[…] we may assume Case to be an inherent feature of an item drawn from the lexicon, interpreting Case-assignment as Case-checking [...] To implement this idea we assume (12): (12) (i) The Case of an NP is derived from that of its head, or is assigned by a Case-assignment rule if the NP has no head (e.g., a gerund); (ii) Case is one of the φ-features "left behind" under movement
- Chomsky (1993), a pag.331