The following paper will first provide some theoretical background information on binding in English. The emphases here will be especially on Chomsky’s classic Binding Theory (1988) and Moskovsky’s criticism. Further it will explain the motivation and design of the experiment by presenting variables, conditions, and items. In the following, the results of the experiment will be presented and interpreted. A final comparison to the Turkish language will further argue whether binding can be considered to be a universal phenomenon or not.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RESEARCH
3. EXPERIMENT
3.1 MOTIVATION AND DESIGN
3.2 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
4. EXCURSUS: BINDING IN TURKISH
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Objectives and Topics
This paper investigates the pragmatic influences on binding theory, specifically testing Moskovsky’s (2004) "Third person effects on binding" hypothesis to determine if personal and reflexive pronoun usage differs significantly across grammatical persons and contexts.
- Comparison of Chomsky’s classical Binding Theory and Moskovsky’s pragmatic revisions.
- Empirical evaluation of personal vs. reflexive pronouns across 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person grammatical contexts.
- Analysis of the "Avoid Ambiguity Principle" in sentence processing.
- Exploration of binding phenomena in Turkish as a cross-linguistic reference point.
- Experimental assessment of native speaker acceptability judgments regarding pronoun referents.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
In the following chapter, the analysis of the results will show whether the distinction between grammatical persons is as clear as Moskovsky (2004) argues and whether there is a difference between the use of personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns. The items were analyzed based on how natural and acceptable they appeared for the native subjects.
The data collected from SPSS allows us to evaluate the items and conditions of our experiment. The results are depicted in error-bar charts. First, we will have a look at the graph with the items of our experiment. The x-axis in the graph below presents the eight items used in our experiment. On the other hand, the y-axis shows the evaluation of the conditions on a scale with the mean value 0 between the average distances -1,5 and 1,5. The higher a condition is rated, the more natural it is evaluated by the native subjects. Correspondingly, the lower a condition is rated, the less natural it is evaluated by native speakers. Now, we will analyze the items according to their naturalness.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter introduces the theoretical context of binding phenomena, highlighting the shift from Chomsky’s classical Binding Theory to Moskovsky’s pragmatic criticisms.
2. RESEARCH: This section clarifies the principles of the classical Binding Theory (A, B, and C) and outlines Moskovsky’s argument that binding is subject to pragmatic factors, specifically the "Avoid Ambiguity Principle."
3. EXPERIMENT: This chapter details the design, conditions, and statistical analysis of an experimental case study conducted with native speakers to evaluate the naturalness of reflexive and personal pronoun usage.
4. EXCURSUS: BINDING IN TURKISH: This section provides a cross-linguistic comparison by examining the interpretation of Turkish reflexive pronouns like "kendi" and "kendisi," discussing their distributional properties relative to English.
5. CONCLUSION: This chapter summarizes the experimental findings, confirming that reflexive pronouns are generally preferred due to their unambiguity and providing nuances regarding the acceptability of personal pronouns across different grammatical persons.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY: This section lists the academic sources and linguistic literature referenced throughout the study.
Keywords
Binding Theory, Chomsky, Moskovsky, Reflexive Pronouns, Personal Pronouns, Pragmatics, Third Person Effects, Ambiguity, Syntax, Experimental Linguistics, Turkish Binding, Acceptability Judgments, Naturalness, Anaphora, Referent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper explores the pragmatic effects on binding, specifically questioning whether the traditional syntactical rules defined by Chomsky are sufficient to explain pronoun acceptability or if pragmatic factors, such as the Avoid Ambiguity Principle, are necessary.
What are the central thematic fields discussed?
The work covers syntactic binding theory, pragmatic linguistic constraints, experimental methodology for measuring sentence naturalness, and a comparative excursus into Turkish binding phenomena.
What is the main objective or research question?
The study aims to determine if the distinction between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person binding is as clear as proposed by Moskovsky and if there is a measurable difference in naturalness between personal and reflexive pronouns.
What scientific method is employed?
The research uses an experimental case study method, collecting and analyzing acceptability and naturalness judgments from native speakers via SPSS to generate z-scores for empirical evaluation.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body establishes the theoretical background (Chomsky vs. Moskovsky), details the design of 16 experimental conditions using 128 items, presents the data analysis through error-bar charts, and performs a comparative analysis with Turkish.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Binding Theory, Reflexive Pronouns, Personal Pronouns, Pragmatics, Avoid Ambiguity Principle, and Experimental Linguistics.
How does the "Avoid Ambiguity Principle" function in this study?
It suggests that in cases where two syntactically identical structures exist, speakers prefer the structure that is unambiguous; thus, reflexive pronouns are often preferred over personal pronouns because they clearly link to a specific antecedent.
Why was Turkish chosen for the excursus?
Turkish was selected because the author is a native speaker, and it provides a unique case study where reflexive pronouns operate differently, posing challenges to standard English-centric binding models.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Anonym (Autor:in), 2019, The Pragmatic Effect on Binding in the English Language. Influence of Person and Pronoun, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/537902
