Spec of IP and spec of VP: Two subjects in Austronesian languages

In this paper we claim that certain facts from four Austronesian languages provide striking support for the claim that there is a VP-internal subject position in addition to the traditional subject position of SPEC of IP. We show (i) that subject-sensitive properties may be split between SPEC of VP and SPEC of IP, theta-sensitive properties (such as binding and control) associated with the former and structure-sensitive properties (such as extraction and quantifier float) with the latter; (ii) that word order facts about these four Austronesian languages as well as variations among the languages follow from the assumption that the two subject positions may be licensed simultaneously at S-structure. Lastly, we show that the proposed analysis of Austronesian phrase structure allows the placement of Austronesian languages within a typology of passive.

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