Abstract
This study aims to expound on case licensing and word order alternation in Standard Arabic within the optimality theory framework. To these ends, pre- and post-verbal DPs in both SV and VS word orders, along with DPs in verbless sentences and in isolation have been considered. Findings reveal, among other things, that NOM, which is the default case in Standard Arabic, is assigned to all DPs in isolation and verbless sentences, and to preverbal DPs in SV patterns. This study also purports that DPs in SV orders are base-generated in Spec TP while they are base-generated in Spec VP in VS patterns. Accordingly, the SV structure is not derived from the VS pattern by A-movement. Rather, they are derived from two distinct patterns as the movement of the preverbal DPs in SV order is incompatible with the A-movement analysis.