Anna Cardinaletti (Venice) and Ur Shlonsky
Anna Cardinaletti (Venice) and Ur Shlonsky
Anna Cardinaletti (Venice) and Ur Shlonsky
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Main Session Abstracts<br />
part of the lexical or VP domain (vP or a like projection). (5) schematizes the two clitic<br />
positions.<br />
(5) [FP … [FP clitic [FP … [FP … [FP clitic [vP [VP ]]]]].<br />
|______________________| |_____________|<br />
functional domain lexical domain<br />
2. Italian lexical infinitives invariably display a word-final [e]. [e] is obligatorily absent in the<br />
presence of an enclitic pronoun, as in (6b).<br />
(6) a. Le vorrei parlare b. Vorrei parlar(*e)le<br />
(I) to her would want (to) speak (I) would want (to) speak to her<br />
There is no phonological motivation for this apparent truncation. The rule of Troncamento<br />
- which deletes a word-final /e/ or /o/ before a consonant-initial word if the target vowel is<br />
preceded by a sonorant consonant, (Peperkamp 1997) – is optional. The absence of [e] in (6b)<br />
is obligatory. We argue that the infinitive-final [e] is a morpheme. Indeed, it is the realization<br />
of the same low position which clitics target in e.g. (1a), (2a), <strong>and</strong> (3a). Although it appears<br />
that the final [e] is deleted in (6b), we argue that it is actually there, as the final vowel of the<br />
clitic le. The morphological makeup of parlarle is thus parlar-l-e. The clitic adjoins to the [e],<br />
which realizes the lexical clitic position. In fact, the underlying form of the infinitive-final<br />
vowel is /i/, as is the final vowel of the clitics mi, ci, vi etc. The [i]~[e] alternation is<br />
phonologically conditioned: /i/ [e] following a coronal sonorant. This rule lowers /e/ to [i]<br />
following the stem-final /r/ in infinitives.<br />
Although [e] may be absent on clitic-less lexical infinitives in Troncamento contexts, it<br />
must be absent on modal <strong>and</strong> volitional predicates in their restructuring guise.<br />
(7) *Sarei voluto potere partire con Maria.<br />
Again, no phonological explanation is available for the absence of [e] in this context. We<br />
argue that [e] is absent from intermediate restructuring verbs for exactly the same reason that<br />
clitics cannot attach to them (as we saw in (4)). Compare (7) with (3b).<br />
3. Restructuring verbs are not a homogeneous class (see also Wurmbr<strong>and</strong> (forthcoming)). For<br />
example, causative <strong>and</strong> perception verbs (as well as motion verbs) are restructuring verbs that<br />
do not trigger auxiliary switch, (8b), can host a clitic, (8c), <strong>and</strong> display the infinitival [e], (8d).<br />
(8) a. L’ho fatto/visto partire. b. *Lo sono fatto/visto partire.<br />
(I) him have made/seen leave (I) him am made/seen leave<br />
c. Vorrei farlo leggere a Maria. d. Lo vorrei fare leggere a Maria.<br />
(I) would-want (to) make.it read to Maria<br />
4. There is a correlation between the properties displayed by restructuring verbs <strong>and</strong> their<br />
position in the functional hierarchy in (9) (cf. Cinque(forthcoming2004).) Modal <strong>and</strong><br />
volitional verbs appear highest in the hierarchy. The class of causative, perception <strong>and</strong> motion<br />
verbs - underlined in (9) - appear in the lower part of this hierarchy, below Voice <strong>and</strong> above<br />
the domain of “VP-adverbs”.<br />
(9) > Modvolition > … > Modobligation …> Mod permission …> Voice > Perception ><br />
Causative > … > Andative > Completive > … VP<br />
5. The difference between lexical verbs <strong>and</strong> the verbs underlined in (9), on the one h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong><br />
between these <strong>and</strong> the other restructuring verbs, on the other, is that they project shells of<br />
different sizes. Lexical verbs are endowed with a full shell, including vP <strong>and</strong> the lexical clitic<br />
or [e] position. In addition, lexical verbs select an auxiliary, the choice of which depends on<br />
the way the arguments are aligned in the shell. The verbs underlined in (9) are associated with<br />
a reduced shell, a fact which we relate to the limitations on their argument structure. Finally,<br />
the other restructuring verbs lack a shell altogether. These are simply merged in functional<br />
heads. To put it concisely, lexical verbs <strong>and</strong> the verbs underlined in (9) are associated with a<br />
richer structure than fully functional verbs. However, the split between lexical <strong>and</strong> functional<br />
verbs is not clear-cut. Rather, there is a gradation from structurally rich to structurally poor<br />
verbal representations.<br />
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