PRO Is Still Case-Ungoverned

Abstract

The main purpose of this squib is to show that unlike Lasnik and Uriagereka's (1988) claim, the Case-theoretic approach to the distribution of PRO in English can substantially broaden its empirical coverage if we adopt Park's (1988a) proposal that Chomsky's (1981) PRO-theorem be recast as the PRO-condition, which states that PRO must be Case-ungoverned (or PRO may not be Case-governed). In order to make the PRO-condition work properly, we invoke the Case theory of Chomsky (1986a), where case-marking consists of two separate steps: Case-assignment and Case-realization. We also propose with respect to the Case theory that the adjacency condition on Case-assignment of Stowell (1981) be reinterpreted as a condition for Case-realization. In addition, the Case-absorbing properties of passive morphology will be redressed as the properties that absorb the Case-realizing ability of its host verb.