Associative anaphora and part-whole relationship: The condition of alienation and the principle of ontological congruence

The aim of this paper is to give an answer to the problem raised by the analysis of the relation which holds between the two referents involved in an associative anaphor. By starting with restricted facts over the phenomenon, we try to show that two factors are working in the mechanism of the relation: a condition of alienation and the principle of ontological congruence. These two factors explain in a novel and stimulating fashion why the utterances: ?Pierre a expos~ son dernier tableau. La beaut~ (= la beaut6 du tableau) est fascinante. [Pierre exhibited his latest painting. The beauty (= the beauty of the painting) was fascinating.], ?Max entre. Les yeux (= les yeux de Max) sont hors de leur orbite. [Max comes in. The eyes (= Max's eyes) are out of their sockets] and ?Paul ouvrit la commode. Le bois (= le bois de la commode) ~tait polychrome. [Paul opened the chest-of-drawers. The wood (= the wood of the chest) was polychrome] are considered deviant, whereas the sequences: Paul lava la voiture, mais oublia le capot (= le capot de la voiture). [Paul washed the car but forgot the bonnet (= the bonnet of the car)] and Max entre, les yeux brillants. [Max comes in, the eyes shining] are considered well-formed. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.