PRO Theorem - Pluto Huji Ac Il

SYNTACTIC THEORY Y. N. Falk
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The only ungoverned position that arguments can occupy is [SPEC, IP] (subject position) in nonfinite
CPs without the prepositional complementizer for. Using italics for governors and
boldface for barriers:
VP
V
V CP
C
C IP
DP I
PRO I …
I doesn’t govern PRO because nonfinite I isn’t a governor. C doesn’t govern PRO because it is
empty. This is why for is ungrammatical in control sentences. Finally, while V is a governor, it
can’t govern PRO because CP is a barrier and it intervenes between V and PRO. In CP-less
constructions (ECM and Raising) the verb does govern the complement subject position, and
PRO is ungrammatical.
What about Case? If PRO is ungoverned, it is not Case-marked. We have already seen another
non-Case-marked element: the trace of NP-movement. What both of these have in common is
that they are empty categories. So we can restate the Case Filter as:
All overt DPs must have a Case.
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