7. Auxiliaries
-
Géraldine Legendre
Abstract
The focus of this chapter is on the two perfect auxiliaries (Latin esse and habere), which emerged alongside inherited passive and copula esse out of the restructuring of the Classical Latin voice and aspectual systems. The two perfect auxiliaries created a pervasive split among intransitives in all Romance languages, at least at some stage in their diachronic development. Overall, the auxiliary split shows a high degree of synchronic complexity as well as a clear global diachronic trend towards eliminating inherited esse while retaining habere, a perfect auxiliary which qualifies as a Romance innovation. The auxiliary split has played a central role in the modern understanding of basic syntactic structure thanks to the Unaccusative Hypothesis and has deepened our understanding of the syntax/semantics interface. The present chapter is organized as follows. Section 1 gives an overview of the changes in the perfect auxiliary system from Latin to Early Romance and their main alternative explanations. Section 2 focuses on modern languages and dialects and the complex synchronic picture they offer. Section 3 considers the impact of the Unaccusative Hypothesis while Section 4 examines how the auxiliary split is best positioned at the syntax/semantics interface. Section 5 considers whether the traditional association of auxiliary selection with two other phenomena, past participle agreement and clitic climbing, withstands empirical scrutiny.
Abstract
The focus of this chapter is on the two perfect auxiliaries (Latin esse and habere), which emerged alongside inherited passive and copula esse out of the restructuring of the Classical Latin voice and aspectual systems. The two perfect auxiliaries created a pervasive split among intransitives in all Romance languages, at least at some stage in their diachronic development. Overall, the auxiliary split shows a high degree of synchronic complexity as well as a clear global diachronic trend towards eliminating inherited esse while retaining habere, a perfect auxiliary which qualifies as a Romance innovation. The auxiliary split has played a central role in the modern understanding of basic syntactic structure thanks to the Unaccusative Hypothesis and has deepened our understanding of the syntax/semantics interface. The present chapter is organized as follows. Section 1 gives an overview of the changes in the perfect auxiliary system from Latin to Early Romance and their main alternative explanations. Section 2 focuses on modern languages and dialects and the complex synchronic picture they offer. Section 3 considers the impact of the Unaccusative Hypothesis while Section 4 examines how the auxiliary split is best positioned at the syntax/semantics interface. Section 5 considers whether the traditional association of auxiliary selection with two other phenomena, past participle agreement and clitic climbing, withstands empirical scrutiny.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Table of Contents VII
- Abbreviations XI
- 1. Introduction 1
-
The verbal domain
- 2. Subjects 27
- 3. Objects 89
- 4. Argument structure and argument structure alternations 154
- 5. Clitic pronouns 183
- 6. Voice and voice alternations 230
- 7. Auxiliaries 272
- 8. Causative and perception verbs 299
- 9. Copular and existential constructions 332
-
The clausal and sentential domains
- 10. Infinitival clauses 369
- 11. Tense, aspect, mood 397
- 12. Negation and polarity 449
- 13. Dislocations and framings 472
- 14. Focus Fronting 502
- 15. Cleft constructions 536
- 16. Interrogatives 569
- 17. Exclamatives, imperatives, optatives 603
- 18. Coordination and correlatives 647
-
The nominal domain
- 19. Gender and number 691
- 20. Determination and quantification 727
- 21. Adjectival and genitival modification 771
- 22. Relative clauses 804
-
Typological aspects
- 23. Syntheticity and Analyticity 839
- 24. Basic constituent orders 887
- List of Contributors 933
- Index 941
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Table of Contents VII
- Abbreviations XI
- 1. Introduction 1
-
The verbal domain
- 2. Subjects 27
- 3. Objects 89
- 4. Argument structure and argument structure alternations 154
- 5. Clitic pronouns 183
- 6. Voice and voice alternations 230
- 7. Auxiliaries 272
- 8. Causative and perception verbs 299
- 9. Copular and existential constructions 332
-
The clausal and sentential domains
- 10. Infinitival clauses 369
- 11. Tense, aspect, mood 397
- 12. Negation and polarity 449
- 13. Dislocations and framings 472
- 14. Focus Fronting 502
- 15. Cleft constructions 536
- 16. Interrogatives 569
- 17. Exclamatives, imperatives, optatives 603
- 18. Coordination and correlatives 647
-
The nominal domain
- 19. Gender and number 691
- 20. Determination and quantification 727
- 21. Adjectival and genitival modification 771
- 22. Relative clauses 804
-
Typological aspects
- 23. Syntheticity and Analyticity 839
- 24. Basic constituent orders 887
- List of Contributors 933
- Index 941
