Presuppositions and Pronouns - Nijmegen Centre for Semantics

The binding theory 79
any given presupposition. In other words, although one of the subjects of the
binding theory is anaphora, it is not a theory of anaphora resolution. This
division of labour is uncontroversial: it is assumed in virtually all linguistic
and philosophical work on anaphoric reference. But of course the same
division of labour should apply when we want deal with bridging
phenomena.
It would be easy enough to generalize the binding theory by taking as
given, for any presupposition, not only a set of bindings but also a set of
bridges; such bridges would take the form of DRSs, of course. In this type of
theory, bridges would have the same status as bindings: the theory would
impose some restrictions upon bridging, and it would make predictions about
where a given bridge must be inserted in the discourse representation. It is
plausible to assume, for example, that binding would be preferred to
bridging, which in its turn would be preferred to accommodation. But such a
theory would have little of interest to say about bridging, for the same reason
that most linguistic theories of anaphora have little of interest to say about
anaphora resolution. Something like this can be done, surely, but for reasons
explained in the foregoing I will not do it.
2.4.4 Intermediate accommodation and domain restriction
If a presupposition must be accommodated and cannot be accommodated in
the main DRS, the binding theory predicts that there is a preference for
accommodating it further down in the chain of DRSs linking the
presupposition's home DRS with the main DRS. Thus it may happen that a
presupposition is preferably accommodated in a DRS that is neither its home
DRS nor the main DRS. Let us refer to such cases as instances of
intermediate (as opposed to local or global) accommodation.
(79) Maybe she has found out that her husband is deceiving her.
In (79), the definite NP her husband induces the presupposition that 'she' has
a husband; this presupposition is triggered within a belief context that, in its
turn, is embedded under a modal operator. In the absence of a suitable
antecedent this presupposition will by default be accommodated in the main
DRS, which yields a reading that may be paraphrased as follows: 'She has a
husband, i
and maybe she has found out that he i
is deceiving her.' If for some
reason this reading is dispreferred, then the second option is intermediate
accommodation, which results in the following: 'Maybe (she has a husband; i
and has found out that he- i
is deceiving her),. her)'. This would be the preferred
reading in a context like the following. 15 A woman is sitting on a bench in the
15 15 This type of scenario was invented by Fauconnier (1985). See Kay (1992) for further
discussion.