Passivization, Structural Case and A’-movement in Double Object Constructions of American and British English

This paper investigates immobility of A-moved/passivized DO and A’-moved IO in double object constructions of American English, in contrast to mobility of both IO and DO in those of British English. To account for the issue at hand, we propose that there is a strong connection between structural Case and A’-movement. In other words, if IO always receives structural Case as clearly manifested by passivization in a certain language, it cannot undergo A’-movement in that language. We suggest, following Rizzi (1996, 1997) and Rizzi and Shlonsky (2007), that structural Case brings about so-called freezing effects, blocking further movement for a relevant expression.