Anna Cardinaletti (Venice) and Ur Shlonsky

Main Session Abstracts
part of the lexical or VP domain (vP or a like projection). (5) schematizes the two clitic
positions.
(5) [FP … [FP clitic [FP … [FP … [FP clitic [vP [VP ]]]]].
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functional domain lexical domain
2. Italian lexical infinitives invariably display a word-final [e]. [e] is obligatorily absent in the
presence of an enclitic pronoun, as in (6b).
(6) a. Le vorrei parlare b. Vorrei parlar(*e)le
(I) to her would want (to) speak (I) would want (to) speak to her
There is no phonological motivation for this apparent truncation. The rule of Troncamento
- which deletes a word-final /e/ or /o/ before a consonant-initial word if the target vowel is
preceded by a sonorant consonant, (Peperkamp 1997) – is optional. The absence of [e] in (6b)
is obligatory. We argue that the infinitive-final [e] is a morpheme. Indeed, it is the realization
of the same low position which clitics target in e.g. (1a), (2a), and (3a). Although it appears
that the final [e] is deleted in (6b), we argue that it is actually there, as the final vowel of the
clitic le. The morphological makeup of parlarle is thus parlar-l-e. The clitic adjoins to the [e],
which realizes the lexical clitic position. In fact, the underlying form of the infinitive-final
vowel is /i/, as is the final vowel of the clitics mi, ci, vi etc. The [i]~[e] alternation is
phonologically conditioned: /i/ [e] following a coronal sonorant. This rule lowers /e/ to [i]
following the stem-final /r/ in infinitives.
Although [e] may be absent on clitic-less lexical infinitives in Troncamento contexts, it
must be absent on modal and volitional predicates in their restructuring guise.
(7) *Sarei voluto potere partire con Maria.
Again, no phonological explanation is available for the absence of [e] in this context. We
argue that [e] is absent from intermediate restructuring verbs for exactly the same reason that
clitics cannot attach to them (as we saw in (4)). Compare (7) with (3b).
3. Restructuring verbs are not a homogeneous class (see also Wurmbrand (forthcoming)). For
example, causative and perception verbs (as well as motion verbs) are restructuring verbs that
do not trigger auxiliary switch, (8b), can host a clitic, (8c), and display the infinitival [e], (8d).
(8) a. L’ho fatto/visto partire. b. *Lo sono fatto/visto partire.
(I) him have made/seen leave (I) him am made/seen leave
c. Vorrei farlo leggere a Maria. d. Lo vorrei fare leggere a Maria.
(I) would-want (to) make.it read to Maria
4. There is a correlation between the properties displayed by restructuring verbs and their
position in the functional hierarchy in (9) (cf. Cinque(forthcoming2004).) Modal and
volitional verbs appear highest in the hierarchy. The class of causative, perception and motion
verbs - underlined in (9) - appear in the lower part of this hierarchy, below Voice and above
the domain of “VP-adverbs”.
(9) > Modvolition > … > Modobligation …> Mod permission …> Voice > Perception >
Causative > … > Andative > Completive > … VP
5. The difference between lexical verbs and the verbs underlined in (9), on the one hand, and
between these and the other restructuring verbs, on the other, is that they project shells of
different sizes. Lexical verbs are endowed with a full shell, including vP and the lexical clitic
or [e] position. In addition, lexical verbs select an auxiliary, the choice of which depends on
the way the arguments are aligned in the shell. The verbs underlined in (9) are associated with
a reduced shell, a fact which we relate to the limitations on their argument structure. Finally,
the other restructuring verbs lack a shell altogether. These are simply merged in functional
heads. To put it concisely, lexical verbs and the verbs underlined in (9) are associated with a
richer structure than fully functional verbs. However, the split between lexical and functional
verbs is not clear-cut. Rather, there is a gradation from structurally rich to structurally poor
verbal representations.
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