Government and binding is a theory of syntax in the tradition of transformational grammar developed by Noam Chomsky (1981, 1982, 1986). This theory is a radical revision of his earlier (1957, 1965) theories and was later revised in A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory (1993) and several subsequent papers, the latest being Derivation by Phase (2001). Although there is a large literature on government and binding theory which is not written by Chomsky, Chomsky's papers have been instrumental in setting the research agenda. The first meaning of the term syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (sun, meaning ‘together’) and ταξις (taxis, meaning sequence/order), can be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ... Transformational grammar is a broad term describing grammars (almost exclusively those of natural languages) that have been developed in a Chomskyan tradition. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...

The name refers to two central subtheories of the theory: government, which is an abstract syntactic relation, and binding, which deals with the referents of pronouns, anaphores, and R-expression. GB was the first theory to be based on the principles and parameters model of language, which also underlies the later developments of the Minimalist Program. In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word that usually takes the place of a noun or noun phrase that was previously mentioned (such as she, it) or that refers to something or someone (I, me, you). Pronouns are often one of the basic parts of speech of the... In linguistics, anaphora is an instance of an expression referring to another. ... Government and binding is a theory of syntax in the tradition of transformational grammar developed by Noam Chomsky (1981, 1982, 1986). ...

Binding

The definition of binding has changed little from its initial conception; the final version is as follows:

• An element A binds an element B if and only if A c-commands B, and A and B are co-referent.

Consider the sentence "John saw his mother." which is diagrammed below using simple phrase structure rules. C-command is a relationship in grammatical parse trees which is similar to the idea of siblings and all their descendents in family trees. ... Phrase-structure rules were used in early transformational grammar (TGG) to describe a given languages syntax. ...

 S -------- NP VP | ------- N V NP | | ------ John saw ADJ N | | his mother 

"John" c-commands "his" because the first non-trivial parent of "John", S, contains "his". "John" and "his" are also co-referent (they refer to the same person), therefore "John" binds "his".

On the other hand, in the sentence "A friend of John saw his mother", "John" does not c-command "his", so they have no binding relationship, regardless of whether they are co-referent (which they may be; the example is ambiguous).

The importance of binding is shown in the grammaticality of the following sentences:

• John saw him. (ungrammatical with co-reference)
• John saw himself. (unambiguously co-referent)
• Himself saw John. (ungrammatical)
• John saw John. (ungrammatical, unless it refers to two distinct Johns)

Binding is used, along with particular binding principles, to explain the ungrammaticality of those statements. The applicable rules are called Binding Principle A, Binding Principle B, and Binding Principle C. BPA states that reflexives (and reciprocals, such as "each other") must always be bound in their domains. Since there is nothing to bind "himself" in the third sentence, that principle is violated. BPB states that a pronoun must never be bound within its domain. If, in the first statement, "John" and "him" are co-referent, then there is a binding relationship between them, violating the principle and resulting in ungrammaticality. Principle C states that R-expressions (proper names, for the most part) must never be bound; in the fourth sentence, the first instance of "John" binds the second, resulting in the ungrammaticality.

Note that Principles A and B refer to domains. It is difficult to define a domain in a way that explains all the data, though the definition may be related to movement islands and the Phase Impenetrability Constraint.

Further reading

• Noam Chomsky, "Lectures on Government and Binding", 7th Ed. 1993. Mouton de Gruyter. (First published 1981 by Foris Publications the Netherlands).
• Liliane Haegeman, "Introduction to Government and Binding Theory", 2nd Ed. 1994 Blackwell.

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

External links

• A step-by-step introduction to the Government and Binding theory of syntax
• Introduction to GB