A word order paradox resolved by copy deletion at PF

In this paper I point out a word order paradox in Serbo-Croatian and propose a solution to it. I show that there are data indicating that the subject must move overtly to the highest projection in the split IP, as well as data indicating that it can remain in SpecVP overtly. I argue that the key to resolving the paradox lies in a mechanism of pronunciation of lower copies motivated by PF considerations, similar to the one proposed in Franks (1998) and Bošković (2001, 2002). The mechanism entails that PF has a preference for pronunciation of the highest copy of elements moved in syntax, but that a lower copy can be pronounced in order to avoid a PF violation. I show that in Serbo-Croatian, a PF factor that can affect copy deletion is prosody. The proposed analysis captures extremely free word order of SC as well as discourse effects of scrambling.