EPP Parameter and No A-Scrambling

Abstract

Unlike the GB view, in which an operation, by theory, massively overgenerates, the Minimalist view is that an operation in UG is computationally optimally efficient. So something moves only if it has to move. In this vein, scrambling is a computationally efficient system, because it is triggered only if an object is given contrastive focus (cf. Choi, 2003; Lee & Cho, 2003b). This is in accordance with our proposal that scrambling is driven by the syntactic operation of contrastive focus, not by the EPP on T. Under our system, scrambling is not triggered by match with the EPP on T and further cannot be licensed non-configurationally by the head of the clause, T. The aim of this paper is to show that only the D-feature of overt Case of the subject can check the EPP on T, when the [SPEC, T] parameter occurs. We suggest that the EPP on T is syntactic in that it must only be checked by the D-feature of overt Case of the subject and in effect, this reflects the configurationality of the subject-object canonical order. So no object can undergo scrambling to check the EPP on T. Hence no A-scrambling. Under our approach, the EPP and the [SPEC, T] parameters are independent from one another. The EPP parameter dictates that the D-feature of the TP-subject with overt Case checks the EPP on T, whereas the [SPEC, T] parameter induces the syntactic effect that the position [SPEC, T] is created by merging the surface subject by Move (cf. Chomsky, 2001).