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Structuring Variation in Romance Linguistics and Beyond: In honour of Leonardo M. Savoia
Edited by Mirko Grimaldi, Rosangela Lai, Ludovico Franco and Benedetta Baldi
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 252] 2018
► pp. 161–175

Chapter 11
Italian faire-infinitives

The special case of volere

| University of Cambridge
| Anglia Ruskin University

The first aim of this squib is to show that, under the correct syntactic configuration, volere ‘want’ can be embedded in Italian faire-infinitives (FI), contrary to previous claims. Secondly, we show that want-FIs exhibit peculiar properties: (i) they disallow a full DP causee; (ii) they permit intermediate cliticisation onto volere; (iii) they allow optional splitting of clitic clusters; and (iv) they marginally permit an accusative causee in transitive contexts where the object is a clitic. We attribute these effects to defective intervention which bans a full DP causee and requires the creation of a biclausal ECM construction, where accusative is exceptionally licensed, and where the selection of a silent OBTAIN by ‘want’ creates an additional clitic position.

Keywords: Italian, faire-infinitives, want, clitics, ECM constructions
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Embedding volere in Italian faire-infinitives
  • 3.Want-FIs: Syntactic properties
  • 4.Clitic transitive causee: defective intervention
  • 5.Accusative transitive causee: ECM construction
  • 6.Intermediate cliticisation: Silent OBTAIN
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.252.11sch
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