Feature 7. Obligatoriness of the subject

found in question(s): 21a, 21b, 23, 24a, 24b, 24c, 25a, 25b, 25c

Definition and illustration

Languages differ as to whether the subject position (Spec,TP) must be (overtly) occupied, i.e., whether the EPP holds.

The obligatory satisfaction of the EPP can be seen most clearly in case there is no contentful argument whatsoever or no subject argument in a clause. This is, for instance, the case with weather verbs. In a language like English, in expletive pronoun occurs in the subject position in that case:

(1)

In other languages the position may remain empty.

The questions below investigate different constructions that could reveal the obligatoriness of subjects (i.e., the presence of the EPP). In the theoretical literature (Haider 2010), it has been argued that VO-languages are subject to the EPP-requirement. As a consequence, one expects the subject position always to be filled overtly; in the absence of a subject in the clause, one therefore expects an expletive element as in the example above. A special case are VO-languages that are also pro-drop languages, i.e., languages that can have silent subjects. In those languages, one doesn't expect expletives given that the subject position need not be filled overtly. Below the predictions of pro-drop languages will be discussed separately.

Correlations

To control for pro-drop, Questions 21/22 investigates whether the language allows for subject pro-drop and object pro-drop, respectively. This question pair also tests for a universal by Roberts (2019):

• Prediction 1: null objects → null subjects.

Furthermore, dependency length minimisation predicts null objects to be more prevalent in OV languages to diminish the distance between S and V (Hawkins 2014, Levshina 2021):

• Prediction 2: OV → null objects

Question 23 investigates what happens with wheather verbs. In languages with the EPP, one therefore expects expletives (or pseudo-arguments), while one does not expect them in OV-languages:

• V-O → obligatory subject expletives
• O-V → no subject expletives

Question 24 investigates what happens when the only argument in the clause is a non-subject, e.g., an experiencer or an existential NP bearing a non-nominative case. In languages with the EPP, one expects expletives in subject position or, if available, a quirky subject, i.e., the non-nominative NP would move to Spec,TP to satisfy the EPP. This expecation does not arise for OV-languages. Another prediction is that since OV languages are not subject to the EPP, they will not have quirky subjects.

• V-O → obligatory subject expletives/quirky subject
• O-V → no subject expletives
• Prediction: O-V → *quirky subjects

Question 25a/b investigate what happens when the subject occurs in a non-canonical position, concretely, when it is displaced. This can happen with clausal subjects or when the subject is in focus. In languages with the EPP, one expects expletives in subject position, while one does not expects them in OV-languages:

• V-O → obligatory subject expletives
• O-V → no subject expletives

Question 25c investigates what happens in impersonal passives, i.e., a passive without a nominative argument. The predictions for VO-languages are clear, there should be an expletive, while one does not expect an expletive in OV-languages.

• V-O → obligatory subject expletives
• O-V → no subject expletives

The predictions for pro-drop languages heavily depend on specific assumptions. Haider (2019) would expect subject pro-drop languages to never allow for proper impersonal passives of intransitive verbs (25c), while with weather verbs, non-nominative subjects and dislocated subjects, a null subject may satisfy the EPP (as in Rizzi 1987).

• 23: V-O & pro-drop → no subject expletives
• 24: V-O & pro-drop → no subject expletives
• 25a/b: V-O & pro-drop → no subject expletives
• 25c: V-O & pro-drop → no impersonal construction

See also

This feature is closely connected to several others that explore the consequences of the presence/absence of the EPP, i.e.: 5, 12, 13, 17, 18

References