A Study On The Case Assigner Of The Logical Subject In English Non-finite Clauses

It is generally believed in generative grammar that every argument NP must have Case and it is verbs and prepositions that assign Accusative Case while Nominative Case is assigned by finite T to the subject positions.The objects are assigned Accusative Case in both finite and non-finite clauses.However,the case of the logical subject in non-finite clauses is different.Specific performances are English Absolute Construction(AC)and Exceptional Case Marking(ECM).It is believed that T can't assign Nominative Case to the logical subject in non-finite clauses.So in ECM:I believe[him to be honest].The logical subject of the non-finite clause is assigned Accusative Case by the verb in the matrix clause.However,in AC:[They being away],I had to do the work alone,the logical subject of AC is in the Nominative Case.Since it is assumed in the Case Theory that T in non-finite clause can't assign Nominative Case.Then where is the Nominative Case of the subject in AC from?And what causes the difference in the Case form of the logical subjects between AC and ECM?This paper mainly adopts the theory and methods of Chomsky's generative grammar focusing on the rules of the Case form and Case assigner of non-finite clauses.Specific branches of the generative grammar used in this paper are the Case Theory,Argument Structure,Feature Checking and the Phase Theory.Through analysis,it is found that ECM and AC have the same case assigner rule.Not only the subject of AC is assigned Nominative by T,T assigns Nominative Case to the subjects of all non-finite clauses.However,as T in non-finite clauses has the feature of[-Tense],it is easily influenced by strong Case assigner components in further phase derivation.Especially for ECM,after the subject of ECM is assigned Nominative Case,it locates in the left edge of the phase,in order to enter further phase derivation,it has to move and be detected by the probe in further operation,and then it is assigned Accusative Case by the verb in the matrix clause or preposition.However,AC is not influenced by the strong Case assigner components as an adjunct,so the logical subject is still in the Nominative.In addition,the findings presented in this paper clearly show that both T with the feature of[+Tense]in finite clauses and T with the feature of[-Tense]in non-finite clauses can assign Nominative Case.Thus the idea that T in non-finite clause can't assign Case is proved over.Moreover,this paper gives a unified explanation to the Case assigner issue of T in both finite and non-finite clause.In addition,this paper gives an explanation to the difference and similarities between AC and ECM under the same theoretical framework.