Cover not available

In:Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 15: Selected papers from 'Going Romance' 30, Frankfurt
Edited by Ingo Feldhausen, Martin Elsig, Imme Kuchenbrandt and Mareike Neuhaus
[Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 15] 2019
► pp. 333–351

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 17
Non-verbal predication and clitics in Aromanian

 | University of Cambridge
ORCiD logo with link | University of Cambridge
Published online: 9 October 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.15.17mav
Abstract
This paper discusses predicational structures in some Aromanian varieties which involve PP or AP predicates combining with the copula be. In these structures the internal argument and subject of be is cross-referenced by an accusative clitic, as long as it is 3rd person and a topic. However, Individual-Level APs typically resist cliticisation. We propose that the clitic is the spell-out of topic and gender/number features available in Stage-Level predicates only (a spatio-temporal argument à la Kratzer 1995), with which the subject agrees, before agreeing with T. We argue that this structural property captures the restriction to Stage-Level predicate subject topics, the person restriction, and also the fact that the clitic behaves like a direct object clitic morphosyntactically.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Socio-linguistic background and methodology
  • 3.The phenomenon and its distribution
    • 3.1The general picture
    • 3.2Environments in which the ia-clitic is found
    • 3.3Further restrictions: The DP subject is a topic
  • 4.The analysis
    • 4.1The structural properties of ia-clitics
    • 4.2Implications
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (24)
References
Bakalis, Evangelos and Alexandra Galani. 2012. “Modeling language evolution: Aromanian, an endangered language in Greece.” Physica A 391: 4963–4969. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowers, John. 1993. “The Syntax of Predication”. Linguistic Inquiry 24: 591–656.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlson, Gregory. 1977. Reference to kinds in English. PhD dissertation, UMass Amherst.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 2001. “Derivation by Phase”. In Ken Hale: A Life in Language, ed. by Michael Kenstowicz, 1–52. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Alessandro, Roberta and Adam Ledgeway. 2010. “The Abruzzese T-v system: feature spreading and the double auxiliary construction”. In Syntactic Variation: The Dialects of Italy, ed. by Roberta D’Alessandro, Adam Ledgeway, and Ian Roberts, 201–209. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Hoop, Helen. 2002. Case Configuration and Noun Phrase Interpretation. PhD Dissertation, University of Groningen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Diesing, Molly. 1992. Indefinites. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dinas, Konstantinos and Nikolaos Katsanis. 1990. Γραμματική της Kοινής Kουτσο-βλαχικής [Grammar of the Common Kutsovlach]. Thessaloniki: Archives of Macedonian studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dowty, David. 1991. “Thematic-Proto-Roles and Argument Selection”. Language 67 (3): 547–619. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Enç, Mürvet. 1991. “The Semantics of Specificity”. Linguistic Inquiry 22 (1): 1–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frascarelli, Mara. 2007. “Subjects, topics and the interpretation of referential pro: an interface approach to the linking of (null) pronouns.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 25: 691–734. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gallego, Ángel and Juan Uriagereka. 2016. “ESTAR = SER + X.” Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics 5 (1): 123–156. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hallmann, Peter. 2004. “NP Interpretation and the Structure of Predicates.” Language 80 (4): 707–747. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiménez-Fernández, Ángel Luis. 2012. “What Information Structure tells us about Individual/Stage-Level Predicates.” Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics 1 (1): 1–32. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiménez-Fernández, Ángel Luis and Vasilios Spyropoulos. 2013. “Feature inheritance, vP phases and the information structure of small clauses.” Studia Linguistica 67(2): 185–244. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kratzer, Angelika. 1995. “Stage-Level and Individual Level Predicates.” In The Generic Book, ed. by Gregory Carlson, and Francis Pelletier, 125–175. Chicago: The University of Chicago.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landau, Idan. 2004. “The Scale of Finiteness and the Calculus of Control.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 22: 811–877. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maienborn, Claudia. 2005. “A discourse-based account of Spanish ser/estar.” Linguistics 43 (1): 155–180. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marantz, Alec. 1991. “Case and Licensing.” In Proceedings of ESCOL ’91, ed. by German Westphal, Benjamin Ao, and Hee-Rahk Chae, 234–253. Cornell Linguistics Club.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pesetsky, David. 1987. “Wh-in-Situ: Movement and Unselective Binding.” In The Representation of (In)definiteness, ed. by Eric J. Reuland, and Alice G. B. ter Meulen, 98–129. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramchand, Gillian. 1997. Aspect and Predication: The Semantics of Argument Structure. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roy, Isabelle. 2013. Nonverbal Predication: Copular Sentences at the Syntax-Semantics Interface. Oxford: University of Oxford. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1976. “Hierarchy of features and ergativity.” In Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages, ed. by R. M. W. Dixon, 112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Tsimpli, Ianthi Maria, Alexandra Prentza & Maria Kaltsa
2025. 1121136 Language contact effects, (bi)directionality and feature interpretability: morphosyntactic data across domains in Greek/Vlach Aromanian bilinguals. In Towards a Holistic Understanding of Language Contact in the Past, ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue