It is quite remarkable that after over a half-century of generative grammar there is still
uncertainty with respect to the analysis of preverbal subjects in a number of languages.
According to canonical analyses preverbal subjects are arguments (A-elements). However
following non-canonical analyses preverbal subjects are not arguments but rather A'-elements
that behave like topical preverbal direct and indirect objects which have received a CLLD
analysis in the literature (e.g. Cinque 1990). The implications of this debate are far-reaching
for generative theory: if preverbal subjects are non-arguments one must question the
universality of the EPP (as in e.g. Alexiadou & Agnostopoulou 1998) as well as its associated
features and feature-strengths. Galician is an underdocumented Romance language within the
generative paradigm. In this book I develop an experimental program for establishing clausal
word order preferences for a number of information structure contexts. The preference data
suggest that preverbal subjects behave like canonical elements and not CLLD elements. These
results inform the model of the preverbal field that I propose for Galician which also takes
into account the enclisis-proclisis divide and reco.
