The Raising of Subject and its Association with Phase Theory in Persian and Kurdish

Mojgan Osmani, Saeed Rafsanjani Nejad, Dr. Mohammad Dabir Moghaddam & Arsalan Golfam,

Tarbiat Modares University, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Allameh Tabataba'i University &  Tarbiat Modares University, Iran

In this paper, the movement of the subject from the embedded clause to the matrix clause is studied in terms of Phase Theory. Chomsky (2001) argued that the verbs having full propositional structure are phases, while verbs which do not have a full propositional structure are not phases. This paper reviewed the literature and argues that the movement of the subject from the embedded clause to the matrix clause having two-place or three-place predicate happens through the specifier of the vP of the matrix clause on the grounds that the moved subject, undergoing A-bar movement, receives ‘ra’ or ‘bo’ from the verb of the matrix clause, then it can go to a functional node. The moved subject is licensed to appear in the matrix clause with ‘ra’ in Persian and with ‘bo’ in Kurdish and it can only receive these functional markers in the specifier of the vP of the matrix clause. In line with Chomsky (200), the appearance of ‘ra’ and ‘bo’ with the moved subject in Persian and Kurdish respectively shows that the ‘vP’ of two place predicates and three-place predicates are phases.

The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Third International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.LLLD.IR), 31 January-1February 2019 , Iran-Ahwaz.


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