Binding Principle A is one of the three principles which the Binding Theory (Chomsky 1980, 1981) operates with when it examines the binding relations of noun phrases and prepositional phrases in the structure of a sentence and explains the grammaticality judgements (besides Binding Principles B and C). It is a generalization which holds exclusively for determining the binding relations between anaphoric expressions and their antecedents. The two most common anaphoric expressions are the reflexive pronoun and the reciprocal pronoun. Anaphoric expressions themselves do not have a meaning. They receive it from the other constituents in the sentence and they simultaneously become coreferenced with them. The Binding Theory is by means of Binding Principle A concerned with how an anaphoric expression receives meaning, i.e. what conditions need to be fulfilled. The constraints on the sentence interpretation can be also applied to the syntax of the Hungarian language. In Hungarian, anaphoric expressions as well as their antecedents can realize various sentence elements. Consequently, quite many different types of binding relations are possible. Among those the binding relations between constituents are often fairly apparent. However, Hungarian also displays some cases of greater intricacy. The clarity of the explanation for the binding of two constituents is blurred by the unusual distribution of thematic roles displayed by the psychological verbs. It is also quite demanding to provide a legitimate justification for the grammaticality of anaphora in subject position. Lastly, there are cases in which coindexed constituents c-command each other and one is bound by the other nevertheless. The explanation for phenomena like that is not obvious, it is, however, a fact that the Binding Theory in Hungarian demands the fulfillment of some additional conditions in order to form a binding relation.
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