The case of accusative embedded subjects in Mongolian

Abstract

In Mongolian there are a number of subordinate clauses in which the form of the subordinate clause subject alternates between the morphologically unmarked nominative case and the morphologically marked accusative case. We argue that in at least some instances the accusative marking of embedded subjects should not be analysed as a consequence of subject-to-object raising, but as differential (embedded) subject marking. This argument is based on the one hand on evidence that in some cases the accusative embedded subject is a constituent of the subordinate clause, and on the other hand on evidence that even if these accusative NPs are constituents of the matrix clause they do not show direct object properties. We conclude that these accusative subjects are not raised to object, and propose instead that the accusative marking of embedded subjects is motivated by the need to (morphologically) distinguish similar adjacent subject NPs across clause boundaries.