David Lebeaux - Where Does Binding Theory Apply? (Linguistic Inquiry Monographs)

121220

linguistics

David Lebeaux is an independent

Linguistic Inquiry

Where Does Binding

researcher who specializes in syntax and Monograph Fifty

Lebeaux

Where Does Binding Theory Apply?

the syntactic elements of language acquisi

Wher

Theory Apply?

David Lebeaux

tion. He has held positions at Princeton University, the NEC Research Institute, and This concise but wide-ranging monograph

the University of Maryland, among other

eDoes

examines where the conditions of binding institutions, and is the author of Language PMS

theory apply and in doing so considers the Acquisition and the Form of the Grammar.

David Lebeaux

nature of phrase structure (in particular Binding

how case and theta roles apply) and the

nature of the lexical/functional split.

This long-awaited book by David

PMS

David Lebeaux begins with a revised

Lebeaux is highly recommended to those

formulation of binding theory. He reexam-who pursue tight, albeit indirect, connec

Theory

ines Chomskys conjecture that all conditions between empirical paradigms and the-2945

tions apply at the interfaces, in particular orizing at the most foundational level. His LF (or Logical Form), and argues instead proposal on the theta subtree and the Case Apply?

that all negative conditions, in particular frame points to a new direction of research Condition C, apply continuously through-on cross-linguistic variations.

out the derivation.

Hajime Hoji, Department of Linguistics, Lebeaux draws a distinction between

University of Southern California

positive and negative conditions, which

Lebeaux

have different privileges of occurrence

David Lebeauxs proposals on the binding according to the architecture of the gram-theory over the last ten years have had pro-mar. Negative conditions, he finds, apply found effects on the development of syn-homogeneously throughout the derivation; tax. In this monograph, he examines the

positive conditions apply solely at LF. A architecture of syntactic theory, based on hole in Condition C then forces a reconsid-those proposals, and argues for separate eration of the whole architecture of the structures for thematic and Case represen-grammar. He finds that case and theta reptations, presenting a variety of independent resentations are split apart and are only evidence ranging from very early child

fused at later points in the derivation, after grammar to idiom interpretation. This

movement has applied. Lebeauxs explo

monograph should be among the standard

ration of the relationship between case and references for syntax as it presents an origi-theta theory reveals a relationship of

nal framework that forms a sound basis for greater subtlety and importance than is

any future research on the binding theory.

generally assumed. His arguments should

Mamoru Saito, Professor of Linguistics, interest syntacticians and those curious Nanzan University, and Distinguished

about the foundations of grammar.

Visitor, University of Connecticut

Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 50

The MIT Press

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142

http://mitpress.mit.edu

978-0-262-51271-8

Where Does Binding Theory Apply?

Linguistic Inquiry Monographs

Samuel Jay Keyser, general editor

A complete list of books published in the Linguistic Inquiry Monographs series appears at the back of this book.

Where Does Binding Theory Apply?

David Lebeaux

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts

London, England

6 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information about special quantity discounts, please e-mail special_sales@

mitpress.mit.edu

This book was set in Times New Roman and Syntax on 3B2 by Asco Typesetters, Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lebeaux, David.

Where does binding theory apply? / David Lebeaux.

p.

cm.(Linguistic inquiry monograph)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-262-01290-4 (hard cover : alk. paper)ISBN 978-0-262-51271-8

(pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Government-binding theory (Linguistics) I. Title.

P158.2.L43

2009

415dc22

2008031027

For my late father, Charles, and my mother, Lillian For Father

He is one of the level headed,

and I have been led

past an old barn, an old shed,

into an equilibrium.

In the middle of this pasture,

he is one sure man,

in the center aging faster

and faster, in the sun;

This is the grass he grew,

these his childhood homes,

the green and blue

of his earth and sky

come together here. Father:

this is a strange settling

for you, in the water

of newer homes.

This land is yours

to balance under your feet,

to spread and steady; it pours,

it leaks, it runs.

Deborah Lebeaux

Contents

Series Foreword

ix

Acknowledgments

xxv

Reconstruction Down A-Chains, and the Single Tree Condition 5

More on the Single Tree Condition

Condition C Applies Everywhere

The Structure of the Reconstruction Data (A Hole in Condition C) 29

Two Interesting Constructions

The Architecture of the Derivation

Another Negative Condition

Conclusion

Notes

References

Index

Series Foreword

We are pleased to present the fiftieth in the series Linguistic Inquiry Monographs. These monographs present new and original research be-yond the scope of the article. We hope they will benefit our field by bringing to it perspectives that will stimulate further research and insight.

Originally published in limited edition, the Linguistic Inquiry Monographs are now more widely available. This change is due to the great interest engendered by the series and by the needs of a growing readership.

The editors thank the readers for their support and welcome suggestions about future directions for the series.

Samuel Jay Keyser

for the Editorial Board

This book presents some very simple sentenceswith the potential to reframe our understanding of the entire linguistic system. The argument is slightly complex, and for this reason I include this preface, to summarize and highlight the major points. The argument starts with a revised formulation of binding theory, which is used in turn to investigate the architecture of the grammar, including phrase structure. The book re-examines Chomskys (1995) conjecture:

(1) Chomskys conjecture [interface conjecture]

All conditions apply at the interfaces, in particular LF.

Instead I argue for the following:

(2) Homogeneity conjecture

All negative conditions, in particular Condition C, apply continuously throughout the derivation.

The architecture in (2) is quite dierent from (1) since it implies that the derivation itself has homogeneous constraints holding over it. These constraints rule out any derivation at the point that it violates Condition C: the derivation crashes and it cannot be saved by further operations.

Positive conditions (Condition A, quantificational binding, and quantificational scope read-o ) apply at LF, though they apply over structures over which the information is collected in the course of the derivation, by the copy-and-erasure operation or by leaving a trace. (In a sense, then, they apply over the derivation, but more exactly they apply at LF.) This proposal is close to Chomskys own; it diverges from earlier work by myself and others (Lebeaux 1988, 1991; Burzio 1986; Belletti and Rizzi 1988; Kayne 1984), in which I held that the entire binding theory, including the positive conditions, applied throughout the derivation. The reason for this change is that it appears there is a single tree (the Single Tree xii