
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b
*John; likes him; (John likes John)
Principle B also imposes restriction on the interpretation of pronouns that co-occur with quantificational (non-referential) NPs, as in (2):
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(2)
No president hates him
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a
No president, hates him, (No presidential hates Bill Clinton)
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b
*No president, hates him, (No president hates himself)
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Varlokosta, S., Karafoti, P., Karzi, V. (2000). On the Acquisition of Pronominal Reference in Child—Greek. In: Perkins, M., Howard, S. (eds) New Directions In Language Development And Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4157-8_10
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