Impersonal Constructions in Old English : A Semantic Relation Approach

Impersonal Constructions in Old English : A Semantic Relation Approach

Impersonal construction in Old English exhibits some peculiar syntactic properties. It often lacks a nominative Case-marked subject but still can have an oblique Case-marked argument exhibiting subjecthood. Moreover, a nominative Case-marked argument sometimes occurs with yielding shades of interpretation. This study argues that those idiosyncrasies of impersonal construction cannot be properly illuminated under the conventional account based on theta structure. Alternatively, the assumption is adopted that an argument is representative of semantic relations rather than a theta role. Within the minimalist framework, the assumption suggests that only an argument carrying the semantic relation erg, whether nominative Case-marked or not, be eligible for external merge into a specifier of vP, claiming structural superiority over other non-erg arguments in impersonal construction. The erg argument subsequently undergoes movement into a specifier of TP to become a grammatical subject. The semantic relation analysis proves that the issues addressed here can be answered through semantic relations associated with each argument in impersonal construction. The analysis also supports the VO hypothesis of Old English and the postulation of the EPP or ace features independent from Case and agreement relations.