Pragmatic reduction of the Binding Conditions revisited

Levinson, S. C. (1991). Pragmatic reduction of the Binding Conditions revisited. Journal of Linguistics, 27, 107-161. doi:10.1017/S0022226700012433.
In an earlier article (Levinson, 1987b), I raised the possibility that a Gricean theory of implicature might provide a systematic partial reduction of the Binding Conditions; the briefest of outlines is given in Section 2.1 below but the argumentation will be found in the earlier article. In this article I want, first, to show how that account might be further justified and extended, but then to introduce a radical alternative. This alternative uses the same pragmatic framework, but gives an account better adjusted to some languages. Finally, I shall attempt to show that both accounts can be combined by taking a diachronic perspective. The attraction of the combined account is that, suddenly, many facts about long-range reflexives and their associated logophoricity fall into place.
Publication type
Journal article
Publication date
1991

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