Finiteness and Pseudofiniteness
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Elizabeth Cowper
Abstract
I argue that finiteness is a purely syntactic property, licensing case on the subject and agreement on the verb. Semantic properties associated with finiteness follow from the position of Finite in the geometry of clausal interpretable features. Considering possible counterexamples from Romance languages as well as West Flemish, modern Greek, and Turkish, I show that Romance personal and inflected infinitives are characterized by a pseudofinite Infl, available only in null-subject languages, which lacks Finite, but bears an unvalued case feature. Pseudofinite clauses, including the Southern Calabrian modo construction, must be assigned case externally. West Flemish personal infinitives are finite, headed by a hybrid Comp/Infl head. Turkish agreeing gerunds have nominal syntax, and Greek subjunctive clauses are either finite or nonfinite, depending on their case-assigning properties.
Abstract
I argue that finiteness is a purely syntactic property, licensing case on the subject and agreement on the verb. Semantic properties associated with finiteness follow from the position of Finite in the geometry of clausal interpretable features. Considering possible counterexamples from Romance languages as well as West Flemish, modern Greek, and Turkish, I show that Romance personal and inflected infinitives are characterized by a pseudofinite Infl, available only in null-subject languages, which lacks Finite, but bears an unvalued case feature. Pseudofinite clauses, including the Southern Calabrian modo construction, must be assigned case externally. West Flemish personal infinitives are finite, headed by a hybrid Comp/Infl head. Turkish agreeing gerunds have nominal syntax, and Greek subjunctive clauses are either finite or nonfinite, depending on their case-assigning properties.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Finiteness: underlying relations
- Finiteness and Pseudofiniteness 47
- The Split T Analysis 79
- Universals and variation 93
- Finiteness, inflection, and the syntax your morphology can afford 121
-
Part II: Morphosyntactic exponents of (non-)finiteness
- Agreement is not an essential ingredient of finiteness 171
- Non-finiteness in Saamáka 189
- Finiteness and response particles in West Flemish 211
-
Part III: Finiteness in language acquisition
- Word order and finiteness in acquisition 257
- The influence of phonological factors on the expression of finiteness by children learning Dutch as their first and second language 287
- Contradictory parameter settings in one mind 309
- Index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Finiteness: underlying relations
- Finiteness and Pseudofiniteness 47
- The Split T Analysis 79
- Universals and variation 93
- Finiteness, inflection, and the syntax your morphology can afford 121
-
Part II: Morphosyntactic exponents of (non-)finiteness
- Agreement is not an essential ingredient of finiteness 171
- Non-finiteness in Saamáka 189
- Finiteness and response particles in West Flemish 211
-
Part III: Finiteness in language acquisition
- Word order and finiteness in acquisition 257
- The influence of phonological factors on the expression of finiteness by children learning Dutch as their first and second language 287
- Contradictory parameter settings in one mind 309
- Index 343
