Italian clefts and the licensing of infinitival subject relatives
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Petra Sleeman
Abstract
This paper investigates the licensing of infinitival subject relative clauses by clefted constituents. It is claimed that in Italian clefted constituents license infinitival subject relatives because in this language clefts function as contrastive foci. This claim is supported by the syntactic analysis of the position of clefted constituents that license infinitival subject relatives in Italian. It is argued that they occupy a left-peripheral Focus position in the clause. On the basis of extraction data, it is argued that the infinitival subject relative itself is a complement. Keywords: cleft; infinitival relative clause; contrastive focus; Italian; left-periphery
Abstract
This paper investigates the licensing of infinitival subject relative clauses by clefted constituents. It is claimed that in Italian clefted constituents license infinitival subject relatives because in this language clefts function as contrastive foci. This claim is supported by the syntactic analysis of the position of clefted constituents that license infinitival subject relatives in Italian. It is argued that they occupy a left-peripheral Focus position in the clause. On the basis of extraction data, it is argued that the infinitival subject relative itself is a complement. Keywords: cleft; infinitival relative clause; contrastive focus; Italian; left-periphery
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Specificational/predicational clefts
- Predication and specification in the syntax of cleft sentences 35
- Wh -clefts and verb-initial word order in Austronesian languages 71
- (Pseudo)clefts at the syntax-prosody-discourse interface 97
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Part II. Monoclausal/biclausal analyses
- Clefts in Durban Zulu 141
- The cleft pronoun and cleft clause in English 165
- The morphosyntax of wolof clefts 187
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Part III. The focus potential of clefts
- Multiple focus and cleft sentences 227
- Recursion of FocP in Malayalam 251
- Multiple Wh-questions and the cleft construction in Malayalam 269
- Cleft partitionings in Japanese, Burmese and Chinese 285
- Italian clefts and the licensing of infinitival subject relatives 319
- Language index 343
- Subject index 345
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Specificational/predicational clefts
- Predication and specification in the syntax of cleft sentences 35
- Wh -clefts and verb-initial word order in Austronesian languages 71
- (Pseudo)clefts at the syntax-prosody-discourse interface 97
-
Part II. Monoclausal/biclausal analyses
- Clefts in Durban Zulu 141
- The cleft pronoun and cleft clause in English 165
- The morphosyntax of wolof clefts 187
-
Part III. The focus potential of clefts
- Multiple focus and cleft sentences 227
- Recursion of FocP in Malayalam 251
- Multiple Wh-questions and the cleft construction in Malayalam 269
- Cleft partitionings in Japanese, Burmese and Chinese 285
- Italian clefts and the licensing of infinitival subject relatives 319
- Language index 343
- Subject index 345
