Distributivity and person constrain reflexives

Experimenting with Czech possessives

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental study of binding in Czech, where it is often possible to bind either a reflexive or a non-reflexive possessive within a clause. As of yet, there is no comprehensive understanding of how speakers choose between the two and which contexts constrain the choice. The present study explores this question in two acceptability judgment experiments. Experiment A (N_A = 67) tested the influence of collectivity versus distributivity on the acceptability of the use of reflexives. Experiment B (N_B = 65) tested the effects of person on the antecedent (first versus third). Experiment A showed that collectivity increases the acceptability of a locally bound non-reflexive pronoun, unlike in the case of distributivity. In Experiment B, pronouns were preferred in sentences with the first person, but reflexives in the third person. Thus, the study shows that both distributivity and person affect the acceptability of possessive binding in Czech. One of the factors is semantic, and the other is a grammatical realization of pragmatic meaning. Therefore, Czech binding mechanisms are complex in nature and cannot be fully covered by the traditional Binding Theory framework.