Phi-features and the Modular Architecture of - UMR 7023 - CNRS

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The literature on the subject draws the same picture as Blanche-Benveniste
(1975), including Kayne (1975), Couquaux (1975), Morin (1979a), Postal (1981,
1983, 1984, 1990), Auger (1994), among many others. Usually, they report the focus
facts, rather than control for them. To native speakers the judgments are clear;
for some, focussed strong pronouns require clitic doubling, so that (135)b is ungrammatical
on any reading (note 60). To examine focus structure better, one may
construct contexts with wide focus on the sentence, or narrow focus on another
element, as in (136). The dative strong pronouns in PCC context are perfectly
grammatical unfocussed, while those outside it must be heavily focussed. In contrast,
the locative argument of penser 'think about' can be either strong pronoun or
clitic when unfocussed (module other factors, note 57).
(136) [You think theyi don't know herj/youk? Of course theyi know herj/youk.]
a. Je laj leuri ai présentée hier/HIER.
b. Je l'j ai présentée *à euxi/EUXk hier/HIER.
c. *Je vousk leuri ai présentée hier/HIER.
d. Je vousk ai présentée à euxi/EUXk hier/HIER.
I herj/youk.A themi.D have introduced to them/THEM yesterday.
e. Ilsi y%j/%k pensent tout le temps.
f. Ilsi pensent tout le temps à ellej/toik.
they LOCj/k think all the time to(=about) herj/youk
Complementing constructed examples are abundant naturalistic ones. The following
selection of PCC contexts has been adapted from various sources and then
submitted to grammaticality judgments including focus. The strong pronoun datives
(underlined) are perfect without focus. Outside PCC contexts, corresponding
unfocussed strong pronouns are impossible. Attempts to create them in (137)d''
and (137)e'' lead to ungrammaticality. 65
(i) a Je lesi 〈*lui〉 attire 〈à lui〉, les amisi. b Je lesk 〈lui〉 attire 〈*à lui〉, les ennuisk.
I attract themi/k to him.D, ((a): dative clitic) the friendsi / ((b): à + strong) the annoyancesk.
(ii) a Je vais lui appeler un médecini. b Je vais appeler à lui tous ses partisansk.
I will call to him ((a): dative clitic) a doctori / ((b): à + strong) all his supportersk
(iii) a Je lei lui renvoie (le manuscrit à l'auteuri) b Je lek renvoie à lui (le critique à l'auteurk)
I am sending iti back to him ((a): dative clitic: his manuscript to the authori).
I am sending it to him ((b): à + strong: the critique to the authork)
(iv) a Je te reviens (dit par un soldat à sa femme) b Je reviens à vous dans un instant.
I will come back to you ((a): dative clitic: said by a soldier to his wife)
I will get back to you in a moment ((b): à + strong)
65 The context of naturalistic examples mitigates factors that may render constructed examples
clumsy, including the pragmatic division of labour between clitics and strong pronouns in picking
discourse antecedents (Tasmowski 1985, Ariel 1990, Delfitto 2002), and the preference for
aligning phrase-final accented expressions with focus (as in English: Kate walked in; I showed
{her the book} / {the book to her} / {the book to her right away}, the second being less natural.)