The Friulian subject clitics

With the exception of the clitics of 2sg and 3sg.m, Friulian subject clitics tend towards their non-realisation in postnegative position. Preceding an object clitic or a reflexive pronoun, only the 2sg subject clitic has to be realised obligatorily. In the present chapter, I analyse this complex phenomenon, arguing that the non-realisation of subject clitics in postnegative position can be explained in purely phonological terms as vowel deletion. In contrast, the omission of subject clitics in phrases containing object clitics or reflexive pronouns is caused by their syntactic position and on the interaction of conflicting constraints. My analysis is mainly based on fieldwork data presented in this chapter. In addition, as both the Friulian conjugation system and its paradigm of subject clitics are highly syncretic, I discuss the role avoiding syncretism plays. Moreover, I claim that the syncretic shape of the scl-paradigm is morphomic, that is, autonomously morphological.