Suggested Answers and Hints - Chapter 6Q7 Both negation and VP adverbs can precede the tense element but they can never
precede the modal in I. Furthermore, neither negation nor VP adverbs can adjoin to a
VP whose head has moved out of it. VP adverbs can also adjoin to any vP while
negation will have to appear between the tense vP and the rest of the vP or VP. In
addition a VP adverb can also be adjoined to I-bar (i.e. it does appear before a tensed
verb) when there are only two options available for it in a clause: either it precedes
tense or follows the thematic verb. This situation arises in clauses that contain only one
verb form (e.g. They always met in the park).
Q8 The head of a light verb vP assigns a theta role whereas the head of tense vP
does not, thus the specifier position of the latter, but not the former, is always empty.
Q9 Nominative case found on subjects of finite clauses is assumed to be assigned
under specifier–head agreement. Accusative case, on the other hand, is assumed to
involve a specific relationship between case-assigner and case-assignee: government.
Thus, it seems that no unitary configuration exists for case assignment: it can appear
both to the left and to the right.Exercise 1
Following the Case Filter, which states that all DPs must have Case, we have to
assume that these DPs have case. Case assigners are verbs, prepositions and the finite
inflection. Case assigners must be ‘close’ enough to the DP to be able to assign case to
it. Finite I can assign nominative Case to its specifier position only, while verbs and
prepositions can assign accusative Case to their complement DP or to the DP in the
specifier position of their complement.a) In sentence John met Mary in the park there are four DPs. The DP John has
nominative Case as when it is substituted with a pronoun that displays overt Case
marking the pronoun has nominative Case in this position. Nominative Case is
assigned by the finite inflection, as nominative Case is available only for subject DPs
in finite clauses. The DP ‘Mary’ has accusative Case assigned by the verb. The DP
‘the park’ gets accusative Case from the preposition ‘in’.
b) In sentence For me to survive this week will be quite difficult there are two DPs,
both in the subject subordinate clause. The subject DP has no nominative Case. As we
have seen earlier non-finite I filled with the infinitival marker to cannot assign Case, at
all. In fact, the DP does not have nominative Case. It has accusative Case assigned by
the complementiser for. The object DP of the subordinate clause gets Case from the
verb survive.
c) In sentence Everybody goes to see the painting the subject DP everybody gets
nominative Case from the finite I of the sentence. The object DP is assigned accusative
by the verb see.
d) Sentence John persuaded Bill to go to see a doctor is a complex sentence. Its
structure is superficially very similar to sentence (1b), but the structure of the two
sentences is not identical. The verb persuade has three arguments. It has an agent, a
patient and a proposition argument. The agent DP gets nominative Case from the finite