Phi-features and the Modular Architecture of - UMR 7023 - CNRS

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(383) a. Nósi vimos uma cobra atrás de nósi/da gentei
We (nos) saw.1PL a snake behind us (nos/a gente).
b. A gentei viu uma cobra atrás da gentei/nosi. (BPP)
We (a gente) saw.3SG a snake behind us (a gente/nos).
c. A gentei viu a gentei ??(mesmo) na TV
We (a gente) saw our (a gente)-selves on.the TV
(384) a. A gentei devia sei/*nosi preparar para o pior. (like BPP otherwise)
Wei (a gente) should.3SG prepare ourselvesi (se/*nos) for the worst.
b. A gentei devia nosi/sei preparar o pior. (BPP)
Wei (a gente) should.3SG prepare ourselvesi (se/nos) for the worst.
c. A gente devíamos nosi/*sei preparar para o pior. (BPP')
Wei (a gente) should.1PL prepare ourselvesi (*se/nos) for the worst.
d. Nósi devíamos nosi/*sei preparar para o pior. (all varietes)
Wei (a gente) should.1PL prepare ourselvesi (*se/nos) for the worst.
(Brazilian Portuguese, Taylor 2009)
Such mismatches may be approached in a number of ways. Following
Wechsler and Zlatić (2000), on and a gente might be given multiple phi-sets, either
on the same syntactic terminal, or on different ones in a richer DP structure
along the lines of Kayne (1975: 63 note 79, 2007), Collins and Postal (2008), and
Taylor (2009). Here the point of interest is how to ensure that only the 1PL phi-set
be visible to interpretation, and only 3SG to Agree, distinguishing on from 3SG
our group or 1PL we the Niflungs.
A natural means to eliminate the 3SG of on from interpretation is Vocabulary
Insertion. At PF, syntactic structure is clad in PF form and the nature of its content
is thereby transformed. At LF an analogous translation must exist. At a minimum,
it strips Agree-valued uninterpretable phi-features. The 3SG phi-set of on might
also be so removed, and the masculine of French laideron in (373). They must
somehow be marked for deletion, since other lexically specified phi-features on
arguments remain. A possibility is that they are distinguished by occurring on otherwise
contentless elements, on expletives. The phi-features of expletives themselves
are in this situation, including French 3SG il in Il arrive trois filles, lit. 'It
arrives three girls', i.e. 'There arrive three girls'. The phi-set on an otherwise contentless
element might be illegible to LF, and deleted automatically (cf. Chomsky
2000a: 128, 149 note 90, 2001: 7, 16, 1995: 4.5.3, 4.9). There is an interesting further
possibility: it may be a condition on deletion that the eliminated phi-set form
a syntactic dependency with an interpretable one, much as Agree-valued uninterpretable
features must. The 3SG of 1PL on would then have to Agree with 1PL
somewhere, either within the rich structure of on itself, or perhaps within the CP
along the lines discussed in section 6.4 from Bianchi (2006).
Another matter is the invisibility of the interpretive 1PL of on to syntactic
Agree. Perhaps 1PL is added to on during the process that eliminates 3SG,
through Agree with the CP layer of the clause or through Vocabulary Insertion,
and it is not visible earlier. However, 1PL would also be adequately rendered inert