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Infinitival Clauses in Breton

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Maggie Tallerman
Maggie Tallerman*
Affiliation:
University of Durham
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Abstract

In Breton, lexical subjects occur both in finite clauses and infinitival clauses. Within the Principles and Parameters model, the question arises as to how infinitival subjects can be Case-licensed, since the finite Tense element associated with Case-licensing in finite clauses is absent from infinitival clauses. Infinitival subjects are, however, preceded by some prepositional element, and previous accounts have proposed that these are Case-markers, assigning abstract Case to the subjects. However, prepositional elements also occur in controlled infinitival clauses—which have the null subject PRO—yet lexical subjects and PRO are not interchangeable. In this article, it is proposed that the crucial property associated with the Case-licensing of lexical subjects in all Breton clause types is subject agreement. This occurs not only on finite verbs, but also on the prepositional elements in infinitival clauses, which are sometimes complementizers and sometimes AgrSP heads. Clauses containing PRO, however, lack subject agreement, and hence cannot license lexical subjects.

Résumé

Résumé

En breton, les sujets lexicaux apparaissent non seulement dans les phrases à temps fini mais aussi dans les infinitives. Dans le cadre du modèle des Principes et Paramètres, la présence de sujets lexicaux dans les infinitives soulève la question de la légitimation casuelle de ceux-ci puisque l’élément Temps fini dont dépend la légitimation casuelle dans les phrases à temps fini est absent dans les infinitives. Les sujets des infinitives sont cependant précédés d’un élément prépositionnel, et des analyses précédentes ont proposé que ces éléments sont des marqueurs casuels qui assignent un cas abstrait aux sujets. Toutefois, ces éléments prépositionnels sont aussi présents dans des infinitives à contrôle—où l’on retrouve le sujet nul PRO—malgré que les sujets lexicaux et PRO ne sont pas interchangeables. Il est proposé que la propriété qui permet la légitimation casuelle des sujets lexicaux dans tous les types de phrases du breton est l’accord avec le sujet. Cet accord se produit non seulement avec les verbes à temps fini mais aussi avec les éléments prépositionnels dans les infinitives, qui sont parfois des complémenteurs et parfois des têtes de AgrSP. Les phrases qui contiennent le sujet nul PRO, cependant, ne présentent pas cet accord avec le sujet et ainsi ne peuvent pas légitimer des sujets lexicaux.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 42 , Special Issue 1-2: Topics in Celtic Syntax , June 1997 , pp. 205 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1997

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