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Subject Doubling, Free Inversion, and Null Argument Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Yves Roberge*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia

Extract

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I shall propose a unified account of the subject doubling construction and point out its similarities and differences with respect to object doubling — the so-called clitic doubling. The discussion is based on Trentino, a northern dialect of Italian, and Colloquial French. I will argue that it is not desirable to establish a connection between subject doubling and free inversion as is implicitly assumed in Safir (1982). Rather, it seems preferable to assume that the subject clitics are generated in the AGR element of INFL and that they are associated with pro in subject position. The possibility of subject doubling is then related to a parameter making reference to the optionality of Case absorbtion or spell-out by the clitic.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1986

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