The Thais that Bind: Principle C and Bound Expressions in Thai

Principle C (Chomsky, 1981) states that referring expressions cannot be bound in any domain. Previous research has held up Thai as an example of a Principle Cless language because R-expression can receive bound readings. However, I argue that full DPs in Thai cannot be bound just as they cannot be bound in English. Apparent violations of Principle C arise when expressions with phonological forms similar to referring expressions receive bound readings. The current study reexamines Thai’s status and contends that Thai is sensitive to Principle C and that we can account for the apparent discrepancies by considering the syntactic structure of the bound expressions, not just their surface form. Thai bound R-expressions are not truly referring expressions. Rather, they are reduced syntactic structures and, thus, are not subject to Principle C.