The Case Of Subjects In The Romance Causative

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of the realization of the subject embedded under the Romance causative verb. There is ample evidence that the subject appears inside the embedded VP complement of the causative, and is Case marked by the embedded verb. It is suggested that the embedded verb is endowed with an extra Case marking ability, transmitted from the causative verb. This account explains the distinct patterns of Casemarking that appear on the embedded subject for transitive, unergative, and lexical dative verbs, in both the faire-infinitive and faire par constructions.