Focus Binding: The interpretation of Given pronouns
نویسنده
چکیده
Consider the two classic focus environments in (1) and (2), and notice that the pronouns he and his are generally constrained to refer to Sherlock. In (1), he must refer to Sherlock in order for the response to properly answer the question; and in (2), his refers to Sherlock in order to maintain the contrast between the phrase Sherlock’s intellect and the phrase his patience. For the rest of this paper, I will describe such pronouns as focus-bound and call the process of constraining their interpretation focus binding.
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