Case in Conflict: Embedded Subjects in Mongolian

Abstract

In Mongolian the subject of embedded object clauses can occur not only in the morphologically unmarked form, but also in the accusative. Sidestepping the question whether these NPs are raised to object position, we focus here on the conditions underlying this alternation. The results of two questionnaires indicate that the accusative is clearly preferred if the embedded subject is immediately preceded by and more prominent than the matrix subject (otherwise both the unmarked and the accusative forms are possible and there is no clear preference). We explain this by the interaction of three principles: (i) the prominence principle (P1), stating that the most prominent NP in a sequence of NPs is the matrix subject, (ii) the accusative principle (P2), stating that an accusative marked NP is not the matrix subject, and (iii) the first argument principle (P3), stating that the first NP in a sequence of NPs is the matrix subject. If the first NP in a sequence of NPs is followed by a more prominent morphologically unmarked NP, then P1 and P3 conflict, predicting low acceptability judgements. Assuming that case morphology, unlike word order information, overrides the prominence principle, no conflict arises if the second NP is accusative, resulting in better acceptability judgements.