The uniform Case-licensing of subjects in Welsh

The analysis of PRO, NP-trace, & overt subjects in Welsh infinitival clauses is presented within a generative framework. It is argued that the subjects of all Welsh clause types are Case-licensed clause-internally. With regard to finiteness, tense, & agreement, it is noted that Welsh inflected infinitivals display subject agreement; some are finite, others nonfinite, although none contains a tensed verb. To support the analysis, data from various types of dependent clauses are examined, including the two major types of infinitival clauses, i 'to, for' clauses & bod 'be' clauses. It is proposed that in Modern Welsh bod is the only infinitival verb that can raise as high as AgrS. Welsh i-clauses fall into two broad types: those in which i is a complementizer & those in which i is inflectional, base-generated in T-zero, & raising to AgrS. Two other complementizers are found in control constructions: o & zero. The properties that distinguish inflectional i from the complementizers i, o, & zero are that inflectional i (1) licenses overt subjects by raising to AgrS, while complementizers do not; (2) inflects overtly when the subject is pronominal, whereas complementizers never inflect; (3) is obligatory, while complementizers are lexically determined; & (4) can never appear in clausal subjects, while complementizer i can. 62 References. Adapted from the source document