Abstract
The phenomenon of inverse linking, where a noun phrase embedded within another behaves with respect to binding as though it were structurally independent, has proven challenging for theories of the syntax–semantics interface. In this paper I show that, using an LF-movement style approach to the syntax–semantics interface, we can derive all and only the appropriate meanings for such constructions using no semantic operations other than function application and composition. The solution relies neither on a proliferation of lexical ambiguity nor on abandoning the idea that pronouns denote variables, but rather on a straightforward (and standard) reification of assignment functions, which allows us to define abstraction operators within our models.
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Kobele, G.M. Inverse linking via function composition. Nat Lang Semantics 18, 183–196 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-009-9053-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-009-9053-7