Danon, Gabi. 2011. Agreement and DP-Internal feature distribution. Syntax 14(4). 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9612.2011.00154.x.

Abstract⌗

An implicit assumption in most Minimalist work is that DP as a whole carries all the phi-features with which external heads agree. In this paper I argue that under this assumption and the assumption that only a node that is phi-complete can delete the phi-features of a node with which it agrees, Chomsky’s (2000, 2001) model of feature valuation is incompatible with a large body of work on the DP-internal distribution of phifeatures, according to which neither N nor D enter the derivation being phi-complete. I consider several possible solutions, and argue that this problem can most easily be avoided by adopting a feature sharing model of the operation Agree, as proposed by Frampton & Gutmann (2006) and Pesetsky & Torrego (2007). Finally, several implications for Chomsky’s theory of abstract Case are also discussed.

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