SUBCATEGORIZATION INHERITANCE IN OLD-ENGLISH P-V COMPOUNDS

This article deals with the relation between subcategorization and the notion head in OE [P-V] compounds. Many morphosyntactic properties su ch as category and morphological class percolate from the head to the mother. Subcategorization, however, can percolate to the mother from a nonhead as well as from the head. This is evident from the comparison of their case government properties. This paper shows that the proces s of ARGUMENT ATTRACTION developed within Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar permits a straightforward account of this phenomenon.