[+ARB] SUBJEKT V ČEŠTINĚ
[+ARB] SUBJECT IN CZECH

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on two Czech constructions sharing [+arb] interpretation of the subject, namely the reflexive verbal form (henceforth RVF and infinitival constructions in the subject position of a clause, the subject of which is understood as an arbitrary human agent (i.e. [+arb]). I put forward a generative analysis of the RVF based on the assumption that the clitic se is a structurally deficient element with an incomplete set of φ-features, lacking the highest functional projection DP in syntax. On these grounds both syntactic and semantic properties of the RVF are accounted for. I arrive at the following generalization concerning the [+arb] interpretation of the RVF: Syntactic elements that lack both the DP (i.e. independent reference) and a proper antecedent (i.e. coreference), get a default interpretation [+arb]. This conclusion is further corroborated by the same semantic properties of infinitival constructions in the subject position where the deficient subject pronoun PRO finds itself in the same syntactic configuration as the clitic se in the RVF.

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