Two types of pronouns and variable binding

It is well known that personal pronouns in Japanese such as kare 'he' and kanozyo 'she', unlike their English counterparts, cannot be construed as bound variables in logical form. The purpose of this article is to argue that this cross-linguistic difference is due to the difference in syntactic categories. English personal pronouns are determiners (Postal 1969), exemplifying what will be referred to as D-PRONOUNS , and can be construed as bound variables, whereas Japanese personal pronouns are nouns, exemplifying what will be referred to as N-PRONOUNS , and cannot be so construed. I argue that this follows from a general condition on binding that applies only to functional items, and not to lexical ones. I provide empirical and conceptual support for this hypothesis on the basis of the behavior of such elements as articles, determiners, and demonstrative pronouns as well as that of personal pronouns.

[1]  Carol Georgopoulos,et al.  Interdisciplinary approaches to language : essays in honor of S.-Y. Kuroda , 1992 .

[2]  N. A. Mccawley,et al.  Reflexivization: A Transformational Approach , 1976 .

[3]  Irene Heim,et al.  The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases : a dissertation , 1982 .

[4]  Masanobu Ueda.  Japanese Phrase Structure and Parameter Setting , 1992 .

[5]  M. Saito.  Some asymmetries in Japanese and their theoretical implications , 1985 .

[6]  Luigi Burzio.  The morphological basis of anaphora , 1991, Journal of Linguistics.

[7]  Ray Jackendoff,et al.  Gapping and related rules , 1970 .

[8]  Robert Freidin,et al.  Principles and parameters in comparative grammar , 1991 .

[9]  B. Lust.  Studies in the Acquisition of Anaphora , 1986 .

[10]  Barbara H. Partee,et al.  The major syntactic structures of English , 1973 .

[11]  H. V. Riemsdijk,et al.  Features and Projections , 1986 .

[12]  Myung-Yoon Kang,et al.  Topics in Korean syntax : phrase structure, variable binding and movement , 1988 .

[13]  Yorick Wilks,et al.  Theoretical Issues in Natural Language Processing , 2018 .

[14]  G. Evans.  Pronouns, Quantifiers, and Relative Clauses (l) , 1977, Canadian Journal of Philosophy.

[15]  Fusa Katada.  The LF representation of anaphors , 1991 .

[16]  Lars Hellan,et al.  4. The Headedness of NPs in Norwegian , 1986 .

[17]  B. Partee.  Some Structural Analogies between Tenses and Pronouns in English , 1973 .

[18]  The role of syntactic categories in anaphora , 1995 .

[19]  Howard Lasnik.  Essays On Anaphora , 1989 .

[20]  E. Williams,et al.  Indices and identity , 1994 .

[21]  Approaches to Hungarian , 1994 .

[22]  T. Reinhart,et al.  The innateness of binding and coreference , 1993 .

[23]  J. Barwise,et al.  Generalized quantifiers and natural language , 1981 .

[24]  N. Hasegawa,et al.  ON THE SO-CALLED “ZERO PRONOUNS” IN JAPANESE , 1985 .

[25]  Ray C. Dougherty,et al.  Appositive NP Constructions: We, the Men; We Men; I, a Man; Etc , 1972 .

[26]  Naoki Fukui,et al.  DERIVING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE: A CASE STUDY IN PARAMETRIC SYNTAX , 1988 .

[27]  Maria Luisa Zubizarreta,et al.  The definitive determiner and the inalienable constructions in French and in English , 1992 .

[28]  Chisato Kitagawa,et al.  Anaphora in Japanese: Kare and Zibun , 1981 .

[29]  Alessandra Giorgi,et al.  The Syntax of Noun Phrases: Configuration, Parameters and Empty Categories , 1991 .

[30]  C. Kitagawa,et al.  Prenominal Modification in Chinese and Japanese , 1982 .

[31]  Barbara H. Partee,et al.  Bound Variables and Other Anaphors , 1978, TINLAP.

[32]  Edward L. Keenan,et al.  Formal Semantics of Natural Language , 1975 .

[33]  B. Partee.  Nominal and temporal anaphora , 1984 .

[34]  N. Hornstein,et al.  THE NECESSITY OF LF , 1990 .

[35]  K. Hale.  Subject Obviation, Switch Reference, and Control , 1992 .

[36]  Guiseppe Longobardi,et al.  Reference and Proper Names: A Theory of N-movement in Syntax and , 1994 .

[37]  N. A. Mccawley,et al.  The structure of the Japanese language , 1973 .

[38]  Anna Szabolcsi,et al.  The possessive construction in Hungarian: A configurational category in a non-configurational language , 1981 .

[39]  R. Montague.  Formal philosophy; selected papers of Richard Montague , 1974 .

[40]  Mieko Ohso,et al.  A study of zero pronominalization in Japanese , 1976 .

[41]  Anna Szabolcsi.  THE POSSESSOR THAT RAN AWAY FROM HOME , 1983 .

[42]  JAPANESE REFLEXIVIZATION II , 1973 .

[43]  M. Saito.  Long distance scrambling in Japanese , 1992 .

[44]  Norbert Hornstein,et al.  Bound and Referential Pronouns , 1992 .

[45]  Keiko Murasugi,et al.  Noun Phrases in Japanese and English: A Study in Syntax, Learnability and Acquisition , 1991 .

[46]  Naoki Fukui.  A theory of category projection and its applications , 1990 .

[47]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  The Minimalist Program , 1992 .

[48]  Taisuke Nishigauchi,et al.  Quantification in the theory of grammar , 1990 .

[49]  J. Higginbotham,et al.  Control and Grammar , 1992 .

[50]  井上 和子,et al.  Explorations in linguistics : papers in honor of Kazuko Inoue , 1979 .

[51]  Steven Abney,et al.  The English Noun Phrase in its Sentential Aspect , 1972 .

[52]  W. Poser.  Papers from the Second International Workshop on Japanese Syntax , 1992 .

[53]  Ray Jackendoff,et al.  X Syntax: A Study of Phrase Structure , 1980 .

[54]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  Lectures on Government and Binding , 1981 .

[55]  Sungshim Hong,et al.  A and a' binding in Korean and English : government-binding parameters , 1985 .

[56]  T. Reinhart.  Anaphora and semantic interpretation , 1983 .

[57]  Daniel L. Finer,et al.  The syntax of Switch-reference , 1985 .

[58]  Anoop Mahajan,et al.  The A/A-bar distinction and movement theory , 1990 .

[59]  M. Carme Picallo,et al.  Catalan possessive pronouns: The Avoid Pronoun Principle revisited , 1994 .

[60]  David Lewis,et al.  Formal semantics of Natural Language: Adverbs of quantification , 2008 .

[61]  Peter Geach,et al.  Reference and Generality: An Examination of Some Medieval and Modern Theories , 1965 .

[62]  Mario Montalbetti,et al.  After binding : on the interpretation of pronouns , 1984 .

[63]  黒田 成幸,et al.  Working papers from the first SDF workshop in Japanese syntax , 1986 .

[64]  Richard S. Kayne,et al.  French Syntax: The Transformational Cycle , 1975 .

[65]  Ivan A. Sag,et al.  Deletion And Logical Form , 1976 .

[66]  Sanford A. Schane,et al.  Modern Studies in English: Readings in Transformational Grammar , 1974 .

[67]  O. Jaeggli,et al.  The Null Subject Parameter , 1989 .

[68]  C.-T. James Huang,et al.  Logical Structure and Linguistic Structure , 1992 .

[69]  Hajime Hoji,et al.  Weak crossover and move α in Japanese , 1983 .

[70]  T. Vance,et al.  Japanese/Korean linguistics , 1999 .