In:Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 14: Selected papers from the 46th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), Stony Brook, NY
Edited by Lori Repetti and Francisco Ordóñez
[Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 14] 2018
► pp. 153–184
Chapter 9Clitic doubling, person and agreement in French hyper-complex inversion
Published online: 13 August 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.14.09kay
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.14.09kay
Abstract
The paper claims that Hyper-Complex Inversion (HCI) is an instance of clitic doubling that is subject to a person restriction not found with more familiar cases of clitic doubling. This restriction is argued to result from an incompatibility between the postverbal subject clitic (SCL) of HCI and the demonstrative structure associated with first and second person pronouns. That demonstrative structure also plays a role in asymmetries that hold concerning the possible silence, in certain cases, of third person pronouns, but not first or second person pronouns. HCI shares with past participle agreement the property that it is incompatible with an unmoved lexical direct object, in a way that presents a challenge to Agree, if Agree is taken to be available even in the absence of movement. The SCL of HCI sentences can sometimes climb out of an embedded infinitive, in a way related to the Comp-area character of its landing site.
Keywords: doubling, agreement, inversion, person, demonstrative
Article outline
- 1.HCI
- 2.HCI as clitic doubling
- 3.A restriction concerning SCLs
- 4.The -t- morpheme
- 5.Remnant movement and -t-
- 6.HCI and clitic climbing
- 7.A familiar problem for Agree
- 8.Pronominal clitics vs. agreement morphemes
- 9.Person and l
- 10.Missing persons
- 11.SCL ce
- 12.Demonstratives and first and second person pronouns
- 13.Other types of clitic doubling
- 14.The sensitivity of silent pronouns to person
- 15.French on
- 16.Conclusion
Notes References
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