THE SYNTACTIC STATUS OF OBLIQUE SUBJECT IN GERMANIC LANGUAGES

Abstract

The article focuses on the approaches to defining and analysing the syntactic properties of oblique noun phrases in Germanic languages. Two contrasting viewpoints on the syntactic status of oblique subject-like NPs have been presented, and the following set of subjecthood tests that aim at distinguishing oblique subjects and objects has been reviewed: syntactic position, conjunction reduction, reflexivisation, raising, and pro-infinitive. Subjecthood tests do not prove to be utterly conclusive, which is determined by the language or the stage of its development.