Logophoricity, Perspective, and Reflexives

Abstract

The notion of logophoricity is used to characterize linguistic elements sensitive to perspective. The goal of this review is to examine this notion by focusing on the behavior of so-called exempt reflexives. It has long been observed that reflexives can be exempt from Condition A of Binding Theory under perspectival conditions. The distribution of exempt reflexives can thus be examined to identify what perspectival properties are grammatically relevant and thereby specify the definition of logophoricity. In this article, I first review various proposals about this issue; in particular, the grammatical relevance of perspective for exempt reflexives has been explored in comparison with so-called logophoric pronouns as well as in the context of literary and philosophical studies. Second, after providing tools for exploring the perspectival properties of exempt reflexives crosslinguistically, I present my own hypothesis explaining why reflexives can superficially be exempt from Condition A under logophoric conditions.