Eckhard Bick - VISL

second verb's object 152 ), with some exceptions and ambiguities in the causative group
(treated below).
Sadly, the clitic fronting test is negative or unclear for some preposition mediated
infinitive constructions expressing aktionsart and modal functions by same-subject verb
chains:
(1) Object pronoun fronting in preposition mediated auxiliaries (AUX+PRP+INF)
object pronoun
fronting test
mediating
preposition/particle
positive
'já o acabou de fazer.'
"a" () aprender, aspirar,
começar, continuar,
desandar, desatar,
entrar, estar, ficar,
passar, propor, tornar
voltar
"de" () acabar, deixar, desistir,
evitar, falhar, faltar,
haver, intentar, largar,
necessitar, parar,
planejar, precisar,
projetar, prometer, ter,
tratar, vir
- 238 -
negative or dubious
?'nunca o negou de
fazer.'
botar, chegar, dar,
deitar, destampar,
falhar, faltar, ir, vir
(maybe only with [nonfemale]
pronouns not
starting in 'a' ?)
assentar, escusar,
folgar, negar, pegar
negative
*'sempre o sonhava
com fazer.'
começar, continuar,
cuidar, determinar,
dever, entrar, ficar
"em" () aceder, pensar aspirar coincidir, confiar,
contar, cuidar,
desandar, destampar,
entender, espraiar,
estar, sonhar, timbrar,
vacilar
"com" () sonhar
"para" () estar
"por" () começar, estar acabar, anelar, ansiar,
trabalhar
"que" () ter
The subject identity test, while excluding ACI-constructions and causatives, includes all
modals and aktionsart markers for semantic reasons.
Test (h) tests for "clausality" and against "auxiliarity" by trying to replace the
non-finite structure by a finite que-subclause. The test confirms the above ACI- and
causative groupings, but is somewhat stricter than the subject identity test in other areas,
152 The object of the matrix verb is, of course, the subject of the second, non-finite verb, and can, if pronominal, always be
fronted.