Expletive Inversion

Abstract

What is traditionally referred to as ‘free’ subject inversion is associated primarily with null-subject languages such as Italian, Spanish and Catalan. Non-null subject languages like French and English exhibit a rather more restricted form of inversion, in which the high preverbal subject position (usually identified as spec-TP or spec-IP) is occupied by an expletive element and the phrase corresponding to a Spanish/Italian-style postverbal subject is referred to as the expletive’s ‘associate’. I will refer to this type of construction as expletive inversion. The sentences below provide illustrations from French and English:

• (1) Il est arrivé quelque chose de très drôle. ‘Something very strange happened.’

• (2) Il est paru une nouvelle édition de son livre. ‘A new edition of his book has appeared.’

• (3) Il a surgi certaines difficultés au dernier moment. ‘Certain problems emerged at the last minute.’

• (4) There followed a period of instability.

• (5) There appeared a squadron of riot police.

• (6) As the afternoon faded there approached a sailboat from the north.