The primary research question addressed by this paper is: Is there a universally valid principle for pronoun reference in English and can we compare that principle to Turkish? Featherson and Sternefeld (2003) point out the significance of binding: Binding is more than only a subarea of linguistics dealing with pronouns and anaphors, as it provides more information about language than expected. The binding phenomena reveals several other aspects of the human language, such as its complexity and its dynamic interaction of syntax and context.
Since the pioneering Pisa Lectures on Government and Binding by Noam Chomsky (1981, 1986), it has commonly been assumed that a single theoretical apparatus, such as the Binding Theory, universally determines the interpretation and distribution of pronouns and anaphors in English. The Binding Theory proposed by Chomsky expresses a generalization about syntactic relationships by using three principles and has been criticized, refined and modified over the past few decades. In particular, the revision proposed by Moskovsky (2004) attempts to provide remarks and improvements for the existing version of Chomsky’s classical Binding Theory. This is the reason why it is interesting to do more research on binding.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- INTRODUCTION
- RESEARCH: BINDING IN ENGLISH
- CHOMSKY
- MOSKOVSKY
- EXPERIMENT ENGLISH...
- MOTIVATION AND DESIGN
- METHOD
- PARTICIPANTS..
- PREDICTIONS
- RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
- RESEARCH: BINDING IN TURKISH.
- EXISTING LINGUISTIC ANALYSES IN TURKISH
- ÖZBEK AND KAHRAMAN
- EXPERIMENT TURKISH..
- MOTIVATION AND DESIGN..
- METHOD.
- PARTICIPANTS..
- PREDICTIONS
- RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
- FURTHER THOUGHTS..
- STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES.
- CONCLUSION.
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This work aims to investigate the principles of pronoun reference in English and Turkish by exploring whether there is a universally valid principle for pronoun reference in English and if it can be compared to Turkish. The research delves into the theoretical framework of binding, specifically analyzing Chomsky's Binding Theory and its critiques by Moskovsky. This is further supported by empirical studies through experiments in both English and Turkish.
- Pronoun reference in English and Turkish
- Chomsky's Binding Theory and its applicability
- Moskovsky's critique of Chomsky's theory and proposed improvements
- Experimental analysis of pronoun reference in both languages
- Structural differences between English and Turkish regarding binding
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction provides context and significance for the research by highlighting the importance of binding phenomena as a source for understanding the universals of human language. It presents the research question and outlines the structure of the thesis.
The second chapter focuses on the theoretical background of binding in English, particularly examining Chomsky's classical Binding Theory and its principles. Moskovsky's critique of Chomsky's theory and his proposed improvements are also discussed. The chapter aims to establish a strong foundation for the subsequent experimental analysis.
The third chapter details the experiment conducted in English, presenting the motivation, design, method, participants, and predictions. The experimental findings are analyzed to test the validity of Chomsky's and Moskovsky's theories in the context of pronoun reference in English.
The fourth chapter explores the existing linguistic analyses of binding in Turkish, highlighting the study by Özbek and Kahraman (2016). It then introduces the experiment in Turkish, outlining its motivation, design, method, participants, and predictions.
The fifth chapter presents the results and analysis of the experiment in Turkish. It also provides further reflections on the findings and their implications for the understanding of binding in Turkish.
The sixth chapter delves into the structural differences between English and Turkish, drawing upon the findings of the two experiments. This analysis further explores the question of whether binding is a universally valid phenomenon.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This work focuses on the key concepts of pronoun reference, binding theory, syntactic relations, linguistic universals, English grammar, Turkish grammar, experimental methodology, and structural differences.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2020, The Binding Theory. Pronoun Reference in English and Turkish, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/538021
