The Rise of Lexical Subjects in English Covert Infinitives (original) (raw)
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The Position of the Subjectness of the Subject-less Conventional Infinitives
Journal of Translation and Language Studies
The English conventional infinitive clauses have either overt or covert subjects. Previous analyses mainly used the PRO Theorem and Null-Case Approaches to show the distribution of the subjectness of the subject-less conventional infinitives. However, this paper investigated the position of the subjectness of the subject-less conventional infinitive clauses using the Minimalist Program’s Movement Theory of Control and the External Token Merge. In this qualitative paper, data was extracted from the previous English Ph.D. research studies conducted by English native and non-native speakers, and analysed using successive approximation analytic tools. The results demonstrate that the control and SSR-infinitives are generated in a similar fashion, which is why they share the type of subjectness. The base-generated PRO, which is claimed to be the subjectness of the control infinitives, is further revealed that is derived from movement. Therefore, for uniformity purposes, the subjectness ...
On Bare Infinitives in English.pdf 2016 DRAFT
In Bell, Gregory J. and Němčoková, Katarína From Theory to Practice 2015: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Anglophone Studies, September 3–4, 2015 Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic. 133-145. Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic. ISBN 978-80-7454-633-4., 2016
Abstract: The first part of the study demonstrates the distribution of English bare infinitives categorized with respect to the selecting main verb. With respect to more detailed and cross linguistic analysis of the variety of infinitival constructions in Wurmbrandt (2001), the English bare infinitives are defined as an example of bare v/VP structure. The second part of the study, based on the contrast between two kinds of English passives as in Emonds (2013), demonstrates that the verbal passive (contrary to adjectival passives) represents another kind of English bare v/VP structure. The comparison of the two kinds of English bare v/VP structures leads to a proposal about the structural source of the infinitival particle to. The study argues that to is a morphological signal of Object Rising, which is described as raising from the base generated Theta-marked position of Agent in SPEC(v) of the infinitive to the position of the structural object of the matrix verb in SPEC(V). The bare infinitive then signals a lack of this movement, which is an economically preferred variety accepted whenever possible, i. e. with late-inserted grammatical verbs in active voice.
Root infinitives: A comparative view
Probus, 2003
Investigating Root Infinitive constructions (RIs) in the adult grammar, we concentrate on a comparative view between English and Spanish. Through a careful study of the syntactic and semantic properties of RIs, and their cross-linguistic differences, we present strong arguments for the internal structure of RIs that we propose: English RIs are deficient TPs, while Spanish RIs have an additional Comp-related functional projection FP on top. This structural difference accounts for the syntactic similarities and differences in RIs in the two languages. On the semantic side, we propose that RIs are indefinite descriptions of events. RIs crucially involve two related terms, the RI itself (John read this book?!) and the Coda (That's impossible!), where the relating predicate is an exclamative operator with scalar properties akin to the focus particle even. We show that the RI, the exclamative operator and the Coda form a tripartite structure both syntactically and semantically, in the sense of other standard analyses of quantificational constructions. Differences in temporal interpretation are shown t o derive from the existence of the tripartite structure and the (un)availability of infinitival verb movement.
Freeside Europe Online Academic Journal, 2020
This paper discusses certain internal changes and external influences which affect the language and the way the speakers respond to them by utilizing the economy principle as part of a rhetorical strategy. Furthermore, it also touches upon some diachronic changes which occurred within the structure of the absolute infinitive constructions (AIC) throughout its development focusing on the period from Middle English or “a period of experiment and transition” (Lenker 2010: 6), through the 17th century, commonly referred to as ‘the age of normalization and correctness’, up till the end of the 19th century, called Modern English or Late New English. This timeframe is of special interest since the language was going through tremendous structural and syntactical changes which involved losing most of the language’s grammatical inflections triggering the re-establishment of its basic word order.
Inflected infinitives in Brazilian Portuguese and the theory of control
In this chapter, we describe the distribution of inflected infinitives in BP, and discuss the possible interpretations of their subjects when null. In so doing, we address the debate between Modesto 2010 and proponents of the movement theory of Control (MTC, particularly Boeckx and Hornstein 2006 and Rodrigues and Hornstein 2013) as to whether inflected infinitives constitute a serious argument against the MTC; and whether gender agreement with epicene nouns in finite embedded clauses in Brazilian Portuguese and Italian constitutes a valid argument in favor of the MTC. The facts supporting the later argument are in fact inconclusive, as argued by Modesto. The facts involving the former argument were tested using a grammaticality judgment task, presented here. The experiment indicates that inflected infinitives are perfectly grammatical in obligatory Control contexts; but its grammaticality is uncertain in non-control ones, supporting Modesto’s claims. The chapter concludes that, after discounting the interference of written language, the behavior of inflected infinitives in BP is explained by recent linguistic theory that assumes PRO to be a minimal pronoun (Kratzer 2009, Landau 2015).
AcI and control infinitives: how different are they? A diachronic approach
In German, there are two infinitive constructions for complement infinitives, the accusativus cum infinitivo (a.c.i.) and the object control infinitive construction (OCIC). Both constructions have nearly identical structures, the logical subject of the infinitive being a distinct constituent from the rest of the infinitival clause, although in Modern German they show differences in form, the a.c.i. being coherent and governing bare infinitive, the OCIC being incoherent and governing zu-infinitive. It can be shown that these differences only developed over time and rather are reflexes of semantic differences between the constructions than of structural differences. Superficial binding differences suggesting a structural difference follow rather from the structures of the involved verb phrases.
The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 2000
The observational point of departure in this paper is that infinitivals (in Dutch and German) have no tense. Apparent counterexamples to this claim can be shown to involve aspect/Aktionsarten rather than tense. There is consequently no reason to posit any of the functional shell structure associated with tense. Hence, the infinitival markers (zu, te) may be assumed to be in (or close to) the VP. This is in accordance with the observation that these infinitival markers are always directly adjacent to the verb, which makes them similar to the verbal participial prefix ge-. A Minimalist account of zu/te, which is similar but not identical to ge-, is proposed. The question is then raised how zu (originally a true local-allative preposition) could have become a verbal prefix, and relevant diachronic data are adduced. Finally it is shown that a functionalist, or 'cognitivist', theory of grammaticalization like Haspelmath's misses the point in a number of ways. A more formalist theory of 'grammaticalizing reanalysis' is proposed as a better alternative.
Syntactic Functions of Infinitives in English
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2014
The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the most relevant syntactic functions of infinitives within the sentence in English, based on the British 2006 Corpus (BE06) designed by Paul Baker and displayed by the server of Andrew Hardie, Corpus Query Processor (CQPweb). The corpus reveals that infinitives are a very frequent non-finite form employed in English. The most relevant syntactic functions that infinitives took in the corpus were as verbal periphrasis, as verb complements, as noun complements, as adjectival complements, as nominal predicates and as verb subjects. In English there are specific contexts in which the infinitive is not preceded by the particle to, such as after an extensive number of auxiliary, perception and permission verbs. Furthermore, there are other specific contexts in which the infinitive is preceded by the particle to, such as after a large number of direct objects in transitive verbs and functioning as a verb subject and as a noun or adjective complement. The major claim of this study is that infinitives in English do not constitute a uniform group; in fact, they display a variety of syntactic functions within the sentence directly reflecting their nominal and verbal properties.