Jaume Solà i Pujols - Departament de Filologia Catalana ...

contrast with Catalan (and Spanish) 0:
(39) Sembra (, che piova/piove)
Seems that rain-SUBJ/rains-IND
'It does look as if it's raining'
Since 0 can be semblar-2 ('mere appearance') it should involve a quasi-Argument. The
CP, however, can be dropped or dislocated, as other CP I-subjects. The fact that it is the CP (and
not the quasi-Argument) which becomes the I-subject therefore contrasts with Catalan and
Spanish. We could assume that in Italian the quasi-Argument is inherently Case-marked and that
AGR can thus be coindexed with the CP. This is obviously nothing but an ad hoc solution. I
leave the question open.
1.4. The EPP and the ECP
Our reformulation of the EPP in 0/0 is a device that determines which DP or CP will
become the I-subject (i.e. will be coindexed with AGR) in a clause. For convenience, we will be
using the non-parameterized version in 0:
0 At D-structure, AGR must be coindexed with the most prominent non-(inherently-)Case-
marked DP or CP in its c-command domain.
Even if we have not fully developed what this device amounts to, we can advance that
our theory is intended to cover all the cases of what is standardly conceived as A-movement.
Specifically, in the following D-structures, 0 determines that the underlined DPs or CPs will
become I-subjects and, in English, these DPs/CPs will ultimately become the main clause
subjects (in a subtler sense in the case of CPs):
1