Agreement with the post-verbal DP in Polish dual copula clauses

Abstract

The chapter examines agreement in Polish dual copula clauses, hosting both the verbal and the pronominal copula. The focus is on predicational and specificational dual copula clauses, in which the verbal copula agrees in φ‎-features with the post-verbal item, not with the pre-verbal one, when both nominal expressions are 3rd person. T in Polish dual copula clauses is taken to be a multiple probe, which has its φ‎-features valued by one of the goals it undergoes Agree with, while T’s EPP-feature is eliminated by the other goal. Divorcing the satisfaction of the EPP-feature of T from its φ‎-feature valuation accounts for the agreement with the post-verbal DP in both types of clauses analysed. The person hierarchy, in which 3rd person is subordinate to 1st and 2nd person, explains why in dual copula clauses with the 1st or 2nd person pronoun, the 1st or 2nd person pronoun always determines verbal agreement.