How do we know how to interpret our pronouns? What rules guide what meanings can go with what words? In this week's episode, we talk about binding theory: what a pronoun even is, where different pronouns can get their interpretation from, and what principles of syntax oversee our understanding of all the nouns we talk about.
The sound came out glitchy this week. Sorry about that! We'll have it sorted out for the next episode.
This is Topic #40!
This week's tag language: Lebanese Arabic!
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Sources:
The original formulations of Binding Theory by Noam Chomsky are in his 1981 book, Lectures on Government and Binding. If you don't want to start with Chomsky directly, there are good description in Cook and Newsom's book, Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction.
Looking forward to next week!