Subject sharing in Samoan: an investigation of structural properties and missing subjects

This paper investigates the structural peculiarities of subject sharing constructions in Samoan (Polynesian). The puzzle is the absence of the subject in the second conjunct which cannot be c-commanded by the subject in the first conjunct. Therefore, a scope relationship cannot be established. I present novel data which show that Samoan subject sharing constructions structurally differ from clausal coordination in that they involve coordination at FP-level (Collins 2017) rather than at the clausal level. I propose that a promising approach are deletion-based accounts and that an exclusively syntactic analysis cannot derive the construction's properties.