Advanced syntax: Binding theory (8 hours)

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Module overview

Now that you've learned about the basics of syntactic analysis, we will use some of those concepts to further examine a specific issue in syntax: different types of noun phrases (NPs) and how they relate to one another. We will see that different types of NPs follow different sets of rules, and that these patterns can differ across languages. By the end of the module, hopefully you will be able to do the following things:

• Explain the different rules about coreference regarding referring expressions, pronouns, and anaphors;
• Identify differences between the binding theory rules in Chinese vs. the binding theory rules in English.

Module instructions

This module includes two tasks. For each task, you will need to read something and then answer some questions; some of these questions may require a long time to think about. These tasks are meant to be done in order (i.e., the intention is for you to not start one task until you have done the previous task; when this was taught via an LMS the later modules would be "locked" until the student completed the previous ones). To receive credit for completing this module, you must complete all the tasks at a satisfactory level of quality.

Next to each task I have written an estimate of how much time you might need to complete the task. This is, of course, a rough estimate, and the real time may be different for different students.

Module activities

1. What binding theory is (6 hours)
2. Anaphors in Chinese (2 hours)

Suggested discussion topics/activities

• Brainstorm extra complications to the story told about Chinese anaphors in this module. The general format of the examples considered in the module was N1 V2 N2 V2 'ziji': e.g. 张三叫李四不要批评自己 ("Zhangsan told Lisi not to criticize 'self'"). But do things work differently in different situations? For example, does 她自己 pattern differently than 自己? Do things work differently if N1 is very short (like a pronoun) or very long (like a long phrase)? What about N2? Is the pattern different in Cantonese? What if you add even more levels of embedding and/or more NPs, e.g. "小明_i 说 张三_k 叫 李四_m 不要批评 自己_?" ("Xiaoming said Zhangsan told Lisi not to criticize 'self'") or "小明_i 跟 我_p 说 张三_k 叫 李四_m 不要批评 自己_?" ("Xiaoming told me Zhangsan told Lisi not to criticize 'self'")?
• Search the CCL corpus for interesting patterns/examples with pronouns or anaphors, and discuss what implications they might have for the claims we discussed in this module.

by Stephen Politzer-Ahles. Last modified on 2021-04-24. CC-BY-4.0.