Abstract
Case Theory (Chomsky, 1986) is universal by which each argument within the syntactic structure is assigned case. It is intertwined with Theta Theory (Chomsky, 1981) which requires each argument to be assigned only one theta role. Thus, such theta-marked constituents are visible to case assignment in accordance with the Visibility Condition (Chomsky, 1986). Case assignment is universal as observed in English and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA); nevertheless, arguments are assigned case by different means due to the different morphological systems of each language, in light of Chomsky’s Principles and Parameters (1980) and Minimalism (1995). The paper adopts an explanatory comparative approach conducted on the control structure (i.e., ʔarada: want class) in both English and MSA in light of a unified framework (Chomsky’s minimalism, 1995). In English, only the matrix subjects in control structures carry the nominative case through agreement with the tense feature under the head tense (T). However, the study observes that although the embedded clausal complement in MSA introduced by the infinitival particle ʔan: to lacks tense, its embedded subject carries the nominative case. Therefore, the study hypothesizes that this nominative case carried by the embedded subjects is closely related to the phi-features valued via Agree operation, in accordance with the Split-INFL hypothesis (Pollock, 1989; Chomsky, 1989). However, similarly to English, when the subject precedes the infinitival particle ʔan: to at the surface structure, it carries case assigned by the available case assigner but carries the same theta role assigned at the deep structure.
Presenters
Youmna Abu El 'elaTeaching Assistant, English, The School of Linguistics and Translation, Badr University in Cairo, Egypt
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Communications and Linguistic Studies
KEYWORDS
Nominative Subject, Non-finite Embedded Clauses, Control Predicates, Split-INFL Hypothesis
