Attitude datives in Lebanese Arabic and the interplay of syntax and pragmatics

Abstract Lebanese Arabic licenses structures with non-argument dative pronouns that I call attitude datives (ADs). ADs may be co-referential with the subject of the sentence, with the speaker or hearer, or with a topic. ADs do not belong to the thematic grid of predicates, and they do not make truth-conditional contributions to expressions. However, they do make pragmatic contributions in the form of conventional implicatures, triggering an evaluative interpretation of events and depicting speech participants as attitude holders. The main purpose of this article is to provide details about the distribution and interpretation of ADs and to account for their choice of antecedent. I present an analysis within the framework of Accessibility Theory and Context-Linked Grammar to show that an AD is linked to its antecedent as a result of the interplay between syntax and pragmatics. I also address the issue of subject-oriented ADs and explain why they are exempt from Condition B of Binding Theory by adopting a movement approach to binding.