The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface

This paper proposes a novel analysis of the shift to the strict VO word order in the history of English. We begin with pointing out that the previous accounts of this shift are problematic at least for two reasons. First, they do not explain why at some point in its history English became a strict word order language, nor why it became strict VO rather than strict OV. Second, they do not capture a number of diachronic and cross-linguistic facts. We provide a principled account of the shift to the strict VO under which these facts fall into place. We argue that the setting of strict VO in English was necessitated by the loss of m(orphological)-case on nominals. This follows from a theory in which the presence of zero case exponents requires local licensing at the PF interface.