biology

Government and binding theory

Government and binding theory is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Government and binding theory rather than just read about it. In short: Government and binding (GB, GBT) is a theory of syntax and a phrase structure grammar in the tradition of transformational grammar developed principally by Noam Chomsky in the 1980s. This theory is a radical revision of his earlier theories and was later revised in The Minimalist Program (1995) and several subsequent papers, the latest being Three Factors in Language Design (2005).

Key takeaways

Government and binding theory belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Government and binding theory to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Government and binding theory from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Government and binding (GB, GBT) is a theory of syntax and a phrase structure grammar in the tradition of transformational grammar developed principally by Noam Chomsky in the 1980s. This theory is a radical revision of his earlier theories and was later revised in The Minimalist Program (1995) and several subsequent papers, the latest being Three Factors in Language Design (2005). 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, which is an abstract syntactic relation applicable, among other things, to the assignment of case; and binding, which deals chiefly with the relationships between pronouns and the expressions with which they are co-referential. 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.

Government The main application of the government relation concerns the assignment of case. Government is defined as follows: A governs B if and only if

A is a governor and A m-commands B and no barrier intervenes between A and B. Governors are heads of the lexical categories (V, N, A, P) and tensed I (T). A m-commands B if A does not dominate 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 B, but B does not m-command A:

In addition, barrier is defined as follows: A barrier is any node Z such that

Z is a potential governor for B and Z c-commands B and Z does not 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 as the Empty Category Principle requires them to be properly governed.

Binding Binding can be defined as follows:

An element α binds an element β if and only if α c-commands β, and α and β corefer. Consider the sentence "Johni saw hisi mother", which is diagrammed below using simple phrase structure trees.

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:

*Johni saw himi. Johni saw himselfi. *Himselfi saw Johni. *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 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 is complex, but in most cases the governing category is essentially the minimal clause or complex NP.

References

Sources Liliane Haegeman (1994). Introduction to Government and Binding Theory (Second Edition). Blackwell.

External links

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

Illustrations

Government and binding theory illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Government and binding theory

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Government and binding theory claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Government and binding theory before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Government and binding theory ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Government and binding theory

In research: Government and binding theory appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Government and binding theory in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Government and binding theory is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Generative syntax, Grammar frameworks, Noam Chomsky, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Government and binding theory outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Government and binding theory in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Government and binding theory means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Government and binding theory out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Government and binding theory in simple terms?

Why does Government and binding theory matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Government and binding theory?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Government and binding theory.