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

(12) At D-structure, the obligatory AGR (in finite sentences) must be coindexed with the most
prominent non-(inherently)-Case marked DP/CP:
a) in a designated position (such as object).
b) (no restriction)
The b) option would be the unmarked one and is equivalent to 0 above. The more
restrictive a) option would be the option for Basque. It is perhaps no matter of accident that ELs
are less represented, as would be predicted by the markedness characterization in 0.
The obligatory character of AGR-coindexation in 0, which accounts for Burzio's
Generalization when b) is taken, would account, when option a) is taken, for a interesting fact in
Basque: verbs that are usually intransitive-unergative in other languages, are for the most part
'formally transitive' in Basque. So, 'to work' is translated as 'to do work', 'to sleep' as 'to do sleep',
and so on. Since AGR-ABS is the obligatory AGR, it has to be coindexed, according to 0-option
a), to a designated position (object), which therefore has to be always present. Although these
verbs form a rather fixed expression with their objects, they are clearly independent syntactic
constituents, i.e., we are not dealing with lexical incorporation, inasmuch as they are not strictly
adjacent and the object admits some partitive case in polarity contexts:
(13) a. lo egin
1
sleep to-do 'to sleep'
b. Gauez egingo dut lo
by-night to-be-done I-have sleep
'It's by night I will sleep'
c. Bart ez nuen lorik egin
Lat-night not had-I sleep-PART done
'Last night I didn't sleep at all'