Long Distance Anaphors and Temporal Relations

In this paper it is argued that long distance binding phenomena and the temporal location of events are strictly related to each other, in the sense that the machinery providing the temporal interpretation of the sentence – i.e., Sequence of Tense – is also responsible for the binding of long distance anaphors. In particular, it is argued that the properties of long distance binding stem from the interaction in the morphosyntax between the anaphors, on one side, and the subject and speaker’s temporal coordinates, on the other. The speaker’s coordinate, as well as the subject’s, are syntactically represented in the Complementizer layer. To exemplify this point, a uniform explanation of the verbal blocking effect in Italian and of the nominal blocking effect in Chinese is provided.