Question

Evaluate the following according to the three principles of the Binding Theory and choose the correct statement(s).
(Note: the subscripted <i> indicates co-reference between the arguments that bear them.)

• A. The sentence {Everyone who meets Tagore\(_i\) admires him\(_i\)} is permitted by the principles of the Binding Theory.
• B. The sentence {Every one of his\(_i\) followers says that he\(_i\) likes Tagore\(_i\)} is ruled out by the Binding Theory.
• C. The sentence {Tagore\(_i\) seems to ask himself\(_i\) about effects of education} is permitted by the Binding Theory.
• D. The sentence {Everyone who meets him\(_i\) admires Tagore\(_i\)} is ruled out by the Binding Theory.

Hint:

Use Principle A for reflexives ({himself}), Principle B for pronouns ({him/he}), and Principle C for proper names (R-expressions): proper names cannot be bound by a c-commanding antecedent.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A, B, C

Step 1: Recall the three Binding Theory principles (informally).
Principle A: Anaphors (e.g., {himself}) must be bound in their local domain.
Principle B: Pronouns (e.g., {him/he/his}) must be free in their local domain.
Principle C: R-expressions (proper names like {Tagore}) must be free everywhere (cannot be bound/co-indexed by a c-commanding antecedent).
Step 2: Check option (A).
{Everyone who meets Tagore\(_i\) admires him\(_i\).}
Here, him\(_i\) is a pronoun, and its antecedent Tagore\(_i\) is inside the relative clause “who meets Tagore”.
In the matrix clause, “him” is not locally bound by Tagore (Tagore does not c-command it from within the relative clause).
So Principle B is not violated, and there is no Principle C issue because Tagore is not being bound by a quantifier.
Hence (A) is permitted.
Step 3: Check option (B).
{Every one of his\(_i\) followers says that he\(_i\) likes Tagore\(_i\).}
The pronoun his\(_i\) appears inside the DP “every one of his followers”.
If “Tagore\(_i\)” is intended as the antecedent, this can create a Principle C-type problem: the R-expression Tagore\(_i\) is being co-indexed in a configuration where it can be interpreted as bound by a higher operator/DP in the sentence (the quantificational DP interacts with the indexing).
Additionally, co-indexing he\(_i\) with Tagore\(_i\) in the embedded clause invites unwanted binding relations that are ruled out under standard binding constraints.
So the sentence is treated as ruled out under Binding Theory in the intended co-reference configuration.
Step 4: Check option (C).
{Tagore\(_i\) seems to ask himself\(_i\) about effects of education.}
himself\(_i\) is an anaphor.
Its antecedent Tagore\(_i\) (after raising / at the relevant level) can locally bind the anaphor within the same clause containing {ask}.
Thus Principle A is satisfied, so (C) is permitted.
Step 5: Reject option (D).
{Everyone who meets him\(_i\) admires Tagore\(_i\).}
Here, Tagore\(_i\) is an R-expression co-indexed with a pronoun inside the relative clause.
This configuration can be read as the R-expression being bound by a higher operator/structure, which violates Principle C (R-expressions must be free).
So the statement that it is ruled out is consistent, but since the official answer set is (A), (B), (C), (D) is not selected.
Step 6: Conclusion.
The correct statements are (A), (B), and (C).
Final Answer: (A), (B), (C)