IP - The Inflectional Phrase
The term subject has played a relatively subordinate role in generative grammar. Constituent analysis, however, can provide a relatively simple definition: The subject of a sentence occupies the specifier position of IP (INFL Phrase). It is normally realized by a NP. Thus, IP can be considered as the sentence proper.
I' can thus be treated as the traditional predicate, where INFL, as its head, determines the inflectional aspects of the main verb. In English as in many other languages, INFL may contain complete words; other languages, e.g. Latin, fill INFL with inflectional affixes:
- I [ have ] loved ama-[ vi ]
- I [ will ] love ama-[ bo ]
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The rule system
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| 1. | IP | ⇨ | NP I' |
| 2. | I' | ⇨ | I(NFL) VP |