Backward Anaphora

This paper aims to account for the backward anaphora that seem to be against the c-command requirements in the anaphor-antecedent relations. It was claimed that the binding conditions should apply at LF for the backward binding cases involving phych-verbs and causatives. Under the recent development of minimalism where the concept of levels disappears to adopt a cyclic derivation, the data that show the backward binding phenomena have not been discussed in the area of the binding theory. In this paper, I argue that the backward binding cases can be incorporated into the core binding phenomena with the general assumptions on the thematic prominency. It is discussed how the dependency between NPs involving backward anaphora is determined by the thematic prominency. The Agree operation takes place between the probe T and the goal with the uninterpretable u[a] and [prominent] feature, by which an anaphor is valued, producing a proper interpretation.