SVO and EPP in Null Subject Languages and Germanic

Abstract

In this paper we will examine SVO/VS(O) alternations across languages (Greek/Spanish, English, Icelandic ) within the framework of the Minimalist Program (cf. Chomsky 1995) that restricts optional operations. We will argue that SVO in Greek/Spanish involves Left
Dislocation and that inverted orders lack an expletive unlike English/Icelandic. We will propose that although the above holds, Greek/Spanish are strong EPP languages. Crucially, we will propose that there exists a parametrization of EPP checking: UG provides two options; the strong features of Iᵒ can be checked either by Moving or Merging an XP to Spec,IP or by moving the verbal head to Iᵒ provided that this has a set of specific properties. English and Icelandic opt for the first possibility whereas Null Subject Languages (NSLs) for the Move Xᵒ one. In our discussion we will limit ourselves to Greek and Spanish as the most representative NSLs, since other languages that are included in this group, for instance Italian, present further complications. Under this proposal crosslinguistic differences are attributed to irreducible morphological variation and to universal rules, such as Move and Merge which are also governed by the particular morphological properties of the languages in question.