Abstract
Under the radical shift of perspective due to the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995), many theoretical principles of the generative framework need to be revised and deeply rethought. This paper proposes a reflection about the impact of this new revolution on two central aspects of subject syntax, namely the Extended Projection Principle and the Null Subject Parameter. The paper is articulated through the comparison of a number of typological unrelated languages : 1) S(...)V non pro-drop languages, such as English, French and German ; 2) pro-drop languages such as Italian ; 3) VS languages such as Irish. This brief survey leads us to conclude that both aspects of Subject syntax cannot be derived under the most elementary mechanisms of minimalism. They remain on the contrary two autonomous components of the theory : EPP a primitive of Universal Grammar concerning the domain of Tense ; pro-drop an independent parameter defined in terms of activation of a specific functional projection : AgrP
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