Overt [-R] subjects in infinitival complements from Spanish and Italian as bound variables

María Inés Corbalán State University of Campinas1 [email protected]

Going Romance Lisbon,4-6 December, 2014

Overt [-R] subjects in infinitival complements from Spanish and Italian as

bound variable pronouns

________________________________________________________________

Outline

1. Data – infinitival complements with lexical subjects 2. Basic concepts of T/Agr control calculus 3. Proposal 4. Lexical infinitival subjects as minimal pronouns

Main goals of this talk

To present an analysis of infinitival clauses with controlled and non-controlled subjects in terms of the T/Agr calculus of Landau (2000 and subsequent work).

o To present an analysis of free pronouns in Aux-to-Comp complements. To show the semantic differences among overt infinitival subjects depends basically

on the [Agr] features on C°. To argue that overt controlled subjects, such as PRO, are minimal pronouns.

___________________________________________________________________________

1. DATA2

Modern Spanish

(1) Juani prometió a su profesor [hacer éli los deberes]. Juan promised to his teacher do.INF he.NOM the homework ‘Juan promised his teacher to do the homework.’

[Herberck 2011]

1 With support from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)-Brazil. 2 The infinitival subjects are highlighted; the infinitival clause is putted into brackets. Abbreviations used in glosses: CL (clitic); INF (infinitival); NOM (nominative case); PRTs (subjunctive particle); PRTi (infinitival particle); COMP (complementizer); PP (participle); PREP (preposition); GRD (gerund); CLR (reflexive clitic); CLO (object clitic); IMP (imperfective); SUBJ (subjunctive); IMP (imperfective).

mailto:[email protected]

Overt [-R] subjects in infinitival complements

2

(2) Julia quería [telefonear ella]. Julia wanted phone.INF she.NOM ‘Julia wanted to phone by herself.’

[Piera 1987]

(3) Los jóvenesi creían [tener ellosi/*j /*Pedro el verdadero conocimiento].

The young-people believe have.INF they.NOM the true knowledge

‘Young people believed that they have the true knowledge.’

(4) Sáezi se lamenta [haber sido éli la nueva víctima de este acto vandálico.]

Sáez CL regrets have.INF be.PP he.NOM the new victim of this act hooliganism

‘Sáez regrets that he has been the new victim of this act of hooliganism.’

[www.cl]3

Italian (di complements)

(5) Giannii mij ha promesso [di farlo luii].

Gianni me has promised COMP do.INF.CL he.NOM

‘John promised me to do personally.’

[Mensching 2000]

(6) Mariai mij ha chiesto [di parlare ioj con Gianni]. Maria me has asked COMP speak.INF I.NOM with Gianni ‘Maria asked me to speak with Gianni.’

[Belletti 2005]

Classical Spanish

(7) este testigo no afirma [haber yo dicho que se podían traer interpretaciones nuevas].

this witness no assert have.INF I say.PP that CL can bring interpretations new

‘This witness did not assert that I had said that it was possible to bring new interpretations.’

[Fernandez Navarrete 1847]

(8) autor antiguoi, que afirma [haber élj puesto en un monasterio a Constanza].

author old that assert have.INF he.NOM put in a monastery PREP Constanza

‘…old authori asserted that hej had put Constanza in a monastery.’

[Ferrer 1853]

(9) Este documento prueba [haber tú nacido en 1938].

this document evidence have.INF you be-born.PP in 1938

This document evidences that you was born in 1938.’

[Vanderschueren 2012]

3 http://www.australtemuco.cl/prontus4_noticias/site/artic/20090417/pags/20090417000305.html


3

stylistic Italian (Aux-to-Comp)

(10) [Giovanni Dondi dall’Orologio]i ... L’Abate de Sade aggiunge, che il Petrarca afferma [Giovanni Dondi dall’Orologio] ... the-Abbot of Sade add that the Petrarca assert [aver luii avuto il cognome dall’ Orologio.+ have.INF he receive the surname of-the Orologio ‘The Abbot of Sade adds that Petrarca asserted that Giovanni Dondi has received the surname of the Orologio.’

[Girolamo Tiraboschi 1775]

(11) Credevo [avere egli vinto]. believed.1sg have.INF he win.PP ‘I believed that he had won.’

[Mensching 2000]

(12) Non posso perciò dissimulare [aver io inteso...]. No can-1SG therefore disguise have.INF I understand.PP ‘I can’t therefore disguise that I understood …’

[Goldoni 1809]

(13) Di Pitagoras sappiamo e da Giamblico, e da Porfirio, [aver egli avuti of-the Pythagoras know.3pl and of-the Iamblichus and of-the Porphyry have.INF he have per precettori Ferecide, Anassimandro, e Talete; e da Ferecide [aver lui by tutor Pherecydes Anaximander and Thales and of-the Pherecydes have.INF he intesa, ed imparata la dottrina dell’ immortalità dell’ anima+ understand and learn the doctrine of-the immortality of-the soul ‘We know by Iamblichus and by Porphyry that Pythagoras had Pherecydes, Anaximander and Thales as his tutor and that he learned the doctrine of the immortality of the soul from Pherecydes.’

[Alaleona 1741]

2. CONTROL CALCULUS T/Agr (Landau 2000 and subsequent work)

C° and I° bear [T] and [Agr] features.

I. [T] FEATURES ON EMBEDDED I°/C°

The criterion for selecting the features [T] is semantic.

a. Anaphoric (or “empty”) tense ⇒ [−T] on I°/C°; b. Dependent tense ⇒ [+T] on I°/C°; c. Independent tense ⇒ [+T] on I°, Ø on C°.

Features [T] are specified on C° only when the embedded tense is restricted by

matrix predicate.


4

The presence of a tense operator in the embedded clause can be test by the

possibility of generating a tense mismatch between the matrix and the embedded

clause.

The syntax of selected tense:

V... [CP C[±T] [IP I[±T] VP]]

selection checking

Features [T] on I° are interpretable, features [T] on C° are uninterpretable.

II. [AGR] FEATURES ON EMBEDDED I°/C°

[Agr] on I°:

The criterion for selecting [Agr] feature on I° is morphological

a. overt agreement ⇒ [+Agr]; b. abstract agreement ⇒ [-Agr]4; c. non agreement ⇒ Ø.

[Agr] on C°:

Rule to put [Agr] feature on C°

a. [+Agr] ⇒ [+T] b. otherwise ⇒ [ØAgr]

Remark: Landau affirms that [+Agr] is parasitic on [+T], but only in the sense that the latter is a necessary condition for the former. Either [-T] or lack of [T] on C° entails lack of [Agr] (cf. Landau 2004: 840).5

[Agr] features on C° and I° heads are uninterpretable features.

4 [-Agr] feature is [Agr] with no morphological realization. 5 Nevertheless, Landau (2006: 163) affirms that *+T+ on Comp may “parasitically” introduce *+Agr+.

But, if [+T] is not a necessary, but a sufficient condition for [+Agr], then the combination [+T, ] on C° that Landau uses for explaining partial control and inflected infinites from European Portuguese would be inadequate.


5

Table 1 - Possible combinations of [Agr] and [T] on C°

C° Examples

[T] [Agr]

1. indicative clauses

2. [+T] factive (EP)/partial control

3. [-T] C-subjuntive (Balkan)/exhaustive control

4. [+T] [+Agr] F-subjunctive (Balkan)/subjunctive (Hebrew)

5. [+T] [-Agr] …

Feature combinations [+T, ] y [+T, -Agr] must be admitted, if [+T] is a necessary condition for [+Agr].

When C° does not bear [+Agr] the condition is trivially satisfied.

III. [R] FEATURES

The relation between [±T, ±Agr] features of the embedded clause and [±R] features of the

embedded subject is established through the R-assignment rule.

R-assignment rule

For X°[T,Agr] {I°,C°}:

a. → *+R+/X°[_], if ==‘+’;

b. → *-R]/elsewhere.

Following Reinhart & Reuland (1993) and Reuland & Reinhart (1995), Landau assumes that

referential DPs bear [+R] features, while anaphoric DPs bear [-R] feature.

The distinction between referential and anaphoric subjects is encoded in the interpretable feature [R] through the following clause:

a. lexical DP / pro [+R];

b. PRO [-R].

[R] features on C°/I° are uninterpretables, but [R] is interpretable on (lexical or null) DPs.

[-R] requires an antecedent for identification.


6

Checking [Agr] feature on I°

I°[±Agr] enters Agree relations with either a trace of PRO[-R] or DP/pro[+R]:

[CP … [CP C° [IP [I’ I°[+Agr] [VP DP/pro[+R] ]]]] Agree [+Agr]

[CP … [CP C° [IP PRO [I’ I°[+Agr] [VP tPRO[-R] ]]]] Agree [+Agr]

[CP … [CP C° [IP PRO [I’ I°[-Agr] [VP tPRO ]]]] Agree [-Agr]

[CP … [CP C° [IP [I’ I°[-Agr] [VP DP/pro[+R] ]]]] Agree [-Agr]

3. PROPOSAL

Table 2 – [T] and [Agr] features in Spanish and Italian complements

The essential differences regarding the distribution of infinitival subjects rely on the features [Agr] on C°.

C° I° Control Subject

[+T, -Agr] [+T, -Agr] declarative/ epistemic verbs (Classical Spanish and stylistic

Italian)

No Control (NC) / Obligatory Control (OC)

[+R] / [-R]

[+T] [+T, -Agr] declarative / factive /

desiderative (modern de Spanish and di complements

Italian)

OC [-R]

[-T] [-T, -Agr] restructuring/ try-class verbs OC [-R]

I. [T, AGR] FEATURES IN AUX-TO-COMP COMPLEMENTS

In two footnotes, Landau notes that Aux-to-Comp complements represent a challenge for his theory.


7

Considering that overt inflection can be deleted in infinitives from (European) Portuguese, Landau

suggests to put [+Agr] on I°. (cf. Landau 2004: 868; 2006: 167).6

Features in Aux-to-Comp complements:

[CP C°[+T, -Agr, -R] [IP I°[+T, -Agr, -R] [VP DP/pro[+R] /PRO[-R]]]]

C° [+T, -Agr] I° [+T, -Agr]

A. [+T] Features on C°/I°

Declarative verbs select an infinitive complements that host their own tense (temporal

mismatch with deictic adverbials). 7 • Matrix and embedded clauses selected for declarative verbs form two temporal

domains.

Tense of the embedded clause selected for declarative verbs depends on the tense of matrix clause (temporal mismatch with non-deictic adverbials).

• The event time of the infinitive clause is indirectly related to the speech-time through the matrix event clause:

(14) Declaró estar en el médico en aquel momento / ayer.

declared.3sg be.INF at the doctor in that moment / yesterday

‘He declared that he was in the doctor’s office in that moment / yesterday.’

6 However, as Landau observes, the mapping between [Agr] features and morphological spell-out would be lost on that proposal. For other hand, the deletion of the overt inflection in Portuguese is not so optional. Inflected infinitives do not occur in complements with anaphoric tense. (cf. Madeira 1994; Scida 2004; Gonçalves, Cunha and Silvano 2010). 7 Landau (2004: 835; 2006: 163) notes that propositional verbs (believe, imagine, say, declare) as desiderative, interrogative and factive verbs are predicates that allow partial control. The head C° of these classes of complements bear [+T] because they select tensed infinitives. Nevertheless, Landau proposes C° without [T] features and C° [+T] features to analyze propositional and factives complements from European Portuguese, respectively. In (Landau 2014) it is observed that attitude (desiderative, interrogative, propositional and factive) complements are tensed; aspectual, modal, implicative and evaluative verbs are untensed. Nevertheless, Landau (2014) no longer works on T/Agr calculus.


8

• The simple infinitives describe an event that overlaps with the matrix event:

(15) Dice/ricorda [di lavorare a un progetto segreto] (overlapping)

say/remember.3sg COMP work.INF in a project secret

‘He says/remembers that he works in a secret project.’

[Bianchi 2007]

Auxiliary verb haber, avere ‘have’ induces a shift to the past. • So, the compound infinitives describe an event which is temporally located before the

event or state of the matrix clause:

(16) Antes de ayer dijo haber ido al médico el mes anterior /

the day before yesterday say.3sg have.INF go.PP to.the doctor the month previous /

el mes pasado /*ayer.8

the last month / yesterday

‘The day before yesterday he said that he went to the doctor the previous month / the last

month / *yesterday.’

(17) Ricordo [di aver messo il portafloglio nel casseto]. (anteriority)

Remember.3sg COMP have.INF put.PP the wallet in-the drawer

‘He remembers that he put the wallet in the drawer.’

[Bianchi 2007]

[T] in Balkan subjunctives

Embedded V in F-subjunctive in the Balkan languages (overtly) raise to C°. Through this movement dependent tense –[+T]– is licensed:

F(ree)-subjunctive: C° [+T];

C(ontrolled)-subjunctive: C° [-T].

Consequently, infinitival complements selected by declarative verbs bear [+T] on C°/ I°.

8 The complex decir de ‘say PREP’ selects an infinitive complement oriented to the future. Decir de means to propose, to suggest. Although the preposition de introduces a temporal orientation, the tense of the embedded clause is not anaphoric.

i. Ayer Juan dijo de ir al cine mañana. Yesterday Juan said PREP go.INF to-the cinema tomorrow ‘Yesterday Juan proposed to go to the cinema tomorrow.’

ii. *Juan dijo de haber ido al cine. Juan said PREP have.INF go.PP to-the cinema


9

B. [-Agr] Features on C°/I°

Since infinitives in Italian and Spanish are uninflected, then I° has [-Agr] feature.9

[Agr] in Balkan subjunctives

The two different combinations of features for C- and F-subjunctive complements from Balkan languages show a relation between the embedded V raised to C and [Agr] feature on C°.

In analyzing the F-subjunctives we observe that [+Agr] feature on C° seems to be justified by the availability of the inflected (subjunctive) verb moves up to C°.10

F-subjunctives: C° [+T, +Agr]

C-subjunctives: C° [-T]

Infinitives in Italian and Spanish are uninflected. In Aux-to-Comp complements the auxiliary uninflected verb raise to C°:

(18) Non posso perciò dissimulare [aver io inteso...]. No can-1SG therefore disguise have.INF I understand.PP ‘I can’t therefore disguise that I understood …’

[Goldoni 1809]

Classical Spanish allow the order Auxiliary-Subject-Participle in finite root clauses, gerundial clauses and infinitival adjunct clauses:

(19) ¿No han vuestras mercedes leído? no have.1PL your worships read.PP? ‘Have your worships read?’

[Cervantes 1605 apud Mensching 2000] (20) ¿Has tú creído en mí deshonra? Have.1sg you believe.PP in my dishonor? ‘Have you believed in my dishonor?’

[Manent 1853] (21) habiendo él poco antes con un azote echado los mercaderes del templo. Have.GRD he shortly before with a scourge chase-out.PP the merchant of-the temple ‘He had chased the merchant out of the temple with a scourge’

[de la Cruz santo 1853]

9 The past participle do not agree with the subject either. 10 Both F-subjunctives and C-subjunctives present subjunctive morphology. Some Balkan languages, as Romanian and Albanian employ a subjunctive complementizer. Landau does not assume that the subjunctive particle is located on C°.


10

(22) él solo ha sufrido la pena por nosotros sin [haber él cometido demérito] he only has suffered the pain for us without have.INF he.NOM commit.PP demerit ‘He has only suffered the pain for us without he had committed demerit’

[anonymous 1838]

Complement clauses with order Aux-to-Comp in Classical Spanish and Italian are selected by epistemic and declarative verbs:

decir/dire ‘to say’; afirmar/affermare ‘to assert’; señalar ‘to note’; pensar/ ritenere, credere ‘to believe’; ricordare ‘to remember’; declarar ‘to declare’; confessare ‘to admit’, negar ‘to deny’; riferire ‘to report’.

(23) el maestro León (…) dice [haber yo dicho que …]. the Master León (…) say.1sg have.INF I say.PP that… ‘The Master León said that I had said that…’

[de León 1855]

Consequently, infinitival complements bear [-Agr] on C° and I°.

C. Embedded subject [±R]

F-subjunctives: C°[+T, +Agr], I°[+T, +Agr] → [+R]/[-R]

To eliminate its uninterpretable [R] features, I° enters Agree relation with the correspondently [R] feature on embedded subject:

• C°[+T, +Agr], I°[+T, +Agr] → [+R]. In the special situation in which C° and I° are featurally identical, [R] features on I° and

C° may be mutually check off through Agree relation. 11 A [-R] subject may be licensed in F-subjunctives despite of [+R] features on C°/I°,

because of a “conspiracy” between C° and I°: • C°[+T, +Agr], I°[+T, +Agr] →[-R].

(24) Ioni vrea ca Dan/proj/PROi sӑ rezolve problema]. (Romanian)

Ion want that Dan/hej/PRO PRTs solve the-problem

[Farkas 1985 apud Landau 2004]

[+R] No Control: ‘Ion wants Dan/him solve the problem.’

[-R] Obligatory Control: ‘Ion wants to solve the problem.’

11 Landau observes that finite control in Hebrew provides strong empirical support for this structural ambiguity.


11

F- subjunctive:

No control (NC) – [+R]

a) [CP DP… F… [CP C°[+T, +Agr, +R] [IP [I’ I°[+T, +Agr, +R]] [VP DP/pro[+R] …+++++

Agree Agree [+T, +Agr, +R] Agree [+Agr, +R]

Obligatory control (OC) – [-R]

b) [CP DP… F… [CP C°[+T, +Agr, +R] [IP PRO[-R] [I’ I°[+T, +Agr, +R]] [VP tPRO …+++++

Agree Agree [+T, +Agr, +R] Agree [+Agr]

In F-subjunctives the null pronoun can be either controlled PRO [-R] or pro [+R]:

The analysis of F-subjunctives can be adapted for the infinitival complements from Classical Spanish and

stylistic Italian.

I° can enter in two different Agree relations in order to check off the [-R] feature: a) I° enter in Agree relation with [-R] on PRO → Obligatory Control; b) I° enter in Agree relation with [-R] feature on C° → No Control.

Both controlled and non-controlled subjects can be licensed.

Obligatory Control – [-R]

a) [CP DP… F… [CP C°[+T, -Agr, -R] [IP [I’ I°[+T, -Agr, -R]] [VP PRO[-R] …+++++

Agree Agree [+T, -Agr, -R] Agree [-Agr, -R]

No control – [+R]

b) [CP DP… F… [CP C°[+T, -Agr, -R] [IP [I’ I°[+T, -Agr, -R]] [VP DP/pro[+R] …+++++

Agree Agree [+T, -Agr, -R] Agree [-Agr]


12

In Classical Spanish, as in Italian, infinitival complements can host lexical free pronouns and R-expressions as subjects:12

Co-referential pronouns

(25) No niego [haber yo ido con intención de hacérsele como él merece].

No deny.1sg have.INF I.NOM go.PP with intention of have.CLR.CL as he deserve

‘I did not deny that I had gone with intention of doing as he deserve.’

[de Ochoa 1838]

(26) E Sant'Agostinoi (…) afferma, [aver luii veduti molti Monaster in Roma].

And Sant’Agostino assert have.INF he see.PP many monasteries in Rome

‘And Sant’Agostino assert that he saw many monasteries in Rome.’

[Pagliarini (ed) 1746]

R-expressions

(27) señala, [habérselo referido el reverendo maestre fray Martin de Córdoba].

note.3sg have.INF.CL relate.PP the reverend master fray Martin de Córdoba

‘He noted that the Reverend Master Fray Martin de Córdoba has related it.’

[Cuesta 1853]

(28) quello che negli Atti si riferisce [avere detto l'Apostolo agli Ateniensi:...] those that in-the Acts CL relate have.INF say.PP the.Apostle to-the Athenian ‘In the Acts is related that the Aplostle has said those to the Athenian:…’

[Il Mediatore 1862] (29) il Panciroli, che afferma [aver Alberto composto il suo libro in Bologna]. the Panciroli that assert have.INF Alberto compose.PP the his book in Bologna ‘Panciroli asserted that Alberto has composed his book at Bologna.’

[Girolamo Tirabosch 1775]

(30) il quale afferma [aver Niccolò dipinto (...) nella cappella]. the who assert have.INF Niccolò paint.PP in-the chapel ‘who asserted that Niccolò has painted in the chapel.’

[Enciclopedia Italiana 1935]

As for F-subjunctives, the null subject in Classical Spanish can be either controlled PRO [-R] or pro [+R]:

pro – No Control

(31) [Tancredo]i … [autores sicilianos]j… y hay algunoj es de opinión [haber proi sido Tancredo writer sicilian and there-is some is of opinion have.INF be.PP nieto del rey Gillelmo].

12 Notice that referential expressions are not necessarily placed between the auxiliary and the participle.


13

grandson of-the king Guillelmo ‘Some of the Sicilian writers are of the view that Tancredo was the grandson of the King Guillelmo.’

[Cuesta 1853] (32) Constanzai ... y [otros autores]j que afirman [haber proi sido monja] Constanza and other writers that assert.1pl have.INF be.PP nun ‘Other writers assert that Constanza was nun.’

[Cuesta 1853]

PRO – Obligatory Control

(33) credo [essere PROi arrivato pontualmente]. believe.1sg be.INF arrive.PP on-time ‘I believe that I arrived on time.’

[Mensching 2000] (34) Ítemi [= El maestro León de Castro] declaró [haber PROi oído á algunos Item [Master León de Castro declared.1sg have.INF hear.PP from some estudiantes…+ students ‘The Master León de Castro declared that he heard from some students...’

[de León & Siscar 1855]

Trace

(35) Quell’altro Bernardinoi che stampava nel 1565 in Vercelli e che suppongo [avere ti that other Bernardino who print in-the 1565 in Vercelli and that suppose.1sg have.INF stampato nel 1577 in Torino], fu poi probabilmente... print.PP in-the 1577 in Turin was then probably ‘That other Bernardino who printed in 1565 in Vercelli and, I suppose, in 1577 in Turin was probably…’

[Vernazza di Freney 1859]

Emphatic pronoun

(36) donde el autor afirma, [haber él mismo oído este caso á muchos] (1853)

where the author asserts have.INF he himself hear.PP this case to many-people

‘where the author asserted that he himself had heard this case from many people.’

[Cuesta 1853]

The proposed analysis is consistent with the basic concepts of T/Agr calculus.


14

II. [T, AGR] IN MODERN ITALIAN/SPANISH

Losing [+R] subjects Notice that the possibility for having [+R] subjects depends on the

“conspiracy” between *-R] features on C° and I°. In order to make that Agree relation possible, [-Agr] on C° is

necessary. The auxiliary verb does not raise to C°, when C° lacks of [Agr]

feature.

Features in di / de complements:

[CP C°[+T] [IP I°[+T, -Agr, -R] [VP PRO[-R] ]]]

C° [+T] I° [+T, -Agr]

D. [-Agr] Features on I° / [Agr] on C°

di is the overt complementizer of infinitival complements in Italian.

In non-standard Modern Spanish a particle de can be preposed to the infinitival

complement (so-called deísmo by the normative grammar).

(37) Juan lamenta [de no haber ido al cine más a menudo]. Juan regrets PRTi no have.INF go to-the cinema more often ‘Juan regrets not going more often to the cinema.’

[Camus Bargereche 2013]

(38) [Bonifacio III] Prohibió [de ocuparse de la elección del nuevo Papa]. Bonifacio III prohibited PRTi take-on of the election of-the new Pope ‘Bonifacio III prohibited taking responsibility for the election of the new Pope.’

[www.]13

Infinitival complements headed by the particle de are generally selected by control verbs:

permitir ‘to permit’; prohibir ‘to forbid’; intentar ‘to try’. The infinitival complementizer di from Italian also occurs in these contexts:

13 http://www.oremosjuntos.com/Papa/BonifacioIII.html


15

(39) No permito a mis hijos [de llegar tarde] No permit to my children PRTi arrive.INF late ‘I do not allow my children to be late.’

[Camus Bergareche 2013]

(40) Le prohibieron [de seguir escuchando]. CL forbid.3pl PRTi continue.INF listen.GRD ‘They forbade him/her to carry on listening.’

[Camus Bergareche 2013]

(41) Televisa intenta [de salir de su propia caldera del diablo]. Televisa tries PRTi leave.INF of your own boiler of-the evil ‘Televisa tries to leave your own boiler of evil.’

[www.co]14

(42) Permettetemi [di presentarvi mio fratello] let-me COMP introduce.INF.CL my brother ‘Let me introduce my brother to you.’ (43) Ti proibisco [di uscire]. CL forbid.1sg COMP go-out.INF ‘I forbid you to go out.’ (44) Cercava [di persuadermi a partire]. try.3sg COMP persuade.INF.CL to leave ‘He was trying to get me to leave.’

de can also occurs in infinitival complements selected by declarative verbs: (45) Agustí afirma [de estar sorprendido]. Agustí asserts PRTi be.INF surprised ‘Agustí asserts that he is surprised.’

[www.]15

(46) El usuario declara [de estar de acuerdo con la Política de Privacidad]. the user declares PRTi be.INF of agreement with the politic of privacy ‘The user declares his agreement with the Privacy Policy.’

[www.es]16

(47) [J. Mourinho] se cree [de haber escrito todo lo que ha traducido]. [J. Mourinho] CL believes PRTi have.INF write.PP all CL that has translated ‘J. Mourinho believes that he has written all of the thing that he has translated.’

[www.pe]17

de in non-standard varieties selects an embedded infinitival clause. 14 http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-866757. 15 https://twitter.com/planetacb/status/336924708085854209 16 http://www.shoppydoo.es/informacion-como_afiliarse.html 17 http://depor.pe/futbol-internacional/raymond-domenech-destrozo-jose-mourinho-solo-traductor-1027754


16

de in non-standard Spanish, such as di in Italian, is the overt complementizer of infinitival complements (cf. Di Tullio 2011; Camus Bergareche 2013).

de in non-standard Spanish is not a real preposition and thus, it does not head any PP.

(48) Estaba pensando [CP ir al banco]. was.sg thinking go.INF to-the bank I/s/he was/were thinking to go to the bank.’

de COMPLEMENTIZER

(49) Estaba pensando [CP de ir al banco]. was.sg thinking COMP go.INF to-the bank ‘I/s/he was/were thinking to go to the bank.’ (50) *Estaba pensando de eso. was thinking COMP that ‘I was thinking about that.’ (51) Lo estaba pensando. CLO was.sg thinking ‘I/s/he was/were thinking it.’

de PREPOSITION (52) Se lamenta [PP de haber bebido mucha cerveza]. CLR regrets PREP have.INF drink.PP a-lot-of beer ‘S/He regrets having drunk a lot of beer.’ (53) Se lamenta de eso. CLR regrets.3sg PREP that ‘S/He regrets that.’ (54) *Se lo lamenta. CLR CLO regrets.3sg ‘S/He regrets it’

de in infinitival complements from non-standard Modern Spanish alternates with the complementizer que ‘that’ in finite subjunctive complements.18

(55) Estoy deseando [de llegar a casa]. be.1sg wish.GRD COMP arrive to home ‘I am looking forward to getting home.’

[Camus Bergareche 2013] (56) Estoy deseando [que llegue a casa]. be.1sg wish.GRD COMP arrive to home ‘I am wishing that he arrives at home.’

18 I do not analyze here the phenomenon called dequeism:

i. Pienso de que podremos ganar el campeonato. think.1sg of that can win the championship ‘I think that we can win the championship.’


17

Classical and Medieval Spanish allowed a complementizer de. Other prepositions than de were allowed in Old and Classic Spanish (cf. Breadley

1921).

deism is not a contemporary and no standard innovation, but an old kind of complementation in Spanish.

(57) El adelantado Belalcázar (...) Dios permitió [de le castigar]. the adelantado Belalcázar God permitted COMP CL punish ‘God permitted to punish the adelantado Belalcázar.’

[1862] (58) Prometieran a Paulo [de ayudarle]. Promised to Paulo COMP help.CL ‘They promised Paulo to help him.’

[Bradley 1921] (59) le prohibieron [de decir Misa, entrar á la Iglesia] CL forbade.3sg COMP give.INF Mass go-in.INF to the Church ‘They forbade him to give Mass and to go into the Church.’

[La Revista de Buenos Aires 1870]

(60) Flavio Joan intentó [de apoderarse del imperio] y [de despojar del á Flavio Joan tried COMP take-over of-the empire and COMP dispossess of-the to Valentiniano]. Valentiniano ‘Flavio Joan tried to take over the empire and to dispossess Valentiniano of it.’

[de Mariana & Margall 1854]

(61) [Don Lope] (…) se cree [de haber egercido la facultad de Abogado en Madrid]. [Don Lope] CL believe COMP have.INF practice.PP the school of lawyer in Madrid ‘It is believed that Don Lope has practiced the school of Law at Madrid.’

[Joachin Ibarra 1771]

The order Aux-to-Comp is ungrammatical in Modern Spanish and Italian.

The auxiliary verb does not raise to C°:

(62) *Ha María llegado tarde. Has Maria arrived late ‘María has arrived late’ (63) *¿Ha María visto la película? Has María seen the movie? ‘Has María seen the movie?’ (64) *Ha Mario accettato di aiutarci. Has Mario accepted COMP help.INF.CL ‘Mario has accepted to help us’ (65) *Che film ha Gianni visto? What movie has Gianni seen? ‘What movie has Gianni seen?’


18

In sum, infinitival verb does not raise to Comp in Modern Italian and Spanish; Comp is filled with an

overt di and a –not necessarily– null de complementizer, respectively.

Consequently, infinitival complements does not bear

[Agr] on C°.

E. [+T] features on C°/I°

Declarative and epistemic verbs can select a di complement.

(66) Il collaboratore ha affermato [di avere conosciuto personalmente il Marino] the collaborator has affirmed COMP have.INF know.PP personally the Marino ‘The collaborator has affirmed that he knew the Marino personally.’ (67) Io credevo [di essere incinta]. I believe COMP be.INF pregnant ‘I believed I was pregnant.’

Declarative and epistemic, as factive and many control verbs, select an infinitive complements that bear [+T] on C° and I°.

Infinitival complement select by factive and control verbs do allow a temporal mismatch:

(68) Io ho permesso a loro [di mangiare al ristorante domani]. I have permit to them COMP eat to-the restaurant tomorrow ‘I permitted them to eat at the restaurant tomorrow.’ (69) Mi sono lamentato [di partire domani]. CL be.1sg complain COMP leave.INF tomorrow ‘I complain about leaving tomorrow.’

F. [-R] on I° / [R] on C°

Lack of [Agr] on C° renders the R-assignment rule inapplicable.

No [R] value is assigned on C°. Applying the R-rule on I° [+T, -Agr], I° bears [-R] feature.


19

The [-R] feature on I° can only be checked off by an [-R] subject.

The embedded subject is controlled by a matrix DP.

(70) Los jóvenesi creían [tener PROi/*j /*Pedro el verdadero conocimiento].

The young-people believe have.INF the true knowledge

‘Young people believed that they have the true knowledge.’

The ban of referentially free subjects is a consequence of the lack of [-Agr] on C°.

This analysis explains why only controlled subjects are licensed in complements without [Agr] on C°.

III. [T, AGR] IN RESTRUCTURING/TRY VERBS

Complements of restructuring verbs do not allow a temporal mismatch with deictic adverbials between matrix and complement clauses.

• A temporal mismatch is only allowed with non-deictic adverbials. The embedded event is evaluated with respect to the matrix event.

(71) Juan quiso [ir al cine al día siguiente].

Juan wanted go.INF to-the cinema in-the day following

‘Juan wanted to go to the cinema the next day.’

(72) *Juan quiso [ir al cine mañana].

Juan wanted go.INF to-the cinema tomorrow

‘Juan wanted to go to the cinema tomorrow.’

(73) *Io ho cercato [di estudiare domani il programma].

I have try COMP study.INF tomorrow the matter

‘I tried to study the matter tomorrow.

(74) *Io volute [andare a vedere a partitta domani].

I wanted go.INF to watch.INF the game tomorrow

‘I wanted to go to watch the game tomorrow.’

Consequently, infinitival complements selected by restructuring verbs bear [-T] on C°/I°.


20

All things being equal, infinitival complements present

[-Agr] on I°, and so, only [-R] subjects are licensed.

4. [-R] OVERT SUBJECTS

To analyze lexical infinitival subjects in complement clauses it seems essential to distinguish the morpho-phonological properties

of the subjects from their referential properties (cf. McFadden &

Sundaresan 2011 and Sundaresan 2014).

Lexical subjects in controlled clauses are the overt realization of the minimal pronoun PRO.19

G. PRO as Minimal Pronoun

A. Kratzer (1998; 2006) proposed the concept of zero pronoun or minimal pronoun to explain the sloppy reading of sentences as (75) and (76).

Zero pronouns semantically behave as if it didn’t have (any) φ-feature.

o symbolizes the zero pronoun. Zero pronouns can be pronounced.

(75) a. Only I got a question that I understood.

b. [Only I]i got a question that i understood. [Kratzer 1998]

strict reading: apart from me, nobody else got a question that I understood.

sloppy reading: apart from me, no individual had the property of being an x such that x got a

question that x understood.

19 The thesis that lexical controlled pronouns are minimal pronouns was proposed for the first time, to my knowledge, in Alonso-Ovalle & D’Introno (2000). Livitz (2011) considers lexical subjects in complement clauses as the overt realization of PRO. Mensching (2000), for other hand, adopts Piera’s (1987) proposal and considers lexical controlled subjects as emphatic pronouns. Notwithstanding, he also considers emphatic pronouns as a kind of overt realization of PRO. Despite the similarities, in Mensching’s proposal PRO is not subject to the case filter; for Livitz PRO can be case-marked.


21

(76) a. Only you eat what you cook.

b. [Only you]i eat what i cook. [Kratzer 2006]

Zero pronouns must have an antecedent. The relation between a zero pronoun and its antecedent cannot be interrupted by an

intervening clause:

(77) Only I got a question that you thought I could answer.

(78) *[Only I]i got a question that you thought i could answer. [Kratzer 1998]

Controlled PRO is a special case of zero pronoun (cf. Kratzer 1998). • The antecedent for the zero pronoun in controlled clauses is determinate by the lexical

properties of the control verb.

(79) Ii promised you i to quit.

The index of the zero pronoun is a λ-operator. The controlled infinitival clause denotes a property.

(80) Ii promised you λx [x to quit].

Following Heim (2008) and Kratzer (2009) Landau (2014) considers PRO as a minimal pronoun.

When PRO is attracted to [Spec, FinP] because of D-feature, PRO serves as a λ-operator. • PRO does not saturate the predicate it forms.

Landau (2014) accepts that bound lexical pronouns are instances of minimal pronouns. However, Landau observes that controlled clauses denote a property and so, lexical

subjects do not occur in these clauses.

H. Lexical [-R] subjects as minimal pronouns

As Szabolcsi (2009) and Barbosa (2009) observed, overt subjects in infinitival clauses present the characteristics of PRO:

o only de se reading in attitude predicate,

o sloppy reading in ellipsis of VP.

(81) Os pais quiseram [ir eles de comboio] (European Portuguese) the parents wanted go.INF they.NOM by train


22

‘The parents wanted to go by train.’ [Barbosa 2009]

(82) Os meninosi querem [elesi embrulhar(em) os presentes]. (Brazilian Portuguese) the boys want they.NOM wrap.INF.(3pl) the gifts ‘The boys want to wrap the gifts themselves.’

[Negrão 1986 apud Modesto 2010]

Indication that φ features of lexical controlled subject seem to be disregarded at LF is suggested by the fact that they are ignored for purposes of ellipsis interpretation: sloppy reading

(83) O João quer [ele fazer o bolo], e a Maria também quer. the João wants he.NOM make the cake and the Maria too want ‘João wants to make the cake (by himself) and Maria wants to as well.’

sloppy reading: Maria wants to make the cake (by herself). strict reading: Maria wants for João to make the cake.

Overt full DPs in subject position in Spanish are marked as focused (cf. Biezma 2014) The difference in pairs like (84)a – (85)b in Spanish is analogous to what would be

represented by a difference of stress or accent in English (cf. Larson & Luján unp). The null form (84)a is equivalent to the English (85)a, with an unstressed third person

pronoun, whereas the overt form (84)b is equivalent to the English (85)b, with a stressed third person pronoun:

(84) a. Trabaja. work.3sg b. Él trabaja. He works. (85) a. He works. b. HE works.

As Piera (1987: 160) observes, the meaning of the sentence (86) is not merely (87), but (88).

A pseudo-cleft as (88) expresses contrastive focus on the subject, and so, it excludes some possible value other than Julia for the variable x in the predicate λx.phone(x).

(86) Julia quería [telefonear ella]. Julia want.IMP phone.INF she.NOM ‘Julia wanted to phone by herself’ (87) Julia quería telefonear. Julia want.IMP phone.INF ‘Julia wanted to phone’


23

(88) Julia quería [ser ella la que telefoneara]. Julia want.IMP be.INF she.NOM the that phone.SUBJ ‘Julia wanted to be who phones.’

[Piera 1987]

pro-drop languages have postverbal subjects.20 Postverbal subjects are typically (part of) the focus of the sentence (cf. Cardinaletti

1999).

(89) Aprirà il convegno il Rettore. wil-open the conference the Dean ‘The Dean will open the conference.’

[Cardinaletti 1999] (90) Espero que te devuelva Juan el libro. hope.1sg that CL return Juan the book ‘I hope that Juan returns the book to you.’

[Ordoñez 1998]

Infinitival subjects occupy a postverbal position in complement clauses from Spanish and Italian.

in Spanish, a preverbal infinitival subject is only possible in adjunct clauses. Contrastive focus is associated with the post-infinitival position in Spanish.21

(91) Gianni ha deciso [di consignare lui il pacco a Maria]. Gianni has decided COMP deliver.INF he the packet to Maria ‘Gianni has decided to deliver the packet to Maria.’

[Cardinaletti 1999] (92) El adorador siempre lamenta [no ser él el adorado] the adoring always regrets no be.INF he the adored ‘The adoring always regrets not being the adored.’

[Schulte 2007]

(93) Lei ayudo por [ser éli mi mejor amigo]. CL help for be.INF he.NOM my best friend ‘I help him for being my best friend.’

[Schulte 2007]

20 As the example (82) evidences, Brazilian Portuguese admits lexical preverbal subjects in complement clauses. As pointed out in (Holmberg, Nayudu & Sheehan 2009, among many others), Brazilian Portuguese is a partial pro-drop language. 21 It could be argue that infinitival postverbal subjects are not necessarily focused, as Cardinaletti (1999) observe, because they can co-occur with a focused element, as in (i): (i) Il Rettore ha deciso [di aprire lui IL CONVEGNO, non la seduta]. However, as Sauerland (2000) and Mayr (2012) have observed, focus on the pronoun is optional when read with the bound variable reading and so, it can co-occur with another focused element, as in (ii): (ii) Every student cut his (own) arm, and every TEACHER cut HIS arm.


24

(94) Sin tú saberlo, Julián te observaba y te estudiaba.

without you know.CLO Julián CLO observed and CLO studied ‘Julián observed and studied you, without you know it.’

[Vanderschueren 2012]

As Szabolcsi (2009) showed, lexical controlled subjects are only possible in pro-drop languages.

In pro-drop languages overt pronouns are focused in a –possibly empty– quantifier phrase (QP) (cf. Larson & Lujan).

Quantifier Raising triggers λ-binding of the variable pronoun. λ-binding has the effect that the φ features of the bound pronoun are not

interpreted in LF and so, the bound pronoun do not saturate the infinitival predicate.

It seems that controlled subjects can be overt in pro-drop languages because of the postverbal marked position.

Controlled subjects do not saturate the predicate despite being

lexical due the fact they are focused.

5. CONCLUSION

I. The claim that controlled subjects can be overt does not invalidate

the second clause of the R-assignment rule, but the opposite

relation: [-R] features do not imply a null PRO subject.

II. Assuming the concept of minimal pronoun it is possible to explain

overt occurrences of infinitival controlled subjects in terms of the

T/Agr calculus.

III. The analysis of controlled and non-controlled infinitival subjects

from Italian and Spanish proposed is consistent with all the basic

assumptions of the Landau’s calculus.


25

References

anonymous (1838) Reformistas antiguos españoles. Volumen 14.

Alaleona, G. (1741) Dissertazioni del signor Giuseppe Alaleona maceratese.

Alonso-Ovalle, L. & F. D’Introno (2000) Full and null pronouns in Spanish: the zero pronoun hypothesis. Hispanic Linguistics at the Turn of the Millenium. Somerville, MA.

Barbosa, P. and E. Raposo (2013) Subordinação argumental infinitiva. In Raposo et al. Gramática do Português. Lisboa: FCG: 1901–1977.

Beardsley, W. A. (1921) Infinitive Constructions in Old Spanish. New York: Columbia University Press.

Bianchi, V. (2007) Wh-infinitives and the licensing of “anaphoric tense”. Proceedings of the

XXXII Incontro di Grammatica Generativa. Alessandria, Edizioni dell’Orso 35.

Biezma, M. (2014) Multiple Focus Strategies in Pro-Drop Languages: Evidence from Ellipsis in Spanish. Syntax 17(2): 91–131.

Biswas, P. (2014) The role of tense and agreement in the licensing of subjects: evidence from participial clauses in Bangla. Natural Languages Linguist Theory 32: 87–113.

Cardinaletti, A. (1999) Italian emphatic pronouns are postverbal subjects. University of Venice Working Papers in Linguistics 9, n° 1-2:59–92.

Camus Bergareche, B. (2013) On Deísmo. Another Case of Variation in Spanish Complementation. Catalan Journal of Linguistics 12: 13–39.

Cervantes y Saavedra, M. (1605) El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.

Cuesta, J. (1853) Las glorias nacionales: grande historia universal de todos los reinos, provincias, islas y colonias de la monarquía española, desde los tiempos primitivos hasta el año de 1852. Volume 3.

de Mariana, J. and Margall, F.P. (1854) Obras del padre Juan de Mariana, Discurso preliminar. M. Rivadeneyra (ed.).

de León, L. (1855) Escritores del siglo 16: Obras del maestro fray Luis de León. Rivadeneyra (ed).

de León, L. & G. Siscar, G. M. (1855) Escritores del siglo 16: Obras del maestro fray Luis de León. Rivadeneyra (ed).

de Ochoa, E. (1853) Tesoro del teatro español, desde su origen (año de 1356) hasta nuestros días. Volume 1. París: Baudry.

Di Tullio (2011) Infinitivos introducidos por de. Cuadernos de ALFAL 3: 176–187.

de la Cruz santo, J. (1853) Escritores del siglo 16: San Juan de la Cruz, fray Pedro Malón de Chaide, fray Hernando de Zarate. Volume 1. Rivadeneyra (ed.).

España Cortes (1870) Diario de las sesiones de Cortes: legislatura 1810/13.

Gonçalves, A., L. F. Cunha and P. Silvano (2010) Interpretação temporal dos domínios infinitivos na construção de reestruturação do Português europeu. In Brito, A. M., F. Silva, J. Veloso & A. Fiéis (eds). Textos Seleccionados do XXV Encontro Nacional da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística: 435-447. Porto: APL.

Herbeck, P. (2011) Overt subjects in Spanish control infinitives and the theory of empty categories.

Ibarra, J. (ed.) (1771) Parnaso español, 5: coleccion de poesías escogidas de los mas célebres poetas castellanos.

F. Lagunilla, M. (1987) Los infinitivos con sujetos léxicos en español. Sintaxis de las lenguas románicas. 125–147.

Ferrer, F. P (1853) Las glorias nacionales. Librería de la publicidad.

Fernandez Navarrete, M. (ed) (1847). Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de España.


26

Goldoni, C. (1809) Collezione completa delle commedie del signor Carlo Goldoni. Volume 1. Editora Tip. di F. Bertini.

Holmberg, A.; A. Nayudu and M. Sheehan (2009) Three partial null-subject languages: a

comparison of Brazilian Portuguese, Finnish and Mahathi. Studia Linguistica 63(1): 59–97.

Il Mediatore: giornale settimanale politico, religioso. Mediatore. (1862)

Landau, I. (2004) The scale of finiteness and the calculus of Control. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 22:811—877.

Landau, I. (2006) Severing the Distribution of PRO from Case. Syntax 9(2): 153–170.

Landau, I. (2013) Control in Generative Grammar: A Research Companion. Cambridge University Press.

Landau, I. (2014) A Two-Tiered on Control. lingbuzz/001937.

La Revista de Buenos Aires (1870) Tomo XXII. Buenos Aires: Imprenta y Librería de Mayo.

Manent, N. (1853). Tres para una: zarzuela en tres actos y en verso. Barcelona: Impr. de Pons.

McFadden, T and S. Sundaresan (2011) Nominative case is independent of finiteness and agreement. Syntax and Semantics.

Larson, R and M. Luján (unp.) Emphatic pronouns. http://semlab5.sbs.sunysb.edu/~rlarson/larson-papers.html.

Livitz, I. (2011) Incorporating PRO. A defective goal analysis. NYU Working Papers in Linguistics 3: 95–119.

Madeira, A. M. (1994) On the Portuguese inflected infinitive. UCL Working papers in Linguistics 6: 179–203.

Mayr, C. (2010) Contrastive salient alternatives: focus on bound pronouns. Proceedings of SALT 20: 161–178.

Mayr, C. (2012) Focusing bound pronouns. Natural Language Semantics, 20(3): 299–348.

Mensching, G. (2000) Infinitive constructions with specified subjects. Oxford University Press.

Penny, R. J. (2002) A History of the Spanish Language. Cambridge University Press.

Modesto, M. (2010) What brazilian portuguese says about control: remarks on Boeckx e Hornstein. Syntax 13:78.96.

Negrão, E. (1986) Anaphora in Brazilian Portuguese complement structures (Ph.D. dissertation). University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Ordoñez. F. (1998) Post-Verbal Asymmetries in Spanish. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory Vol. 16, No. 2: 313–346.

Pagliarini, N. & M. Pagliarini (eds) (1746) Della potestà e della politia della Chiesa trattati due contro le nuove opinioni di Pietro Giannone dedicati al principe degli Apostoli da Gian'Antonio Bianchi di Lucca. Tomo 1. [-6]: 4.

Piera, C. (1987) Sobre la estructura de las cláusulas de infinitivo. En Sintaxis de las lenguas románicas. 148–166.

Reinhart, T. and E. Reuland (1993) Reflexivity. Linguistic Inquiry 24:657–720.

Reuland, E. and T. Reinhart (1995) Pronouns, anaphors and case. En Studies in Comparative Germanic Syntax: 214–269.

Rivadeneyra, M. (ed) (1855) Escritores del siglo XVI. Tomo segundo.

Schulte, K. (2007) Prepositional infinitives in Romance. A Usage-Based Approach to Syntactic Change. Peter Lang.

Sauerland, U. (2000) The content of pronouns: Evidence from focus. In: Jackson B, Matthews T (eds.) Proceedings of SALT X, CLC Publications, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 167–184.

Schulte, K. (2011) On the position of overt subjects in infinitival clauses in Spanish and Portuguese: pragmatic, semantic and frequency-based motivations. In Bouzouita, M. and E. Pato (eds.). Ibero-Romance Historical Linguistics 2011. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Scida, E. (2004) The Inflected Infinitive in Romance Languages. Routledge.

http://semlab5.sbs.sunysb.edu/~rlarson/larson-papers.html


27

Sitaridou, I. (2002) The synchrony and diachrony of romance infinitives with nominative subjects. PhD Thesis, University of Manchester: Manchester.

Sundaresan, S. (2014) Making sense of silence: finiteness and the (OC) pro vs. pro distinction. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory: 32(1): 59–85.

Szabolcsi, A. (2009) Overt nominative subjects in infinitival complements cross-linguistically: data, diagnostics, and preliminary analyses. NYU Working Papers in Linguistics 2.

Tiraboschi, G. (1807). Storia della letteratura italiana del cav. abate Girolamo Tiraboschi. Tomo 1. [-9.]: Dall'anno 1300 fino all'anno 1400.

Vanderschueren, C. (2012) Infinitivo y sujeto en portugués y español Un estudio empírico de los infinitivos adverbiales con sujeto explícito (Ph.D dissertation). Universiteit Gent.

Vernazza di Freney, G. (1859) Dizionario dei tipografi e dei principali correttori ed intagliatori che operarono negli stati sardi di terraferma e più specialmente in Piemonte sino all'anno 1821.

von Stechow, A. (2003) Feature Deletion under Semantic Binding: Tense, Person, and Mood under Verbal Quantifiers. MS. Tübingen.

Yllera, A. (1973). Sintaxis histórica del verbo español: Las perífrasis medievales, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza.

Overt [-R] subjects in infinitival complements from Spanish and Italian as bound variables

Documents

Transcript of Overt [-R] subjects in infinitival complements from Spanish and Italian as bound variables