Subject-object reversal in Igbo

This paper investigates the reversal construction involving some experiencer psych verbs in Igbo. These are often expressed with inherent complement verbs. The paper argues that the reversal construction is an instance of A-movement and changes grammatical functions as indicated by case distinction and other subject/object tests. I also show that there is no (inherent) quirky case or preposition licensing the experiencers in the constructions. An interesting observation made is the blocking of this reversal when an applied argument is merged in the structure. The analysis assumes that inversion is possible as both experiencer and the complement of the verb are contained in the same VP domain. The applicative has an EPP-feature (McGinnis 2001) that allows only the higher experiencer argument within the VP domain to move to its specifier position accounting for the unavailability of inversion when an applied argument is present.