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Toward a syntax of the subjunctive mood
- Source :
-
Lingua . Dec2009, Vol. 119 Issue 12, p1837-1858. 22p. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Abstract: In this paper I discuss the syntactic properties of the Italian subjunctive and their relevance at the syntax/semantics interface. The subjunctive mood plays a typical role in sequence of tense phenomena: languages that show the double access reading with the indicative, do not show it with the subjunctive, with some interesting exceptions. The double access reading is a peculiar interpretive effect having to do with the temporal location of the embedded event. I analyze the syntax associated with subjunctive clauses, and in particular the properties of the complementizer layer. I show that such properties systematically correlate with the interpretation assigned to the embedded clause, i.e., with the presence or absence of the double access reading. I argue that when the embedded clause has a double access interpretation, it contains a projection that is read off at the interface as pointing to the speaker''s temporal coordinate. In the other, non-double access cases, such a projection is absent and therefore the speaker''s coordinate does not intervene in the temporal interpretation of the embedded clause. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00243841
- Volume :
- 119
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Lingua
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 44832006
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2008.11.008