Local, Intermediate and Long-distance Binding: The Case of the Chinese Reflexive Ziji in the Long Bei-construction

This study tackles binding issues of Chinese reflexive ziji, an instantiation of so-called long-distance anaphors. We evaluated a “mixed” approach (Charnavel, 2019; Huang & Liu, 2001; Huang et al., 2009) to long-distance anaphora, by analyzing the role of locality and logophoricity on the behavior of ziji in the long-bei passive, an understudied construction in the domain of Chinese anaphora. Our analysis shows that the “mixed” approach, which claims that a long-distance anaphor is either a plain anaphor or a logophor subject to logophoricity, is not sufficient for capturing ziji's behavior in the bei-construction. We argue that when taking antecedence from the matrix subject of the long-bei passive, ziji is neither a plain anaphor as it is not locally bound, nor a logophor as logophoricity effects are absent. We suggest that ziji may have a third status: intermediate binding, ie, neither local nor long-distance, but rather indirect resulting from the mediation of a null operator. Further research will look into other constructions that may involve intermediate binding, eg, the ba-construction, and focus on properties of intermediate binding and seek accounts for it.