VP Anaphor, the SIH, and the ISH: The case of infinitives

Abstract. This paper gives an account of some restrictions in the application of null VP Anaphor in English infinitives, showing how the Internal Subject Hypothesis and the Split Inflection Hypothesis affect the assumptions on which previous analyses were based. The ECP and the temporal interpretation of the infinitive are demonstrated to be irrelevant for licensing null VPs in English infinitival clauses. It is shown that VP Anaphor is better analyzed as involving deletion at the PF level or on the way to it, and that it can be applied if the antecedent and target VP are "identical" at LF. It also appears that independent conditions concerning the checking of features of infinitival have and be affect VP deletion applicability.