# Government and binding theory > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Government_and_binding_theory > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Government_and_binding_theory.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_and_binding_theory > Source revision: 1319465989 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Theory of syntax This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent sources. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Part of a series on Linguistics Outline History Index General linguistics Diachronic Lexicography Morphology Phonology Pragmatics Semantics Syntax Typology Applied linguistics Acquisition Anthropological Applied Mathematical Computational Conversation analysis Corpus linguistics Discourse analysis Determinism Distance Documentation Ethnography of communication Ethnomethodology Forensic History of linguistics Interlinguistics Neurolinguistics Philology Philosophy of language Phonetics Psycholinguistics Sociolinguistics Text Translating and interpreting Writing systems Theoretical frameworks Formalist Constituency Dependency Distributionalism Generative Glossematics Functional Cognitive Construction grammar Functional discourse grammar Grammaticalization Interactional linguistics Prague circle Systemic functional Usage-based Structuralism Topics Autonomy of syntax Compositionality Conservative and innovative language Descriptivism Etymology Iconicity Internet linguistics LGBTQ linguistics Origin of language Orismology Orthography Philosophy of linguistics Prescriptivism Second-language acquisition Theory of language Terminology Usage Portal v t e **Government and binding** (**GB**, **GBT**) is a theory of [syntax](/source/Syntax) and a [phrase structure grammar](/source/Phrase_structure_grammar) in the tradition of [transformational grammar](/source/Transformational_grammar) developed principally by [Noam Chomsky](/source/Noam_Chomsky) in the 1980s.[1][2][3] This theory is a radical revision of his earlier theories[4][5][6] and was later revised in *[The Minimalist Program](/source/The_Minimalist_Program)* (1995)[7] and several subsequent papers, the latest being *Three Factors in Language Design* (2005).[8] Although there is a large literature on government and binding theory which is not written by Chomsky, Chomsky's papers have been foundational in setting the research agenda. The name refers to two central subtheories of the theory: *[government](/source/Government_(linguistics))*, which is an abstract syntactic relation applicable, among other things, to the assignment of [case](/source/Grammatical_case); and *[binding](/source/Binding_(linguistics))*, which deals chiefly with the relationships between [pronouns](/source/Pronouns) and the expressions with which they are [co-referential](/source/Co-referential). GB was the first theory to be based on the [principles and parameters](/source/Principles_and_parameters) model of language, which also underlies the later developments of the minimalist program. ## Government The main application of the *[government](/source/Government_(linguistics))* relation concerns the assignment of [case](/source/Grammatical_case). Government is defined as follows: A **governs** B if and only if - A is a **governor** and - A **[m-commands](/source/M-command)** B and - no **barrier** intervenes between A and B. **Governors** are heads of the [lexical categories](/source/Lexical_category) (V, N, A, P) and [tensed I](/source/Tensed_I) (T). A [m-commands](/source/M-command) B if A does not [dominate](/source/Dominance_(linguistics)) B and B does not dominate A and the first **maximal projection** of A dominates B, where the maximal projection of a head X is XP. This means that for example in a structure like the following, A [m-commands](/source/M-command) B, but B does not [m-command](/source/M-command) A: In addition, **barrier** is defined as follows:[9] A barrier is any node Z such that - Z is a potential governor for B and - Z [c-commands](/source/C-command) B and - Z does not [c-command](/source/C-command) A The government relation makes case assignment unambiguous. The tree diagram below illustrates how DPs are governed and assigned case by their governing heads: Another important application of the government relation constrains the occurrence and identity of [traces](/source/Trace_(linguistics)) as the [Empty Category Principle](/source/Empty_category_principle) requires them to be properly governed. ## Binding [Binding](/source/Binding_(linguistics)) can be defined as follows: - An element α binds an element β if and only if α [c-commands](/source/C-command) β, and α and β corefer. Consider the sentence "Johni saw hisi mother", which is diagrammed below using simple [phrase structure trees](/source/Phrase_structure_rules). The NP "John" c-commands "his" because the first parent of the NP, S, contains "his". "John" and "his" are also coreferential (they refer to the same person), therefore "John" binds "his". On the other hand, in the ungrammatical sentence "*The mother of Johni likes himselfi", "John" does not c-command "himself", so they have no binding relationship despite the fact that they corefer. The importance of binding is shown in the grammaticality or ungrammaticality of the following sentences: 1. *Johni saw himi. 1. Johni saw himselfi. 1. *Himselfi saw Johni. 1. *Johni saw Johni. Binding is used, along with particular binding principles, to explain the ungrammaticality of statements 1, 3, and 4. The applicable rules are called Binding Principle A, Binding Principle B, and Binding Principle C. - **Principle A:** an anaphor (reflexive or reciprocal, such as "each other") must be bound in its governing category (roughly, the clause). Since "himself" is not c-commanded by "John" in sentence [3], Principle A is violated. - **Principle B:** a pronoun must be free (i.e., not bound) within its governing category (roughly, the clause). In sentence [1], "him" is bound by "John", violating Principle B. - **Principle C:** an [R-expression](/source/R-expression) must be free (i.e., not bound). R-expressions (e.g. "the dog" or "John") are referential expressions: unlike pronouns and anaphora, they independently refer, i.e., pick out entities in the world. In sentence [4], the first instance of "John" binds the second, violating Principle C. Note that Principles A and B refer to "governing categories"—domains which limit the scope of binding. The definition of a governing category laid out in *Lectures on Government and Binding*[1] is complex, but in most cases the governing category is essentially the minimal clause or complex NP. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-LGB_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-LGB_1-1) Chomsky, Noam (1993) [1981]. *[Lectures on Government and Binding: The Pisa Lectures](/source/Lectures_on_Government_and_Binding%3A_The_Pisa_Lectures)*. Mouton de Gruyter. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Chomsky, Noam (1982). [*Some Concepts and Consequences of the Theory of Government and Binding*](https://archive.org/details/someconceptscons0000chom). Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 6. MIT Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780262530422](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780262530422). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Chomsky, Noam (1986). *Barriers*. Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 13. MIT Press. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Chomsky, Noam (2002) [1957]. *[Syntactic Structures](/source/Syntactic_Structures)* (Second ed.). Mouton de Gruyter. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Chomsky, Noam (1965). *[Aspects of the Theory of Syntax](/source/Aspects_of_the_Theory_of_Syntax)*. MIT Press. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Chomsky, Noam (1970). [Remarks on Nominalization](http://babel.ucsc.edu/~hank/mrg.readings/Chomsky1970_Nominalization.pdf). In *Studies on Semantics in Generative Grammar* (1972). The Hague: Mouton. Pages 11–61. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Chomsky, Noam (1995). *[The Minimalist Program](/source/The_Minimalist_Program)*. MIT Press. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Chomsky, Noam (2005). ["Three Factors in Language Design"](http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/linguistic_inquiry/v036/36.1chomsky.pdf) (PDF). *Linguistic Inquiry*. **36** (36): 1–22. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1162/0024389052993655](https://doi.org/10.1162%2F0024389052993655). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [14954986](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14954986). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** see "Minimality" in Haegeman 1994:163f. ## Sources - [Liliane Haegeman](/source/Liliane_Haegeman) (1994). *Introduction to Government and Binding Theory* (Second Edition). Blackwell. ## External links Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: ***[Government and Binding Theory](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Government_and_Binding_Theory)*** - [A step-by-step introduction to the Government and Binding theory of syntax](https://mexico.sil.org/sites/mexico/files/e002-introgb.pdf) Authority control databases International GND National United States Israel Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Government and binding theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_and_binding_theory) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_and_binding_theory?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.