Examples of the major subject construction in Japanese are provided in (32):
(32) Japanese:
a. Taro-ga musuko-ga nyuugaku.siken-ni sippaisita.
Taro-NOM son-NOM entrance.exam-DAT failed
‘As for Taro, his son failed the entrance examination.’
b. Aki-ga sanma-ga umai.
autumn- NOM saury-NOM tasty
‘As for autumn, saury is tasty.’
The merger of such an extra nP into Spec-T (or any other positions) is unprob-
lematic in Japanese, because such a merger is free from any φ-symmetry require-
ments. Thus, it is predicted that any number of nPs can be merged into this
domain. Indeed, more than one major subject can be freely merged to a sentential
structure in Japanese, as shown in (33) (see Kuno 1973, Fukui 1986/1995,
1988, 2006).
(33) Japanese: Sentence with more than one major subject (Kuno 1973)
bunmeikoku-ga dansei-ga heikinzyumyoo-ga mizikai.
civilized.countries-NOM male-NOM average.lifespan-NOM is.short
‘It is civilized countries that men, their average lifespan is short in.’
Compare the situation with English, where each merger of an nP with [φ]
always results in a φ-asymmetric SO, necessitating later applications of symmetry-
forming movement and agreement. Since positions entering into φ-equilibrium
are limited in syntax (Spec-T, Spec-V, etc., where the “matching” LIs, T, V,
etc., can offer unvalued φ-features for agreement), no free merger of a major
subject nP is possible in this language:
(34) a. ∗ Taro, his son failed the entrance examination.
b.∗ Autumn, saury is tasty.
c.∗ Civilized countries, male, the average lifespan is short (with the
intended meaning ‘it is civilized countries that men, their average
lifespan is short in.’)
Still another consequence of Japanese φ-free syntax is that nPs do not form
any φ-equilibrium with their Merge-mates. Thus, they never stabilize or become
invisible via the EIC (27). Therefore, not having any “magnetic” power around,
nPs can freely undergo scrambling (optional dislocation).
(35) Japanese nPs can freely undergo scrambling.
Japanese is a textbook example of a scrambling language, in which nPs can
freely move around as exemplifi ed in (36). This peculiarity now follows as a
consequence of its lack of φ-features.
Feature-equilibria in syntax 23