Chapter published in:
Current Issues in Syntactic Cartography: A crosslinguistic perspectiveEdited by Fuzhen Si and Luigi Rizzi
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 267] 2021
► pp. 127–138
Chapter 6Subject drop in how come questions in
English
Yoshio Endo | Kanda University of International Studies
In this paper, I will discuss a novel phenomenon
which has not previously been discussed in the literature on
how come questions – namely the fact that they
can exhibit subject drop in diary-style English. I will first
introduce Haegeman’s
(1990) analysis of diary English with special attention
to subject drop. I will next show some facts that how
come questions can exhibit subject drop in diary-style
English and suggest a mechanism responsible for subject drop in
diary English. It will be shown that the same mechanism is used to
license the null subject in Old English. I will further deal with a
related but distinct question about the mechanism licensing an
argumental element in the lower topic position in Old English, as
opposed to Late Middle English. I will finally show that the same
mechanism responsible for subject drop is used in licensing null
Case in Japanese.
Keywords: subject drop,
how come questions, diary-style English, Old English, Late Middle English, Japanese
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Subject drop in how come questions in diary English
- 3.Null Case particle in Japanese
- 4.Summary
-
Acknowledgements -
Notes -
References
Published online: 12 October 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.267.06end
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.267.06end
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