Binding in Picture NPs Revisted: Evidence for a Semantic Principle of Extended Argument-hood

This paper investigates the distribution of pronouns and anaphors in picture NPs (cf. Keller and Asudeh 2001; Runner et al. 2003). I discuss the predictions of current LFG and HSPG binding theories, none of which make the right predictions. I present new results showing that the acceptability of pronouns is influenced by Agentivity. That is, pronouns are less acceptable if their binder bears the agent-role of the predicate that also assigns an argument-role to the pronoun. This result is discussed with regard to the well-known constraints on pronoun against binding a co-argument. In light of recent findings by Kaiser et al. (2004a,b), the result raises the question whether Agentivity of the binder is a factor in binding beyond the domain of picture NPs. On the methodological side, the current study shows that acceptability judgments, if properly elicited under well-controlled conditions, can provide meaningful linguistic insights.