A bound variable pronoun (also called a bound variable anaphor or BVA) is a pronoun that has a quantified determiner phrase (DP) – such as every, some, or who – as its antecedent.[1]
An example of a bound variable pronoun in English is given in (1).
(1) Each manager exploits the secretary who works for him.
(Reinhart, 1983: 55 (19a))
In (1), the quantified DP is each manager, and the bound variable pronoun is him. It is a bound variable pronoun because it does not refer to one single entity in the world. Rather, its reference varies depending on which entities are encompassed by the phrase each manager. For example, if each manager encompasses both John and Adam, then him will refer variably to both John and Adam. The meaning of this sentence in this case would then be:
(2) John1 exploits the secretary who works for him1, and Adam2 exploits the secretary who works for him2.
(Adapted from Reinhart, 1983: 55 (19a))
where him first refers to John, and then to Adam.
In linguistics, the occurrence of bound variable pronouns is important for the study of the syntax and semantics of pronouns. Semantic analyses focus on the interpretation of the quantifiers. Syntactic analyses focus on issues relating to co-indexation, binding domain, and c-command.