Explaining the Ban on Ergative Anaphors
Dan Brodkin, Justin Royer
April 2024 

Some ergative languages exhibit the Ergative Extraction Constraint (EEC; Aissen 2017): processes of A'-extraction can only target absolutive but not ergative DPs. At the same time, reflexive anaphors in EEC languages are generally disallowed as ergative arguments (Anderson 1976). This fact, which we dub the Ban on Ergative Anaphors, has been taken as an argument against the High Absolutive solution to the EEC: that absolutive DPs undergo consistent raising to an A-position above ergative DPs (Campana 1992, Ordóñez 1995, Bittner and Hale 1996a, a.m.o.). The argument goes as follows: if an absolutive argument raised above an ergative argument into a higher clause-internal A-position, then such an absolutive argument should be able to bind a reflexive anaphor in the position of the lower ergative argument (Bobaljik and Branigan 2006; Legate 2006; Massam 2006; Otsuka 2006, a.m.o.). Drawing on data from Chuj (Mayan) and Mandar (Western Austronesian), this paper addresses and rejects this claim on two counts. First, the Ban holds even in languages where Conditions B and C of the Binding Theory (Reinhart 1983; Chomsky 1986) provide evidence for High Absolutive configurations. Second, virtually all mainstream approaches to the distribution of reflexive anaphors already predict the Ban, even for High-Absolutive languages (e.g., Chomsky 1986, Hornstein 2001, Reuland 2001, 2011, Rooryck and vanden Wyngaerd 2011, Charnavel and Sportiche 2016, a.m.o.). We end the paper by analyzing and comparing the distribution of reflexive anaphors in Chuj and Mandar. This comparison will lead us to the conclusion that the distribution of non-exempt reflexive anaphors is perhaps not regulated by a single constraint across all languages, but by a range of distinct derivational pathways that conspire to derive Condition A effects (Déchaine and Wiltschko 2017). These pathways also share the property that they consistently deliver the Ban on Ergative Anaphors.

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/008014 (please use that when you cite this article)
Published in:	Submitted manuscript
keywords:	reflexives, binding, ergativity, high absolutive syntax, mayan, austronesian, syntax, morphology, syntax
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