Abstract
Two arguments are advanced to show that null direct objects in Modern Hebrew are traces of A-bar movement, not instances of pro. To control for formal ambiguity between null objects & VP-ellipsis, Edit Doron's observation that only the latter allows elision of an additional internal argument is applied to construct unambiguous examples of both constructions, with the result that two empirical generalizations emerge: Hebrew null objects are obligatorily inanimate, & VP-ellipsis in Hebrew requires strict verb-stem identity between antecedent & target clauses. Null-object examples incorporating nonelided second arguments & nonidentical verb stems are used to argue that (1) apparent island constraints on null objects reduce to a formal embedding restriction that is anomalous in a pro account of null objects & expected in an A-bar movement account, & (2) null objects display sensitivity to the coordinate structure constraint, a prototypical effect of A-bar movement that is unexpected with pro. 13 References. J. Hitchcock