On the German infinitival marker zu and the analysis of raising constructions

Abstract

This paper argues, within the Government-Binding framework, that the German infinitive marker zu is a complementizer morpheme, not an INFL morpheme, as is standardly assumed; and that subject-Raising is possible in the presence of a complementizer, again contrary to the standard view. Treating zu as a complementizer allows for a simple and unified account, not previously available, for the absence of interrogative infinitives, of accusative subjects, and of verb-second effects in infinitives containing zu. The existence of subject-Raising in constructions with zu-infinitives creates a problem insofar as subject-Raising entails S'-deletion — i.e. the absence of a complementizer — according to the standard version of the theory. Since, however, by contrast with other languages, there is no independent evidence for S'-deletion in the relevant constructions of German, it is argued here that the relevant part of the theory — the Empty Category Principle — should be revised so as to permit Raising without S'-deletion in just the German case. The second part of the paper makes a specific proposal to this effect within the terms of Chomsky's (1986) ‘Barriers’ framework.