Abstract
In this paper I compare the binding options of German demonstrative pronouns of the der/die/das series, full demonstrative DPs - i.e. DPs consisting of a demonstrative determiner and an overt NP - and definite descriptions. I will argue that all three types of DPs in principle get co-varying interpretations that are truth-conditionally indistinguishable from bound-variable interpretations, although they come about indirectly, via the binding of a situation variable by a quantificational DP (cf. Elbourne 2005, 2013). The conditions under which such readings are available are different, however, for demonstrative pronouns, on the one hand, and demonstrative DPs and definite descriptions, on the other: While the latter are subject to a (slightly modified version of a) pragmatic reconstruction of Principle C of Binding Theory (Schlenker 2005), the former cannot be bound by DPs functioning as grammatical subjects.
