Possessive pronouns, Condition C and Anti-Cataphora Effects

Authors:

• Jacek Witkoś

Abstract

This presentation addresses the following research questions: (a) does Binding Condition C, prohibiting pronouns from occupying positions c-commanding coindexed names, operate in the same manner in the grammars of English and Polish (Slavic)? (b) why do possessive pronouns in Slavic languages cause an effect similar to Condition C?, and (c) which syntactic relation is responsible for the Anti-Cataphora Effect (ACE)? The question of why Condition C does not subsume the Anti-Cataphora Effect is addressed in detail and it is shown to what extent pronominal possessives in Polish and English occupy different structural positions. Other structural factors that influence the ACE are also analysed, such as the depth of embedding of the possessive, the grammatical function of the NP containing the possessive (subject vs. object), the distance between the proximate possessive and the coindexed name and intervention by other possessive NPs. Current theory of syntax relies on two basic structural relations driving morpho-syntacic operations: Agree and Move (Chomsky, 2000, Chomsky, 2001, Chomsky, 2008, Chomsky, 2013). In the context of the ACE, both of these relations will be tested for their accuracy in licensing this effect. In prominent recent accounts (La Terza, 2016, Franks, 2019) the ACE results from movement of the proximate possessive pronoun to some position from which it c-commands the coindexed name. It is argued below that the ACE is rather caused by an instantiation of Agree which presupposes little movement on the part of the proximate possessive.