Basic English Syntax with Exercises

exceptional verb

7.2 The Clause as CP

In the next chapter we will argue that these are exceptional verbs and do not behave like the others in that they take IP non-finite complements. Exceptions aside however, the conclusion is that the majority of non-finite complement clauses seem to be, like the finite ones, CPs. Hence a general conclusion seems to be that complement clauses are always CPs.

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Given that clauses are normally CPs, a clause which only has an IP status is an exception. Hence, such clauses are known as exceptional clauses and the verbs which take exceptional clauses as their complements, i.e. verbs like believe, are known as exceptional verbs. Finally the process of assigning Case to the subject of an exceptional clause is sometimes called Exceptional Case Marking, or ECM for short.

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Below are a few examples of exceptional verbs:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Thus it is only the non-finite complement of exceptional verbs that are IPs.

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Another observation that supports the claim that the subject of the exceptional clause is Case marked by the light verb of the exceptional verb is that these verbs can undergo passivisation. Recall that in English it is only verbs which have a Case assigning light verb that can undergo the process, which we described as the replacement of the agentive or experiencer light verb with the passive morpheme which neither assigns a Θ-role to the subject position nor assigns Case to the specifier of the VP. Consider what happens when an exceptional verb is passivised:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Before closing this section, we will point out that there are some verbs which might look like exceptional verbs, but which are probably not. The most notorious of these is the verb want. This verb appears in structures that are remarkably similar to those involving exceptional verbs:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Here we have a complement clause which is non-finite and has an overt subject. The fact that this subject can be replaced by an accusative pronoun him shows that the subject is in an accusative position, just like we get with an exceptional verb. However, unlike exceptional verbs, this verb cannot passivise:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

If this were an exceptional verb, there would be no problem in passivising it. In this way, want behaves like a non-exceptional verb such as hope:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

Presumably the reason why the subject cannot move out of the non-finite clause is because this is a CP, not an IP. Besides, passivising the verb would not affect the non-finite clause’s subject as this does not get its Case from the light verb, but from the complementiser. But if this is the reason why want does not passivise, then we must conclude that it has a CP complement, not an IP, i.e. it is not an exceptional verb. If the complement of want is a CP, then its subject must get its Case from a complementiser, but there is no complementiser visible in (21). However, the complementiser can be made visible by separating the clause from the verb by an intervening adjunct:

8.1.1 Clauses without CP

As can be predicted, the same thing does not happen with exceptional verbs, whose complements are not CPs in the first place:

8.2.1 Raising

A first issue to decide on is whether the embedded clause has the status of a CP or an IP. We saw in the previous section that some verbs select for IP non-finite complement clauses while others do not. The question we need to answer, then, is whether verbs like seem are exceptional verbs or not. There is reason to believe that these verbs are exceptional, as they never take a non-finite complement with a for complementiser:

8.2.1 Raising

Another structure which bears a remarkable similarity to raising structures concerns the passive exceptional verb. From what we know about the properties of exceptional verbs and the process of passivisation, it can be predicted that they will behave very much like raising verbs. As we know, an exceptional verb can take a non-finite IP complement. Normally there will be an accompanying light verb and this will assign Case to the DP subject of the complement clause. When we passivise a verb, we replace the light verb with the passive morpheme, which neither assigns a Θ-role to the subject, nor a Case to the complement. This, then, is the same set of properties that raising verbs have. We can see that such verbs do indeed behave like raising verbs:

8.2.1 Raising

When the exceptional verb has a finite complement, the subject of this clause will not move as it gets Case from its own finite inflection, making movement unnecessary. When the clause is non-finite however, its subject will not receive Case from the non-finite I and moreover will not get it from the light verb of the exceptional verb as this will have been exchanged for the passive morpheme. Thus movement will be necessary:

8.2.1 Raising

When the exceptional verb has a finite complement, the subject of this clause will not move as it gets Case from its own finite inflection, making movement unnecessary. When the clause is non-finite however, its subject will not receive Case from the non-finite I and moreover will not get it from the light verb of the exceptional verb as this will have been exchanged for the passive morpheme. Thus movement will be necessary:

8.2.2 Control

If PRO must avoid Case positions, we predict that we should not be able to go in the subject position of the non-finite complement of a exceptional verb, as this is a position assigned Case by the light verb of the exceptional verb. This expectation is indeed fulfilled: