Extended projection principle
Encyclopedia
The Extended Projection Principle (EPP) is a linguistic
hypothesis about the obligatoriness of subjects. It was proposed by Noam Chomsky
as an addendum to the Projection principle
(which it has outlived significantly). The basic idea of the EPP is that clauses must contain an NP
in the subject position (i.e. in the specifier
of TP or IP
, or in the specifier of VP
in languages in which subjects don't raise to TP/IP such as Welsh
).
Most verbs require meaningful subjects—for example, "kick" in "Tom kicked the ball" takes the subject "Tom". However, other verbs do not require (and in fact, do not permit) meaningful subjects—for example, one can say "it rains" but not "the sky rains". The EPP states that regardless of whether the main predicate assigns a meaningful theta role
to a subject, a subject must be present syntactically. As a result, verbs which do not assign external theta roles will appear with subjects that are either dummy pronoun
s (e.g. expletive "it," "there"), or ones which have been moved into subject position from a lower position (e.g. subject of an embedded clause).
Examples which have been proposed to be the result of expletive subject insertion in accordance with the EPP:
Notice that in all of these the overt subject has no referential reading.
In languages that allow pro-drop (such as Spanish or Italian), the empty category PRO
can fulfill the requirement of the EPP.
McCloskey (1996) proposed that there is one group of languages that lacks the EPP: the VSO languages (like Irish), which appear not only to lack expletives, but also to lack movement operations triggered by the EPP.
In his dialogue De ente, Plato states that there cannot be a sentence without a noun [subject] and a verb. Aristotle teaches the same in Peri hermeneias 2: 'Thus, a verb without a subject will mean nothing'. -El Brocense, 1587. This is an early formulation of Chomsky's Extended Projection Principle.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
hypothesis about the obligatoriness of subjects. It was proposed by Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
as an addendum to the Projection principle
Projection principle
The Projection Principle is a stipulation proposed by Noam Chomsky as part of the Phrase Structure Component of Generative-Transformational Grammar. Under the Projection Principle, the properties of lexical items must be preserved while generating the phrase structure of a sentence...
(which it has outlived significantly). The basic idea of the EPP is that clauses must contain an NP
Noun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase, nominal phrase, or nominal group is a phrase based on a noun, pronoun, or other noun-like word optionally accompanied by modifiers such as adjectives....
in the subject position (i.e. in the specifier
Specifier
In X-bar theory in linguistics, specifiers, head words, and complements together form phrases. Specifiers differ from complements because they are not sisters of the head, but rather sisters of the phrase formed by the head and the complement...
of TP or IP
Inflectional phrase
An inflectional phrase or agreement phrase is essentially the same as a sentence in which the verb has finite form.It is a functional phrase which has inflection ....
, or in the specifier of VP
Verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase or VP is a syntactic unit composed of at least one verb and the dependents of that verb. One can distinguish between two types of VPs, finite VPs and non-finite VPs . While phrase structure grammars acknowledge both, dependency grammars reject the existence of a...
in languages in which subjects don't raise to TP/IP such as Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
).
Most verbs require meaningful subjects—for example, "kick" in "Tom kicked the ball" takes the subject "Tom". However, other verbs do not require (and in fact, do not permit) meaningful subjects—for example, one can say "it rains" but not "the sky rains". The EPP states that regardless of whether the main predicate assigns a meaningful theta role
Theta role
In generative grammar , a theta role or θ-role is the formal device for representing syntactic argument structure required syntactically by a particular verb. For example, the verb put requires three arguments...
to a subject, a subject must be present syntactically. As a result, verbs which do not assign external theta roles will appear with subjects that are either dummy pronoun
Dummy pronoun
A dummy pronoun is a type of pronoun used in non-pro-drop languages, such as English....
s (e.g. expletive "it," "there"), or ones which have been moved into subject position from a lower position (e.g. subject of an embedded clause).
Examples which have been proposed to be the result of expletive subject insertion in accordance with the EPP:
- It seemed that John would never calm down.
- It ( rains | snows | hails | etc. ) frequently in Quebec.
- There seems to be a problem with the radiator.
Notice that in all of these the overt subject has no referential reading.
In languages that allow pro-drop (such as Spanish or Italian), the empty category PRO
PRO (linguistics)
PRO is an empty category whose existence is postulated in classical Government and Binding Theory. There are two independent pieces of evidence for its existence: the Extended Projection Principle and theta criterion :*I persuaded John [PRO to read Al Gore's latest...
can fulfill the requirement of the EPP.
McCloskey (1996) proposed that there is one group of languages that lacks the EPP: the VSO languages (like Irish), which appear not only to lack expletives, but also to lack movement operations triggered by the EPP.
In his dialogue De ente, Plato states that there cannot be a sentence without a noun [subject] and a verb. Aristotle teaches the same in Peri hermeneias 2: 'Thus, a verb without a subject will mean nothing'. -El Brocense, 1587. This is an early formulation of Chomsky's Extended Projection Principle.