On the Subject Condition: A Minimalist Derivation from Copy Formation

This study investigates the Subject Condition, a core instance of island effects under Huang’s (1982) Condition on Extraction Domain (CED), which prohibits extraction from subjects but allows it from objects. Adhering to the Strongest Minimalist Thesis (SMT), we derive this asymmetry without stipulating special constraints, instead relying on properties of Merge and interface conditions. Building on Chomsky’s (2019, 2021, 2023) framework, we eliminate successive-cyclic movement and propose that the Subject Condition arises from copy formation during phase-internal Merge (IM) to SPEC-INFL. Specifically, copy pairs formed by IM render the internal structure of moved elements opaque via Copy-Pair Integrity, blocking sub-extraction from subjects. Objects, lacking obligatory IM, remain transparent. Empirical support is drawn from asymmetries in verb-particle constructions, ECM, topicali- zation, and presuppositional DPs. This account simplifies the grammar, aligns with SMT by reducing computational complexity.