The purpose of this paper is to investigate agreement-feature checking and English root infinitives in child language from the perspective of Minimalist Program. To explain this apparent derivation from the target adult gram- mar, researchers have elaborated two main models. One is the Tense Omission Model and the other is the Truncation Model. Wexler (1994) proposes in the former that an optional infinitive clause arises when the child leaves the tense feature underspecified in a given clausal represen- tation. Rizzi (1993/1994) proposes in the latter that the Root Infinitive reduces structures that result from the option of truncating structures at different levels of the clausal architecture. A further expectation would be that nominative Case is not assigned properly if AgrP is not yet projected. In the Minimalist Program, T inherits Agree-feature from C, but root infinitive clauses don`t have TP. Therefore, in children`s speech, functional projections are truncated below CP. The phenomena of early language acquisition reflects the process of acquiring functional categories as children grow.

Lee, Sang-Oh. 1999. Chain Formation by Feature Checking and Scope Ambiguity. Studies in Modern Grammar 17, 123-140. This paper aims at providing a plausible explanatory mechanism on the relative scope ambiguity between quantifiers in one sentence. Aoun & Li`s (1989, 1993) Minimal Binding Requirement and Scope Princsple, which have explained such ambiguity relations between quantifiers, leave some technical and conceptional problems in that some stipulations are to be required. However, the newly formed chains based on feature-checking in the minimalist theory suggested in Kitahara(1993), i.e., the distinct chains formed by feature-checking motivation based on the minimalist theory, give clear ways of explanation on the scope ambiguity between quantifiers in a sentence without any stipulations. Thus, following the present trends treating relative scope ambiguity relations without recourse to the rule of Quantifier Raising(QR) could be crucially supported by this kind of feature-checking approach to the scope ambiguity between quantifiers. Furthermore, it supports the argument for the quantification theory without recourse to the rule of QR.

Dongseok Kim. 1998. Feature Checking in CP and the That-t Effect. Studies in Modern Grammatical Theories 12, 83-102. This paper briefly reviews the ECP and the minimalist theoretic accounts of the that-t effect, and proposes that the that-t effect together with the adverb effect can be adequately explained with the assumption that the [+Q]-feature of the subject wh-phrase is directly attracted by the strong [+Q]-feature of C(i.e. the complementary categorial feature of C) whereas the wh-phrase moves through the [SPEC, CP] of the embedded clauses, if any. In the analysis proposed in this paper, that; if, etc., which have been taken to be complementizers, are reanalyzed as C-checkers, and the that-t effect is captured by the Case checking mechanism in CP. Under the hypothesis that the subject wh-phrase moves from the vP-internal position to [SPEC, CP] for Case feature checking the that-t effect appears when the [-Q]-feature of C is checked by a C-checker with phonological features which do not permit T-to-C raising. The account on this track has the advantage, over the existing analyses, of reducing the chain formed by movement of a wh-subject to a uniform A´-chain, and taking complementizers to be null categories in conformity with the other functional categories such as T, v, etc.

Yong-Suck Kim. 1966. A Study on the Feature-Checking Theory of Reflexives: Focusing on the Reflexivization in Korean. Studies in Modern Grammatical Theories 8: 91-127. The main goal of this study is to argue that the various types of anaphora, displayed by Korean reflexives, can be explained in terms of a reformulated version of feature-checking theory along the line of Chomsky`s(1992, 1999) minimalist theory. As a result from this study, it comes to light that all kinds of Korean reflexives, including X^0 reflexives, except the caki type are analyzed as complex reflexive NP consisting of a pronominal element, either overt or covert, and a reflexive element, as analogous to English reflexive, him+self. These internal elements of reflexives must move up to the relevant positions within the upper functional category DP at LF level for their feature-checking respectively, which virtually gives rise to another movement of D (or DP in some instance) for the identification of its feature-variables by higher AGR. It also turns out under the argumentation that the subject-orientation of reflexives may be captured by the `subject-orientation principles for reflexives,` proposed here under the feature-checking theory of reflexives.

The purpose of this paper is to show the basic outline of recent Minimalist Theory(particularly focused on Attract-F) suggested by Chomsky (1993, 1995), and to reveal the superiority of the theory to the other previous theories on there-constructions. In Chomsky`s Attract-F approach, feature [D] on there is checked against the strong feature [D] on T, the NP adjjoined to there in LF has its Case feature and φ-feature checked off against those of T, and the object-NP in the embedded infinitive is adjoined to the higher V in LF in order to have its Case and φ-featuers checked off. Partititive case approach is exceptional because the partitive case is assigned through government but all the other morphological feafures are checked through Spec-Head agreement. The analysis where the strength of feature on T is weakened can also be incorporated into the Attract-F approach. The theory where there is considered a defective` NP has been developed into the Attract-F approach. In conclusion, so fas as the Attract-F concerned, it is the most effective theory in the analysis of there-constructions.