The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 153
(32) a. Kiedy Marysiai gotuje to się proi/j
when Marysia cook.3sg then się (she/people)
słucha muzyki.
listen.3sg music
‘When Marysia cooks, *she /people/they^28 listen to music.’
b. ?Kiedy proi gotuję to
when (I) cook.1sg then
się proi/j słucha muzyki.
się (I/people/they) listen.3sg music
‘When I cook, I/people/they listen to music.’
c. Kiedy proi gotują, to
when (they) cook.3pl then
się proi/j słucha muzyki.
się (people/they) listen,3sg music
‘When they cook, people/they listen to music.’
d. Kiedy proi gotujesz, to się proi/j słucha muzyki.
when (you) cook.2sg then się (people)they listens music
‘When you cook, you/people/they listen to music.’
(33) Kiedy Marysiai gotuje, to proi słucha muzyki.
when Marysia cooks then (she) listens music
‘When Marysiai cooks, shei listens to music.’
In (33) pro is the complement of the null D head that has [iR], which is bound by the
subject of the preceding clause, Marysia, hence it is co-referential with it. In all of the
examples in (32), on the other hand, impersonal pro in the lower clause cannot be
bound by any pro/overt subject in the left-adjacent clause, as SIĘ does not have any
[iR] that could be bound by another element. In other words, it behaves in a way that
is similar to R-expressions. This means that none of the subjects in the left-adajcent
clauses in (32) can be included in the set of referents to which impersonal pro in the
matrix clause would refer. Namely, the people who do the cooking are not the same as
those who listen to music. The sentence in (32b) is marked with a question mark as my
informants have taken time to decide whether it is acceptable or not. This appears to be
caused by the fact that the impersonal pro in the lower clause in (32b) can only receive
an exclusive interpretation, which is, as it appears, possible but nevertheless forced.
The binding properties of impersonal pro’s observed in the examples in (32) seem to
- In (32a-d), the null impersonal DP can be interpreted either as generic exclusive, that is
people, or as specific, that is they (but not as coreferential with the lexical subject in the adja-
cent clause). The interpretation will depend on the context.