An Argumental Position for Preverbal Subjects in Bulgarian

Balkan languages present a relatively free word order that allows for the alternation of 5 VO/VSO in unmarked sentences. Current studies in generative grammar consider V 5 0 to be the basic word order for languages such as Bulgarian and Romanian (see Rudin 1992 and Dobrovie-Sorin 1990); SVO is then derived through subject movement to a non-argumental preverbal position. This paper will argue that, in Bulgarian, the 5VO word order is derived by NP-movement and not by fronting, and that the preverbal subject position is an argumental or Aposition. Tests will show that the positions for fronted constituents are hierarchically and typically distinct from the position which receives the subject