Evidence for the competition-based analysis of subjunctive obviation from relative and adverbial clauses in Italian
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Francesco Costantini
Abstract
According to some hypotheses, subjunctive obviation derives from tense dependency; according to others, from the so-called ‘subjunctive-infinitive competition’. These proposals are based on data from argument clauses. However, subjunctive obviation occurs even in nonargument clauses. This article analyses data from relative and adverbial clauses in Italian. The data discussed show that (i) in nonargument clauses obviation displays the same properties as in argument clauses, (ii) only clause types allowing for the infinitive display obviation, (iii) tense-dependent clause types may be obviative or nonobviative. These generalizations prove that a relation between obviation and the availability of infinitive mood holds, while there is no relation between tense dependency and obviation. This provides novel evidence in favor of theories of obviation based on mood competition.
Abstract
According to some hypotheses, subjunctive obviation derives from tense dependency; according to others, from the so-called ‘subjunctive-infinitive competition’. These proposals are based on data from argument clauses. However, subjunctive obviation occurs even in nonargument clauses. This article analyses data from relative and adverbial clauses in Italian. The data discussed show that (i) in nonargument clauses obviation displays the same properties as in argument clauses, (ii) only clause types allowing for the infinitive display obviation, (iii) tense-dependent clause types may be obviative or nonobviative. These generalizations prove that a relation between obviation and the availability of infinitive mood holds, while there is no relation between tense dependency and obviation. This provides novel evidence in favor of theories of obviation based on mood competition.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- A’-dependencies in French 1
- The irregular forms of the Italian “Passato Remoto” 17
- On the lack of stranded negated quantifiers and inverse scope of negation in Romance 59
- Evidence for the competition-based analysis of subjunctive obviation from relative and adverbial clauses in Italian 75
- Quotative expansions 93
- Datives, prepositions, and argument structure in Spanish 125
- A typology of agreement processes and its implications for language development 143
- On the syntax of focalizers in some Italo-Romance dialects 157
- The phonotactics of word-initial clusters in Romance 175
- Double object constructions in Spanish (and Catalan) revisited 193
- Cognitive economy, non-redundancy and typological primacy in L3 acquisition 217
- L1 acquisition of noun ellipsis in French and in Dutch 249
- Index 267
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- A’-dependencies in French 1
- The irregular forms of the Italian “Passato Remoto” 17
- On the lack of stranded negated quantifiers and inverse scope of negation in Romance 59
- Evidence for the competition-based analysis of subjunctive obviation from relative and adverbial clauses in Italian 75
- Quotative expansions 93
- Datives, prepositions, and argument structure in Spanish 125
- A typology of agreement processes and its implications for language development 143
- On the syntax of focalizers in some Italo-Romance dialects 157
- The phonotactics of word-initial clusters in Romance 175
- Double object constructions in Spanish (and Catalan) revisited 193
- Cognitive economy, non-redundancy and typological primacy in L3 acquisition 217
- L1 acquisition of noun ellipsis in French and in Dutch 249
- Index 267
