Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure

In addition to the division in Case theory between structural and non-structural Case, the theory must distinguish two kinds of nonstructural Case: lexical Case and inherent Case. Lexical Case is idiosyncratic Case, lexically selected and licensed by certain lexical heads (certain verbs and prepositions). Inherent Case is more regular, associated with particular θ-positions: inherent dative Case with DP goals, and ergative Case with external arguments. Lexical and inherent Case turn out to be in complementary distribution with respect to θ-positions: only themes/internal arguments may have lexical Case, and only external arguments and DP goals may have inherent Case. This complementary distribution can be…