Papers by Kim A . Groothuis
Open Linguistics, 2024
Recent research has highlighted the existence of expletive(-like) elements in various languages t... more Recent research has highlighted the existence of expletive(-like) elements in various languages that are related to discourse, serving as fillers for designated topic/focus positions and/or contributing specific discourse-pragmatic effects. Such elements pose a number of challenges and opportunities, both for our overall conception of expletives and for our understanding of the syntax-discourse interface, although work in this area to date has mainly focused on the phenomenon in individual varieties. In this study, we critically survey the current state-of-the art on this topic and discuss four main areas where we see particular challenges and opportunities for research: (i) categories and definitions, (ii) typological correlations, (iii) theoretical modelling and (iv) language change. Overall, this article brings together a broad array of empirical findings and theoretical approaches on the phenomenon of discourse-related expletives and highlights the many avenues for future work in this area.
Isogloss. Open Journal of Romance Linguistics, 2024
Campanian dialects such as Neapolitan feature a so-called 'second form of the infinitive' (SFI), ... more Campanian dialects such as Neapolitan feature a so-called 'second form of the infinitive' (SFI), a form consisting of the bare verbal stem, which can be used after functional verbs. This paper addresses the microvariation concerning the construction by analysing novel data from the Valle Caudina, located to the northeast of Naples. The SFI is frequently found specifically with the imperative va 'go!'. In Neapolitan, the form has been reanalysed as an imperatival form in this context, yielding an asyndetic imperative. At a first glance, the use of the SFI in Valle Caudina looks very similar to its Neapolitan counterpart, but unlike Neapolitan, the SFI in these varieties has remained non-finite and has not been reanalysed as an imperative. These dialects can thus be considered a previous stage of the development described for Neapolitan by Ledgeway (1997, 2007, 2009). This claim finds support in the absence of metaphonetic forms-which have appeared in Neapolitan, as a consequence of the reanalysis-as well as the presence of clitic climbing. Finally, unlike Neapolitan, the SFI is becoming less productive in the varieties of the Valle Caudina.
Transactions of the Philological Society, 2022
This paper investigates the relationship between finiteness and clause size, taking Romance varie... more This paper investigates the relationship between finiteness and clause size, taking Romance varieties with an irrealis subordinator as a case study:che/chiin upper southern Italian dialects (USIDs),cuin Salentino,mi/mu/main southern Calabrian, andsăin Romanian. The last three of these, but not the first, also replace many uses of the infinitive. On a view of finiteness as the result of anchoring of Tense and Person (Groothuis 2020), these irrealis clauses constitute a different degree of finiteness when selected by a functional verb than when selected by a lexical verb. The question thus arises of whether a reduction in finiteness corresponds to a reduction in clause structure. Tests show that these irrealis subordinators form a non‐homogeneous category. Only USIDche/chiand Romaniansăcan be analysed as regular complementisers. Salentinocuand southern Calabrianmu,in contrast, occupy av‐related position when selected by aspectuals, a T‐related position when selected by modals, and Fin...
Probus, 2022
Since Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1989. Verb movement, universal grammar, and the structure of IP.Linguis... more Since Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1989. Verb movement, universal grammar, and the structure of IP.Linguistic Inquiry20. 365–424, it is well known that Romance finite verbs move into the I-domain. However, the relationship between finiteness and verb movement has not yet been investigated in detail. The aim of the present study is to trace and analyse verb movement in various types of non-finite and semi-finite clauses in Romance, including infinitives with specified subjects, inflected infinitives, bare infinitival clauses, Aux-to-Comp (cf. Rizzi, Luigi. 1982.Issues in Italian syntax. Dordrecht: Foris), past participial clauses, and gerunds. It is shown that all types of Romance non-finite verbs move high, with the exception of French absolute participles and French infinitives. The picture of non-finite movement is thus more uniform than that of finite verb movement (cf. Schifano, Norma. 2018.Verb movement in Romance. A comparative study. Oxford: Oxford University Press). A unified account...
Transactions of the Philological Society, 2024
The primary aim of this work is to propose a diachrony of complementizer systems in the upper sou... more The primary aim of this work is to propose a diachrony of complementizer systems in the upper southern Italian dialects (USIDs). While previous diachronic studies have focused mainly on the transition from Latin to Romance, we aim to address several unanswered questions about the transition from medieval southern Italo-Romance-in particular the system documented by Ledgeway (2005)-to the attested modern USID ones that are claimed to derive from it. Using the cartographic framework, and in particular the split-CP (Rizzi 1997), our revisitation of the literature leads us to identify at least six distinct modern systems, which differ morpholexically (what we consider "dual" systems, e.g., presenting both CHE and CA) and/or syntactically (which we consider "split" systems, i.e., lexicalizing both Force°and Fin°). We ultimately propose that these systems should be interpreted as distinct stages in two separate diachronic developments. This is accounted for both through novel empirical insights concerning the conservative nature of the complementizer system found in e.g. Verbicarese-which we argue coincides with the one found in 17th-19th century Neapolitan-, and through the view that complementizers are generated in Fin°, which presents theoretical advantages concerning the expression of (illocutionary) force and (modal)/finiteness marking.
The aim of this contribution is to discuss three possible theoretical interpretations of grammati... more The aim of this contribution is to discuss three possible theoretical interpretations of grammaticalised structures in present-day Italo-Romance varieties. In particular, we discuss and analyse three diachronic case studies in relation to the generative view of grammaticalisation. The first case-study revolves around the expression of future tense and modality. This is discussed in the light of the assumption according to which grammaticalised elements result from merging elements in higher positions than their original merge positions within the lexical domain, giving rise to the upward directionality of the grammaticalisation process within the clause. The second case study challenges this view, by discussing irrealis complementisers as a case of a downward pathway of grammaticalization at the CP level. For our third case study, namely the development of (discontinuous) demonstrative structures from Latin to Romance, the rich Italo-Romance empirical evidence is analysed through the lens of a parametric account, in order to capture the role of the relevant semantic and syntactic features within the fine-grained architecture of the DP. It will be observed that the diachronic development of some functional categories in (Italo-)Romance results from cyclic pathways of grammaticalisation, as the same category might cyclically change from more synthetic to more analytic, and vice-versa.
Book chapters by Kim A . Groothuis
Proceedings of the Workshop on Structure and Constituency in the Languages of the Americas 25, 2023
In this paper, we take Jê languages as a case study to investigate the problematic notion of fini... more In this paper, we take Jê languages as a case study to investigate the problematic notion of finiteness, a frequently used but still poorly understood notion within linguistics. It has been proposed that finiteness relates to the presence or absence of anchoring (Roussou 2001; Bianchi 2003; Ritter & Wiltschko 2014; Wiltschko 2014; Groothuis 2020). Following Ritter and Wiltschko (2014), we take INFL to be the anchoring category which can have different substantive content cross-linguistically. This paper makes two main claims: first, contrary to previous analyses of Jê, which consider the so-called long form as non-finite, we argue that the form of the verb (i.e. short or long) is not indicative of the level of finiteness (intended as presence or absence of direct anchoring) of the clause. Instead, we extend Nonato's (2014) analysis of Kĩsêdjê modal particles as the realization of infl to all Jê languages. Second, we argue that there is more than one type of nonfinite (i.e. indirectly anchored) clause in Jê, which differ in terms of subject licensing. We analyze one type as an instance of subject raising.
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2017 Selected papers from 'Going Romance' 31, Bucharest, Dec 15, 2021
Remberger, Virdis, Wagner (Eds). Il sardo in movimento, 2020
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 15: Selected papers from 'Going Romance' 30, Frankfurt, 2019
Both Sardinian inflected infinitives on the one hand and Southern Calabrese and Salentino subjunc... more Both Sardinian inflected infinitives on the one hand and Southern Calabrese and Salentino subjunctive complement clauses on the other can be considered semi-finite since, among other things, they are marked for person and number agreement with the subject, as finite clauses, but lack tense marking, on a par with non-finite clauses. These clauses all present VOS as the unmarked word order and allow VSO under specific pragmatic conditions. On the basis of a series of syntactic tests, this paper shows that these orders are derived via remnant VP-movement rather than object shift. Furthermore, it is argued that these varieties, although they allow for VSO, do not form an exception to Gallego’s (2013) generalization on VOS/VSO in Romance.
Comparative and Diachronic Perspectives on Romance Syntax, 2018
(DE/RE)CONTEXTUALISATION. STRUCTURE, USE, AND MEANING, 2017
Some Sardinian varieties feature inflected infinitives, which agree in person and number
with th... more Some Sardinian varieties feature inflected infinitives, which agree in person and number
with their nominative subject. For inflected infinitives in other languages, such as
European Portuguese, it has been shown that there is a split between obligatory exhaustivelocal subject control and other obligatory control types, in that inflected infinitives are banned in the former but not in the latter (Sheehan 2013, forthcoming). This paper presents new Sardinian data and analyses the relationship between the different types of control and the possibility of inflection on the embedded infinitive in Sardinian. It is shown that there is a split between control types which is similar to the one described in the literature. Two possible hypotheses for a formal analysis are explored.
Theses by Kim A . Groothuis
This dissertation investigates the concept of finiteness across Romance, a theoretical notion ver... more This dissertation investigates the concept of finiteness across Romance, a theoretical notion very frequently used within linguistics although still poorly understood (Ledgeway 2007:335). Various Romance verb forms and clauses which are not readily classifiable as either finite or non-finite are examined, such as personal and inflected infinitives, as well as Balkan-style subjunctives in Romanian, Salentino, and southern Calabrian, morphologically finite verb forms which behave syntactically as non-finite verbs. First the categorial status of irrealis complements is studied; it is argued that both non-finite (the Romance infinitival complementisers deriving from Latin AD and DE) and irrealis complementisers (southern Calabrian mu, Salentino cu, Upper southern Italian che and Romanian să) are spurious categories. Specifically, it is shown that AD, DE, mu and cu can head variously sized clauses with different degrees of syntactic finiteness and that the morphological form of the verb does not seem to influence the clause size nor the degree of finiteness. Romanian să-clauses, on the other hand, are consistently CPs. It is thus concluded that there is no cross-linguistic correlation between finiteness and clause size. Second, the diachrony of these irrealis complementisers is analysed as well; they all result from a process of downwards (re)grammaticalisation, whereby grammatical elements originating in the C-domain come to occupy the lowest position of the CP, and, in the case of mu and cu, also come to head smaller complements and thus to occupy lower functional heads. This process is accompanied by a reanalysis from phrase (XP) to head (X) with concomitant phonological reduction. Third, it is shown that, unlike finite verbs, non-finite and semi-finite verb forms consistently move to a high position within the clause. This is also true of subjunctives; all have a common feature that requires the verb be moved to the edge of the inflectional domain. This movement renders the regular subject position SpecTP unavailable in most of these cases. The central proposal of the dissertation is that finiteness is not a linguistic primitive, but should be broken down into the anchoring of both Tense and Person. Both allow for different degrees of anchoring to the speech act (independent, dependent, or absent). There is an asymmetrical relationship between the two: only when Tense anchoring takes place, can Person anchoring obtain too. The combination of both anchoring mechanisms yields a scalar view of finiteness that matches more closely the wide range of semi-finite and non-finite forms explored in the dissertation. It is the dependent anchoring which triggers non-finite and semi-finite verbs to move high, while the absence of this anchoring automatically renders reduced complements non-finite. Finally, only when both anchoring mechanisms act completely independently does a fully finite clause obtain.
This research master thesis aims to give a syntactic account of the inflected infinitive in five ... more This research master thesis aims to give a syntactic account of the inflected infinitive in five Romance languages: European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Galician, Sardinian and Old Neapolitan. In these languages, infinitives can agree with their nominative subject, but lack tense, mood or aspect morphology. The analysis is based on the idea that φ-features originate on C (Chomsky 2004) and can be kept on C, shared with T or inherited by T (Ouali 2008). It is argued, however, that T in infinitival clauses is defective and therefore cannot inherit the φ-probe; this probe is instead located on another functional head (cf. Miyagawa 2010). Which functional head exactly is determined by the semantics selected for by the matrix verb. The difference in locus of the φ-probe accounts for the different word orders attested.
Conference Presentations by Kim A . Groothuis
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Papers by Kim A . Groothuis
Book chapters by Kim A . Groothuis
with their nominative subject. For inflected infinitives in other languages, such as
European Portuguese, it has been shown that there is a split between obligatory exhaustivelocal subject control and other obligatory control types, in that inflected infinitives are banned in the former but not in the latter (Sheehan 2013, forthcoming). This paper presents new Sardinian data and analyses the relationship between the different types of control and the possibility of inflection on the embedded infinitive in Sardinian. It is shown that there is a split between control types which is similar to the one described in the literature. Two possible hypotheses for a formal analysis are explored.
Theses by Kim A . Groothuis
Conference Presentations by Kim A . Groothuis
with their nominative subject. For inflected infinitives in other languages, such as
European Portuguese, it has been shown that there is a split between obligatory exhaustivelocal subject control and other obligatory control types, in that inflected infinitives are banned in the former but not in the latter (Sheehan 2013, forthcoming). This paper presents new Sardinian data and analyses the relationship between the different types of control and the possibility of inflection on the embedded infinitive in Sardinian. It is shown that there is a split between control types which is similar to the one described in the literature. Two possible hypotheses for a formal analysis are explored.