specified-subject condition

A term used in EXTENDED STANDARD THEORY to refer to a type of CONSTRAINT on the application of TRANSFORMATIONAL or INTERPRETIVE rules; replaced in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY by conditions A and B of BINDING theory. The constraint states that when a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE or NOUN PHRASE contains a specified subject (a LEXICAL, NP, PRONOMINAL or TRACE, but not PRO), no other (non-subject) CONSTITUENT can be moved out of that clause. An example violating this constraint is *Who did you buy Mary’s picture of?