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2009-02-15T15:42:35Z

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'''Government''' is a structural relation between a [[governor]] (a head or maximal projection) and a [[governee]]. Government is usually considered to be a necessary condition for [[case-marking]] and for [[proper government]] (see [[ECP]]). A range of near-identical definitions have been proposed, with slightly different empirical predictions in these and other areas. (i) is a typical example of such a definition.

(i) alpha governs beta iff alpha [[c-command]]s beta
and there is no [[barrier]] for beta that [[exclude]]s alpha

The core case of government is the relation between a head and its complement; this case is captured by every existing definition. Thus, in (ii),

(ii) XP
|
X'
| \
X YP
/ |
ZP Y'
| \
Y WP
/ |
UP W'
|
W

X governs its [[complement]] YP, hence can case-mark it (if X is a case-assigning head) and properly govern it (if X is a lexical head). Depending on the definition of barrier, X may or may not govern ZP (with possible consequences for the treatment of [[Exceptional Case Marking]]). The definition of government will usually exclude X governing UP (allowing UP to be an (ungoverned) [[PRO]] subject), but sometimes allows ZP to govern UP (allowing ZP to properly govern UP, if they are coindexed). The c-command (sometimes m-command) clause prevents W from governing ZP, with consequences for the proper government of subjects.

=== Link ===

[http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Government&lemmacode=732 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics]

=== References ===

* Aoun, Y. & D. Sportiche 1983. ''On the formal theory of Government,'' The Linguistic Review 2/3, pp. 211-236
* Chomsky, N. 1986b. ''Barriers,'' MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
* Chomsky, N. 1981. ''Lectures on Government and Binding,'' Foris, Dordrecht.

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[[Category:Syntax]]

Government - Revision history

Wohlgemuth: utrecht