Expletive structures can be recognized by the presence of there at the beginning of the sentence. Previous studies claim that there is not present through merge operations at the numeration level, but it enters into the syntax structure at the interface level of the Logical Form through Expletive Insertion Rules (EIR). There is a claim that there is no subject-to-subject movement in the expletive structure because there is generated directly to the subject position [Spec,TP]. Therefore, this study aims to re-evaluate this view and present an analysis based on morphosyntactic feature research. The data used in this study was taken from a corpus of three selected online novels based on the highest number of readers. The data type selected is the expletive construction of there only. The selected data is analyzed through the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 2015). Through the corpus, this study found two expletive structures that are rarely discussed, namely BE-post-Expl and V-post-Expl. In vP Shell analysis, this study found that there is actually generated at the [Spec,vP] position due to the feature checking requirements [uExpl] brought by the small v node. However, subject-to-subject movement occurs when there moves to the subject position [Spec,TP] due to the need to check the feature [uExpl] assumed to be brought by the Tense. This proves that there is not generated at the Logical Form interface level, but rather there is a merge operation at the numeration level in the computational system. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of the expletive structure based on morphosyntactic feature research.

Keywords: expletive; there; morphosyntactic features; subject raising; vP shell

Abdel-Ghafer, O., & Jarbou, S. (2015). An existential expletive: fii of Jordanian Arabic. Folia Linguistica, 49(1), 159-184. https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2015-0005

Abdullah, S., Aziz, R. A., & Kamaruddin, R. (2021). Lexical Verbs in Verb-Noun Collocations: Empirical Evidence from a Malay ESL Learner Corpus. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 27(4). http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2021-2704-11

Adger, D. (2003). Core Syntax: A Minimalist Approach. United Kingdom: University of London.

Alimi, K. F., Ayob, A. H., Abdullah, A. R., Sultan, F. M. M., & Karuppannan, G. (2021). Effectiveness of English Language E-learning among Tertiary Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 3L: Language, Linguistics & Literature®, 24(7), 56-71.

Barðdal, J., & Eythórsson, T. (2003). Icelandic vs. German: Oblique subjects, agreement and expletives. In Proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 39(1), 755-773.

Biberauer, T. (2010). Semi null-subject languages, expletives and expletive pro reconsidered. Parametric variation: Null subjects in minimalist theory, 153-99.

Broekhuis, H., & Keizer, E. (2012). Syntax of Dutch, Noun and Noun Phrases, Volume I. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Carnie, A. (2006). Syntax: A Generative Introduction. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.

Chang, C., & Mikkelsen, L. (2005). On existentials, locatives, and the definiteness effect in Korean. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.

Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Chomsky, N. (2015). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Creissels, D. (2014). Existential predication in typological perspective. Ms: Université Lyon.

Cruschina, S. (2012). Focus in Existential Sentences. United Kingdom: University of Manchester Press.

Cruz, M. P. (2018). Expressive APs and expletive NPs revisited: Refining the extant relevance-theoretic procedural account. Lingua, 205, 54-70.

Crystal, D. (2008). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.

Czinglar, C. (2002). Decomposing existence: Evidence from Germanic. In In Issues in Formal German(ic) Typology, Abraham W Zwart J.-W eds., pp. 85–126. Amsterdam, John Benjamins.

Deal, A. R. (2009). The origin and content of expletives: Evidence from “selection”. Syntax, 12(4), 285-323. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9612.2009.00127.x

Djuikui, D. C., Auger, J., & Tremblay, M. (2020). A Real-time Analysis of the Variable Use of Expletive'il'in Montréal French. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 26(2), 8.

Gluckman, J., & Bowler, M. (2016). Expletive agreement, evidentiality, and modality in Logooli. In Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 25, 1063-1082. https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v26i0.3935

Håkansson, D. (2017). Transitive expletive constructions in Swedish. Nordic Journal of Linguistics,40(3), 255-285. https://doi:10.1017/S0332586517000208

Halevy, R. (2018). The existential construction and its type shifting instances in colloquial Modern Hebrew. La Prédication existentielle dans les langues naturelles: valeurs et repérages, structures et modalités.

Holmberg, A. (2000). Scandinavian stylistic fronting: How any category can become an expletive. Linguistic inquiry, 31(3), 445-483. https://doi.org/10.1162/002438900554406

Holmberg, A., & Nikanne, U. (2002). Expletives, subjects, and topics in Finnish. Subjects, expletives, and the EPP, 71-106.

Huumo, T. (2003). Incremental existence: The world according to the Finnish existential sentence. Linguistics, 41, 461–493.

Ihm, H. B., Kyung, P. H., & Suk, I. C. (2001). Korean Grammar for International Learners. Seoul: Yonsei UP.

Joharry, S. A., Turiman, S., & Kamil, M. A. (2021). How has the Nation Been Coping? A Corpus Analysis of Malaysian Letters to the Editor in Another COVID-19 Community-Wide Containment. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 27(4). http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2021-2704-04

Jun, Y. (2000). Existential Construction in Korean. Eoneohag, 27, 261-280.

Kayne, R. (2008). Expletives, datives, and the tension between morphology and syntax. The limits of syntactic variation, 132, 175-217.

Kayne, R. (2020). Notes on expletive there. The Linguistic Review, 37(2), 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1515/tlr-2019-2042

Light, C. (2015). Expletive there in West Germanic. Syntax over time: Lexical, morphological, and information-structural interactions, 17-35.

Lozano, C. (2012). Knowledge of expletive and pronominal subjects by learners of Spanish. ITL-International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 135(1), 37-60.

Manoharan, S. R., Tan, K. H., & Sultan, F. M. M. (2022a). A comparison of Online Learning Challenges between young learners and adult learners in ESL classes during the Covid-19 pandemic: Critical Review. Theory And Practice in Language Studies, 12(1), 28-35.

Manoharan, S. R., Tan, K. H., & Sultan, F. M. M. (2022b). The Impact of Debriefing Strategy in ESL Online Classroom. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER), 21(3), 247-262.

Marten, L. (2013). Structure and interpretation in Swahili existential constructions. Rivista di Linguistica. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 25, 45–73.

Matthews, P. H. (2007). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

McNally, L. (2016). Existential sentences crosslinguistically: Variations in form and meaning. Annual Review of Linguistics. 2016; 2: 211-231.

Müller, S., & Ørsnes, B. (2011). Positional expletives in Danish, German, and Yiddish. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, University of Washington, USA (pp. 167-187).

Nomoto, H. (2006). A Study on Complex Existential Sentences in Malay. Disertasi Sarjana yang tidak diterbitkan. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Partee, B. H., & Borschev, V. (2007). Existential sentences, BE, and the genitive of negation in Russian. In Existence: Semantics and syntax, Comorovski I von Heusinger K eds., pp. 147–190. Dordrecht, Springer.

Platzack, C. (1983). Existential sentences in English, German, Icelandic and Swedish. In Papers from the 7th Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics, 80–100.

Radford, A. (2009). Analysing English Sentences: A Minimalist Approach. United States of America: Cambridge University Press.

Radzi, H., Sultan, F. M. M., Jalaluddin, N. H., & Ahmad, Z. (2012). Analisis bahasa komunikasi bangsa minoriti Negrito menerusi pengimbuhan dan peminjaman kata. GEMA Online™ Journal of Language Studies, 12(3), 885 - 901.

Sadjirin, R., Aziz, R. A., Baharum, N. D., Nordin, N., & Ismail, M. R. (2020). Preliminary Analysis of Malaysian Corpus of Financial English (MaCFE). 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 26(2). http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2020-2602-14

Saito, M. (2006). Expletive Replacement Reconsidered: Evidence from Expletive Verbs in Japanese. In Patrick Brandt and Eric Fuss, eds., Form, Structure, and Grammar: A Festschrift Presented to Günther Grewendorf on Occasion of His 60th Birthday, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 255-273.

Sultan, F. M. M. (2011). The syntactic structure of a noun phrase: Austroasiatic vs. Austronesia. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 19(1), 263-271.

Sultan, F. M. M., Ahmad, Z., Jalaluddin, N. H., & Radzi, H. (2011). Kata Soal Bila Dalam Dialek Kedah Melayu Baling: Satu Analisis Sintaksis. GEMA Online™ Journal of Language Studies, 11(1), 69-80.

Sultan, F. M. M., & Othman, S. A. B. (2021). Frasa topik dan fokus dalam bahasa Melayu: Analisis program minimalis. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 21(2), 195-214.

Sultan, F. M. M., & Ramli, M. R. (2015). Kata Ganti Nama dalam Bahasa Mendriq. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 15(3), 67-82.

Sultan, F. M. M., & Suhaimi, N. (2012). Kata Soal Dalam Dialek Kedah. GEMA Online™ Journal of Language Studies, 12(2), 475 - 493.

Svenonius, P. (2002). Subjects, Expletives, and the EPP: Oxford: Comparative Syntax Publishing.

Taha, M., Sultan, F. M. M., & Yasin, S. M. (2017). The morphosyntax of causative construction In Sudanese Arabic Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 25(2): 419-428.

Wesseling, F. (2018). There is more: Variation in expletive constructions in Dutch. Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics.

Wolfe, S. (2018). Probing the syntax of a problematic particle: Old French ‘si’revisited. Transactions of the Philological Society, 116(3), 332-362. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968X.12123

Zawawi, A. S. A. A., & Sultan, F. M. M. (2023). Analisis Ada Sebagai Kata Kerja Dwikomplemen: Suatu Pendekatan Minimalis. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 23(2), 119-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2023-2302-07

Zawawi, A. S. A. A., Sultan, F. M. M., & Jaludin, A. (2022). Subjek Nul Pro Bahasa Melayu: Suatu Penilaian Semula Berpandukan Kerangka Minimalis. Issues in Language Studies, 11(1), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.33736/ils.4122.2022

Zimmerling, A. (2009). Dative subjects and semi-expletive pronouns in Russian. Oxford: Oxford University Press.