OUTSTANDING DlSSERTATIONS IN LINGUISTICS Edited by Laurence Horn Yale University A ROUTLEDGE SERIES
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OUTSTANDING DlSSERTATIONS IN LINGUISTICS Edited by Laurence Horn Yale University A ROUTLEDGE SERIES
OUTSTANDING DISSERTATIONS IN LINGUISTICS LAURENCE HORN, General Editor PRONOUNS AND WORD ORDER IN OLD ENGLISH With Particular Reference to the Indefinite Pronoun Man Linda van Bergen ELLIPSIS AND WA-MARKING IN JAPANESE CONVERSATION John Fry WORKING MEMORY IN SENTENCE COMPREHENSION Processing Hindi Center Embeddings Shravan Vasishth INPUT-BASED PHONOLOGICAL ACQUISITION Tania S.Zamuner VIETNAMESE TONE A New Analysis Andrea Hoa Pham ORIGINS OF PREDICATES Evidence from Plains Cree Tomio Hirose CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF WORD STRUCTURE Jennifer Hay THE PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY OF GUTTURALS A Case Study from Ju’hoansi Amanda Miller-Ockhuizen TRUE TO FORM Rising and Falling Declaratives as Questions in English Christine Gunlogson PHONOLOGICAL AUGMENTATION IN PROMINENT POSITIONS Jennifer Smith CATEGORY NEUTRALITY
A Type-Logical Investigation Neal Whitman THE UPS AND DOWNS OF CHILD LANGUAGE Experimental Studies on Children’s Knowledge of Entailment Relations Andrea Gualmini MARKEDNESS AND FAITHFULNESS IN VOWEL SYSTEMS Viola Miglio THE SYNTAX-INFORMATION STRUCTURE INTERFACE Evidence from Spanish and English Eugenia Casielles-Suarez LENITION AND CONTRAST The Functional Consequences of Certain Phonetically Conditioned Sound Changes Naomi Gurevich SYNTACTIC FORM AND DISCOURSE FUNCTION IN NATURAL LANGUAGE GENERATION Cassandre Creswell THE INFLECTED INFINITIVE IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES Emily Scida
THE INFLECTED INFINITIVE IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES Emily Scida
ROUTLEDGE New York & London
Published in 2004 by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 http://www.routledge-ny.com/ This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” Copyright © 2004 by Taylor & Francis Group, a Division of T&F Informa.
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Catalog record is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-203-48876-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-58086-9 (Adobe e-Reader Format) ISBN 0-415-97106-3 (Print Edition)
For G.
Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of my committee-Linda Waugh, Jay Jasanoff, and especially Carol Rosen—for their guidance and advice as I was completing this project. I am also grateful to the Department of Romance Studies and the Department of Modern Languages at Cornell University for many years of support while in the graduate program. Any errors or shortcomings are entirely my own. I would like to thank my family for encouraging me along the way, and especially my parents for instilling in me a love of learning. I am also extremely grateful to Doris Borrelli, Christine Swain, Lisa Welton-Lair, and Julie Dogil for their devoted friendship, constant inspiration, and moral support without whom I would not have survived my many years at Cornell. Special thanks goes to Ti Alkire for reaching out to me during a difficult period, and for his encouragement and tremendously therapeutic sense of humor. I owe the completion of this thesis to the pact we made one October night.
Contents Chapter 1: Introduction
1
Chapter 2: The Syntactic Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive
6
Chapter 3: Previous Accounts of the Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive
31
Chapter 4: Theories of the Origin of the Portuguese Inflected Infinitive
74
Chapter 5: The Imperfect Subjunctive in Latin
93
Chapter 6: Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive in the Romance Languages
111
Chapter 7: Conclusion
126
References
129
Index
136
THE INFLECTED INFINITIVE IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES OUTSTANDING DISSERTATIONS IN LINGUISTICS
CHAPTER 1 Introduction The inflected infinitive in Portuguese has een considered an anomaly among the Romance languages. No other major Romance language possesses an infinitive with verbal inflection, whereas in Portuguese the use and distribution of this form is quite extensive. In Portuguese the inflected infinitive exists along with an uninflected infinitive; their forms are similar except for the addition of verb endings which produces the inflected form, but their syntactic distribution is not entirely equivalent. amar ‘I love’ amares ‘you love’ amar ‘he/she loves’
amarmos ‘we love’ amardes ‘you love’ amarem ‘they love’
Two prominent issues have arisen regarding the inflected infinitive. The first concerns the distribution of the inflected infinitive in modern Portuguese; its occurrence in varied contexts has made a description of its use difficult. The second issue concerns its probable origin and development in Portuguese, which is obscure considering its absence in the other major Romance languages and the completion of its evolution prior to the appearance of Old Portuguese texts. Many attempts have been made to provide a description of the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Previous descriptions have included long lists of rules and examples intended to predict its use in such different contexts as the following: (1) O viajante viu entrarem e saírem as abelhas. ‘The traveler saw the bees enter and leave’ (Corvo, Seleta Nacional, 350) (2) Frade, tu mentes, sem saberes que mentes. ‘Friar, you lie, without knowing that you lie’ (Garrett, Viagens na minha terra, 17, 89) (3) Eu estou contentíssimo de virmos para esta casa. ‘I am very happy that we are coming to this house’ (Garrett, Frei Luís de Sousa, II, III)
However, these previous attempts were based on an atheoretical approach that did not provide an explicit structural analysis. Consequently, the rules and norms proposed were inconsistent and contradictory, and allowed for numerous counterexamples. For almost any rule stated, an exception could be found in written and spoken language. For that reason, some have asserted that there are no dependable rules governing the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. We will see that this claim is not entirely accurate. Using the framework of Relational Grammar, chapter two examines the syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese to uncover the environments for its use. First, I provide a background on the theory of Relational Grammar, discussing various types of structures, including monoclausal and biclausal structures, and
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
2
diagnostics for clause membership. After a careful study of the structure and distribution of the inflected infinitive and related syntactic phenomena, I propose a general condition on its use which correctly predicts the precise range of environments where the inflected infinitive will be acceptable and others where it will be excluded. My analysis differs from many previous descriptions of the inflected infinitive in that it uses a theoretical approach to provide a precise syntactic investigation of the phenomenon. In contrast to other studies which present long lists of rules and norms, my analysis offers one concise condition restricting its use which predicts all possible occurrences of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Chapter three discusses the previous accounts given for the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician and examines the rules of each as they compare to my proposed condition on the use of the inflected infinitive. We will see that many of these previous attempts to explain its occurrence are vague and contradictory and fail to capture the true nature of the inflected infinitive in these languages. Instead, it will be shown that all the rules and examples given by other accounts are entirely predictable under my analysis. Although some of these accounts recognize important characteristics of the inflected infinitive, only my analysis presents a unified account of all the possible syntactic environments for this form in Portuguese and Galician. While the first section of this dissertation offers a synchronic study of the distribution of the inflected infinitive, the second section investigates another prominent issue regarding this form, which is its origin and development. Chapter four describes the theories that have been proposed to explain the development of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Early theories contended that the inflected infinitive was an innovation unique to Portuguese which arose out of analogy with the future subjunctive, or with the infinitive with nominative subject construction, or with both. After the discovery of an inflected infinitive in other Romance languages, some scholars proposed that the inflected infinitive was a historical development rooted in the Latin imperfect subjunctive. The inflected infinitive has been found to exist in languages other than Portuguese, namely Galician, Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese. GALICIAN (4) Un amigo co que, contrariamente aos que teño agora, raramente falaba, xa que non eran necesarias as palabras pra nos entendermos . ‘A friend with whom, contrary to those I have now, I rarely spoke, since words were not necessary for us to understand each other’ (A orella, 69) SARDINIAN (5) Juanne at tuncatu su barcone pro non s’ istremparet sa janna. ‘John shut the window so that the door would not slam’ (Jones 1992:297–8) OLD NEAPOLITAN
Introduction
3
(6) Lo re Laumedonta…avesse negato albiergo a quilli Grieci, chi navegavano in altre parte, de non se potereno reposare. ‘The king Laumedonta had denied shelter to those Greeks, who were travelling in other parts, so that they might not rest’ (Libro de la destructione de Troya, 18.6–8) OLD LEONESE (7) aqueste aver de suso dicho Recebimos de uos pora pagarmos debda conoscida que deuiemos. ‘that tribute above mentioned we received from you for us to pay the known debt that we owed’ (doc. LX, 1267 AD) MIRANDESE (8) a fí de tenerẽ de que lo acusarẽ . ‘in order that they have something to accuse him of’ (Monteiro, Evangelhos, Revista de educação e ensino, IX, 255)
In chapter four, I examine each of the theories of the origin of the inflected infinitive and discuss the factors which point to the Latin imperfect subjunctive as its origin. Those linguists who support the imperfect subjunctive theory have discussed the possible developments from Latin to Portuguese that produced the inflected infinitive in this language. However, none has provided a detailed comparison of the syntactic environments common to both the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive. Chapter five provides a close examination of the forms and the syntactic distribution of the imperfect subjunctive and of the inflected infinitive to determine in which contexts they correspond. Proponents have suggested that there is one principal environment common to both, namely volitional clauses, which for them is the probable locus of origin for the inflected infinitive. My study reveals an overall pattern of correspondence between the Latin and Romance forms. The most frequent occurrence of the inflected infinitive is found in adverbial clauses expressing purpose, an environment common to the Latin imperfect subjunctive. However, the distribution of the two forms corresponds in other contexts as well, which provides support for the theory that maintains that the inflected infinitive developed from the Latin imperfect subjunctive. The imperfect subjunctive theory offers as evidence: (1) the phonological and syntactic similarities between the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive, (2) the survival of the imperfect subjunctive in Vulgar Latin and early Romance, and (3) the existence of an inflected infinitive in Romance languages other than Portuguese and Galician. Chapter six studies the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese. In Sardinian, it seems that the Latin imperfect subjunctive survives in finite contexts, with the same paradigm also occurring in contexts that are infinitival. Since there is little evidence of an evolution of the inflected infinitive in the other Romance languages, the distribution in Sardinian sheds light on its development and suggests an intermediate stage in which the imperfect subjunctive was being reanalyzed as an infinitive with inflection. This case offers further support for the imperfect subjunctive theory. This chapter also discusses the existence of other inflected non-finite forms, namely gerunds, present participles, and past participles in Galician, Old Neapolitan, and some European Portuguese dialects. The occurrence of inflection
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
4
with these forms demonstrates that speakers must in fact have reanalyzed the imperfect subjunctive as an infinitive with verbal inflection, creating the conditions for this pattern to spread to other non-finite forms. This study explores two important issues concerning the inflected infinitive. First, an examination of the syntactic distribution of this form in Portuguese under the framework of Relational Grammar reveals the exact environments for its use. I propose a general condition restricting the use of the inflected infinitive and, contrary to previous descriptions of the use of this form, my analysis presents a unified account of all possible occurrences of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Secondly, I discuss the origin and development of the inflected infinitive in the Romance languages. Taking into account the theories proposed to explain its origin, several facts from Latin and Romance point to the Latin imperfect subjunctive as the origin of the inflected infinitive. This study provides a precise comparison of the uses of the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive to determine in which contexts they coincide. The results reveal an overall pattern of correspondence, especially in complement and adverbial clauses expressing purpose, which further corroborates the imperfect subjunctive theory. Additional evidence which supports this theory is the existence of an inflected infinitive in other languages throughout the Romance territory, namely Galician, Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese and the occurrence of inflection on other non-finite forms in some of these languages.
CHAPTER 2 The Syntactic Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive The Portuguese inflected infinitive has been the topic of much attention and debate among grammarians and linguists who have attempted to describe its use with long lists of rules and examples. Unfortunately, these attempts have failed to capture the true nature of the inflected infinitive and instead have provided us with inconsistent rules for which counterexamples abound. I propose that an examination of the syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese will uncover the environments for its use in Portuguese, Galician, and other Romance varieties discussed in chapters three and six. The following discussion is comprised of three sections. In the first section, I provide a description of the theory of Relational Grammar which will serve as a background to my subsequent discussion of Portuguese. Next, I examine the structure and distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and I propose a general condition on its use. Finally, I offer verifiable predictions regarding the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and other Romance languages.
2.1 An Overview of Relational Grammar Relational Grammar is a general linguistic theory that seeks to characterize the set of syntactic constructions which recur across natural languages. To be able to carry this out, the theory defines three strategic objectives (Raposo 1981:57): (1) to characterize the class of grammatical constructions that can be found in natural languages, (2) to formulate linguistic universals which have as a domain of application the constructions referred to in (1), (3) to formulate, based on (1) and (2), grammars of individual natural languages.
Relational Grammar is based on three basic claims about syntactic structure (Rosen 1984a:38): grammatical relations must be taken as primitives of syntactic theory; the structure of a clause may include a number of successive levels, called strata; and the same set of primitives (the grammatical relations) figures in all levels of structure from the initial through final. This set of grammatical relations is relevant to all grammars, and syntactic rules by and large are sensitive to these relations and not to linear order. The structure of a sentence is represented as a relational network, a graph consisting of arcs which registers all the grammatical relations that exist in a sentence.
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
7
An arc codes one atomic statement about structure, as in (4) (from Rosen 1988:7–8). (4)
The R-sign is the name of a grammatical relation, and the co-ordinate is the level of structure at which the grammatical relation holds. This arc shows that the crowd bears the 2 relation in clause X in the initial stratum. A clause is a maximal set of arcs having the same tail, as in (5b). A stratum is a maximal set of arcs having the same tail and the same co-ordinate. Example (5), shown as both a relational network in (b) and in tabular notation in (c), is a clause consisting of one stratum in which the police bears the 1 relation, the crowd bears the 2 relation, and dispersed is the predicate. (5)
The primitive grammatical relations in this theory include the term relations 1, 2, 3 which correspond to subject, direct object, and indirect object respectively. The nuclear relations are 1, 2 and the object relations are 2, 3. In addition, there are oblique relations (locative, benefactive, instrumental, comitative, etc.), chômeur (Cho), and predicate (P). The initial assignment of relations is determined by the relational valence of a predicate, which is registered in the lexicon of each language (Rosen 1988:12). The relational valence of a predicate tells us which grammatical relations must or can be assigned in the P-initial stratum of that predicate. Relational Grammar describes this in the following manner (Davies & Rosen 1988:57–8): (a) for each predicate, the lexicon supplies a valence which states what arguments the predicate must or can take; (b) the valence is empowered to license the corresponding arcs; (c) the nominals heading these arcs have thematic roles, and a mapping given in the lexical entry links a thematic role with each grammatical relation mentioned in the valence. Examples of different types of valences in English are shown in (6) (Rosen 1988:12–14); bring is a transitive verb and its valence assigns obligatory 1 and 2 relations in the predicate’s initial stratum, illustrated in (7b). The valences of eat and accumulate demonstrate that a predicate can have optional as well as obligatory arguments. For instance, a sentence like Beavis ate
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
8
exists along with Beavis ate the nachos, and junk accumulates has the alternate I accumulate junk. (6)
(a) bring: 1 2 (b) eat: 1 (2) (c) accumulate: (1) 2 (7) (a) I brought the money. (b) 1 P 2 I brought the money (8) (a) 1 P (b) 1 P 2 Beavis ate Beavis ate the nachos (9) (a) 2 P (b) 1 P 2 1 P I accumulate junk junk accumulates
Strata can be divided into three types. A transitive stratum is one that contains a 1-arc and a 2-arc, as in (7). An unergative stratum is one that contains a 1-arc and no 2-arc, illustrated in (8a). And (9a) has an initial unaccusative stratum, which is one that contains a 2-arc and no 1-arc. The last two types of strata fall under the heading of intransitive. The notion that a single clause may have more than one predicate, widely accepted now in Relational Grammar (Davies & Rosen 1988), suggests an economical way to represent complex predicates, periphrastics, auxiliation and the like. Each predicate determines a P-sector comprising all the strata in which it heads a P-arc. The first of these is the P-initial stratum for that predicate, and the last is the P-final stratum. Alongside a monostratal clause like (10), the sentence in (11) exemplifies a multipredicate clause in which the auxiliary is the second predicate in the same clause. The passive sentence in (12) is also an example of a multipredicate clause which has two auxiliaries. The clause has three P-sectors; the first is bistratal and the last two are monostratal. We will see ahead that the P-sectors of auxiliaries are always monostratal. In example (12) below, there are three P-sectors. The first stratum is the P-initial stratum of the verb eaten, and the second is its P-final stratum. (10)
1 Beavis
P 2 ate the nachos (11) 1 P 2 ---------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho 2 Beavis has eaten the nachos (12) 2 P 1 1 P Cho ------------------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho Cho
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
9
------------------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho Cho Cho The nachos have been eaten by Beavis
The preceding examples of multipredicate clauses differ from a similar construction called serialization. If we look at the Italian examples in (13) (from Rosen 1997), the main difference is that the serial verb diventare ‘become’ inherits a 2 relation and the auxiliary essere ‘be’ inherits a 1 relation. (13) (a) Eva diventa furiosa. ‘Eva becomes furious’ 2 P -----------------------------------------------------2 P Cho 1 P Cho Eva diventa furiosa (b) Eva è furiosa. ‘Eva is furious’ 2 P 1 P --------------------------------------1 P Cho Eva è furiosa (c) Eva è diventata furiosa. ‘Eva became furious’ 2 P -----------------------------------------------------------2 P Cho 1 P Cho -----------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho Cho Eva è diventata furiosa
Example (13c) shows both auxiliation and serialization in the same clause. The principles of compactness and closure capture the differences between serialization and auxiliation (Rosen 1997:16–7). The compactness principle states that the P-initial stratum of a serial predicate can be preceded only by strata which are also P-initial. The closure principle maintains that the P-initial stratum of an auxiliary can be followed only by strata which are also P-initial strata of auxiliaries. This entails that P-initial strata of serial P’s must occur in an interrupted series at the beginning of a clause, and that the auxiliation zone is always clause final and always consists of monostratal P-sectors. Modal verbs in some Romance languages allow for either a monoclausal or a biclausal structure. Italian allows modal union optionally with the verbs volere ‘want,’ dovere ‘be
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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obliged,’ and potere ‘be able,’ as in the following sentences (Davies & Rosen 1988:59– 60): (14) ‘Ugo wants to/has to/can explain it’ (a) Ugo vuole/deve/può spiegarlo. (b) Ugo lo vuole/deve/può spiegare.
There is ample evidence that the construction in (14a) is biclausal and has the structure in (15a), while (14b) is a union having the monoclausal structure in (15b). (15) (a)
(b)
Ugo deve spiegarlo. ‘Ugo has to explain it’
Ugo lo deve spiegare. ‘Ugo has to explain it’ 1 2 1 2 Ugo
P deve
P Cho spiegare
Various clause-counting tests have been proposed to determine whether a sentence is monoclausal or biclausal. One such test is clitic position: clitics generally cliticize to the final P of their clause in the Romance languages 1 (Davies & Rosen 1988:59; Rosen 1990:431). The position of the clitic attached to the infinitive in (14a) shows that spiegare is its final P and that the sentence must be biclausal. In (14b) the pronoun representing the initial 2 of spiegare cliticizes to the outer predicate deve, identifying it to be the final P of that clause. This effect follows correctly from the claim that (14b) is monoclausal. An additional test proposed to determine clause membership is predicate clefting (Rizzi 1978), which produces an acceptable sentence if the cleft does not split a string of predicates belonging to one clause. The acceptability of the predicate clefting of (14a) in (16a) shows that the sentence has a biclausal structure. However, when a monoclausal
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
11
sentence like (14b) undergoes predicate clefting as in (16b), the outcome is ungrammatical. (16) (a) Appunto, è spiegarlo che Ugo vuole. ‘Exactly, it is to explain it that Ugo wants’ (b) *Appunto, è spiegare che Ugo lo vuole. *‘Exactly, it is to explain that Ugo wants it’
Another instance of union is causative clause union, which is proposed to be monoclausal in Italian and many other languages (Davies & Rosen 1988). Causative verbs initialize a new 1 relation, and in Italian the inner 1 generally revalues to 2 if intransitive and to 3 if transitive. (17) (a) Il babbo ha fatto parlare Nino. ‘Father made Nino talk’ P 1 1 P Cho 2 1 P Cho Cho 2 il ha fatto parlare Nino babbo (b) Il babbo ha fatto accendere il fuoco a Nino. ‘Father made Nino light the fire’ P 2 1 1 P Cho 2 3 1 P Cho Cho 2 3 il ha fatto accendere il a babbo fuoco Nino 1
An exception to this rule exists in Romanian where the clitic attaches to the participle of the perfect periphrastic, but only if the clitic is feminine singular: Am văzut-o ‘I saw her.’
Causative unions are shown to be monoclausal through certain clause-counting tests such as clitic position, predicate clefting, and passive. For example, in (18a) the cliticization of the clitic on farà shows that farà is the final P of the same clause where the pronouns originate, which in turn indicates that the whole construction is monoclausal. In addition, the impossibility of predicate clefting in (18b) shows that the causative construction cannot be biclausal. (18) (a) Il babbo glielo farà accendere. ‘Father will make him light it’ (b) *Appunto, è accendere che il babbo glielo farà. *‘Exactly, it is to light that Father will make him it’
Causative verbs are serializers because they do not inherit a 1 relation, and therefore according to the principle of compactness described above, auxiliaries, passive, and
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
12
reflexivization are prohibited inside a causative union. To reiterate, the compactness principle states that the P-initial stratum of a serial predicate can be preceded only by strata which are also P-initial. Constructions with inner auxiliation and passive would be ungrammatical because their inner P-sectors would contain advancements, making them multistratal as in (19), which is disallowed by the compactness principle. (19)
*Il babbo ha fatto essere acceso il fuoco. *‘Father made the fire be lit’ P 2 P 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------P Cho 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho Cho 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------1 P Cho Cho Cho 2 Il babbo ha fatto essere acceso il fuoco
This overview of Relational Grammar will serve as a background and basis for my analysis of the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese which follows.
2.2 The Distribution of the Portuguese Inflected Infinitive In the past many grammarians and linguists (see 3.1) have posited rules or norms to explain the distribution of the Portuguese inflected infinitive in such varied contexts as the following. (20) (a) É preciso vocês terminarem o trabalho. ‘It is necessary for you to finish the work’ (b) Tiger viu os colegas assassinarem a lagartixa. ‘Tiger saw his colleagues kill the lizard’ (c) Ao sairmos do cinema, Beatrice deu com o seu psiquiatra. ‘As we left the movies, Beatrice ran into her psychiatrist’
In many previous studies, rules for the inflected infinitive were based on an atheoretical approach which did not attempt any serious structural analysis. In addition, explanations for the use of the inflected infinitive ended up being contradictory and vague. For almost any rule stated, an exception could be found in written and spoken language. For that reason, some have asserted that there are no dependable rules governing the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. However, after studying the syntactic distribution of
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
13
the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and other Romance languages, we can posit a general condition limiting its use in these languages. I propose that the following is the principal condition governing the distribution of the inflected infinitive. (21) Condition on the Use of the Inflected Infinitive: The inflected infinitive must be the final predicate of its clause.
In other words, the inflected infinitive occurs in the final stratum of its clause. This observation is very much in harmony with the fact that other types of person inflection are also limited to final predicates. The use of the inflected infinitive is never mandatory. Thus, this condition entails that the inflected infinitive can be used optionally in contexts in which the uninflected infinitive occurs, but only if it is a final predicate. If the infinitive is an inner predicate, as in monoclausal constructions such as causative or modal unions, it must appear in its uninflected form. Under the Government and Binding Theory, others have suggested that the inflected infinitive occurs in a CP in Galician (Longa 1994), Old Neapolitan (Vincent 1996), and Portuguese (Zaring 1985, King 1981, Raposo 1987) without proposing this to be a general condition restricting its use in these languages. 2 The choice to use the inflected form of the infinitive in environments consistent with the condition in (21) is often influenced by stylistic considerations: the emphasis of the subject of the infinitive and the desire to avoid ambiguity are two frequent reasons to use the infinitive with personal endings. In addition, the presence of an overt subject with the infinitive tends to prompt the use of the inflected form of the infinitive in Portuguese. In order to perceive the effects of the above condition on the use of the inflected infinitive, one must be able to recognize the difference between monoclausal and biclausal constructions. The sentences illustrated in (22a) and (22b) both have monoclausal structures; the first example is monostratal and the second is a multipredicate clause with auxiliation in the final P-sector. In (22a) the final predicate of the clause is viu, while in (22b) tinha is the final predicate and visto is the inner predicate. Example (22c) has a biclausal structure in which the two verbs prometeu and ver are final predicates of separate clauses. (22) (a) Beatrice viu o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice saw her psychiatrist’ 1 P 2 Beatrice viu o seu psiquiatra (b) Beatrice tinha visto o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice had seen her psychiatrist’ 1 P 2 1 P Cho 2 Beatrice tinha visto o seu psiquiatra 2
For interesting discussions of Case, Control, Agreement and related issues under the framework of Government and Binding, see Quicoli (1996a), Quicoli (1996b), Safir (1996), Martins (1999), Mensching (2000), Miller (2000), and Pires (2000).
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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(c) Beatrice prometeu ver o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice promised to see her psychiatrist.
As presented in the previous section, there are various tests available to determine whether a sentence is monoclausal or biclausal. Two clause-counting tests that Raposo (1981:173–202) proposes for Portuguese are clitic position and negation. In the Romance languages, clitic pronouns cliticize to the final P of their clause. If we take the examples in (22) and replace o seu psiquiatra with its corresponding clitic, we get the following results. (23) (a) Beatrice o viu. ‘Beatrice saw him’ (b) Beatrice o tinha visto. ‘Beatrice had seen him’ (c) Beatrice prometeu vê-lo. ‘Beatrice promised to see him’ *Beatrice o prometeu ver.
The position of the clitic representing the 2 relation in (23a) and (23b) indicates that viu and tinha are the final predicates of their clauses, and specifically, of the same clause where the pronoun originates. This effect follows correctly from the claim that these sentences are monoclausal. In (23c) the position of the clitic attached to the infinitive shows that ver is the final predicate of its clause and that the sentence is biclausal. In other words, prometeu is in a superordinate clause and ver is in an embedded clause. One other test proposed to determine clause membership in Portuguese is negation. Raposo (1981:177) claims that negation of an inner predicate is disallowed and that only final predicates can be negated. (24) (a) Beatrice não viu o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice did not see her psychiatrist’ (b) Beatrice não tinha visto o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice hadn’t seen her psychiatrist’ *Beatrice tinha não visto o seu psiquiatra. (c) Beatrice prometeu não ver o seu psiquiatra. ‘Beatrice promised not to see her
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
15
psychiatrist’
The position of negation on the verbs viu and tinha in (2 4a) and (24b) indicates that they are final predicates of their clauses and that these sentences are monoclausal. The negation of the infinitive in (24c) indicates that ver is the final predicate of its clause and confirms that the sentence has a biclausal structure. Modal verbs in Portuguese allow for either a monoclausal or a biclausal structure, as discussed for Italian in the previous section. 3 Portuguese allows modal union optionally with the verbs querer ‘want,’ poder ‘can,’ dever ‘must,’ ir ‘go,’ and vir ‘come,’ as in the following sentences. As demonstrated by the variants below, clitic pronouns in Portuguese can be proclitic or enclitic depending on the speech style and dialect. In both (25a) and (25b), the clitic me cliticizes to the infinitive chamar. However, European Portuguese prefers enclisis as in (25a), while clitic pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese are generally proclitic as in (25b). (25)
‘Julie wants to call me’ (a) Julie quer chamar-me. (b) Julie quer me chamar.
In both (26a) and (26b) the clitic is cliticized to the modal verb quer. European Portuguese prefers enclisis as in (26a), while proclisis as in (26b) is typical in Brazilian Portuguese. (26)
‘Julie wants to call me’ (a) Julie quer-me chamar. (b) Julie me quer chamar.
Stylistic requirements dictate that a clitic may not begin a sentence, and that in negative, interrogative, and relative clauses, the mandatory position for a clitic is before the verb. These are tendencies that are often violated, especially in Brazilian Portuguese (Pizzini 1981:404; Galves 1996:227). The sentences in 3
The monoclausal construction with clitic climbing is used more frequently in European Portuguese than in Brazilian Portuguese, where it occurs almost exclusively in the written language. For a discussion of clitic climbing in Portuguese, see Quicoli (1976b), Pizzini (1981), and Comrie (1982).
(25) are biclausal and have the structure in (27a), while (26) are examples of a monoclausal union construction which has the structure in (27b). (27) (a)
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
(b)
1 1 Julie
2 2
P quer
16
P Cho charmar
Clause membership for these modal constructions can be verified using the clausecounting tests proposed for Portuguese. The position of the clitic pronoun on the infinitive in (25) indicates that the infinitive is the final P of its clause and that the sentence must be biclausal. In (26), the clitic is attached to the outer predicate quer identifying it to be the final predicate of the clause, which in turn indicates that the whole construction is monoclausal. Negation also provides us with the same effects. (28) (a) Julie quer não chamar-me ‘Julie wants not to call me’ (b) Julie não me quer chamar ‘Julie doesn’t want to call me’ (c) *Julie me quer não chamar ‘Julie wants not to call me’
Since only final predicates can be negated in Portuguese, the unacceptability of negation on the infinitive in (28c) follows from the fact that it is not a final predicate and that the sentence is monoclausal. In this sentence, only the outer predicate quer may be negated. The negation of the infinitive in (28a) is acceptable because the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. Raposo recognizes two constructions for the causative verbs fazer ‘make,’ mandar ‘order,’ deixar ‘let’ and the verbs of perception ver ‘see,’ sentir ‘feel,’ and ouvir ‘hear’ in Portuguese (1981:117–141). The first construction is parallel to the the causative union structure described in the previous section (2.1) for Italian.
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
17
(29) (a) eu mandei vender os discos aos meus amigos. ‘I ordered my friends to sell the records’ P 2 1 1 P Cho 2 3 eu mandei vender os aos meus discos amigos (b) Clarice viu cometer vários erros às crianças. ‘Clarice saw the children make several mistakes’ P 2 1 1 P Cho 2 3 Clarice viu cometer vários às erros crianças
In these monoclausal constructions, the causative and perception verbs initialize a new 1 relation and the inner 1 generally revalues to 2 if its P is intransitive, and to 3 if its P is transitive. Using the clause counting test of clitic position, we can confirm that these sentences are indeed monoclausal. Eu lhos mandei vender. 4 ‘ I ordered them to sell them’ (31) Clarice lhos viu cometer. ‘Clarice saw them make them’ (30)
In the above sentences the subject of the infinitive (os meus amigos; as crianças), which revalues to 3 in these causative unions, is realized as a dative clitic (lhes) which attaches to the outer predicates mandei and viu. The direct object of the infinitive (os discos; vários erros) is realized as an accusative clitic (os) which also cliticizes to the causative and perception verbs. The position of 4
This construction with double clitics is characteristic of European Portuguese and is rare in Brazilian Portuguese (Pizzini 1981:404).
these clitics shows that mandei and viu are the final predicates of the clauses where the clitics originate, which in turn indicates that the structure of these sentences is monoclausal. The inflected infinitive never occurs in this union construction, because the infinitive is the inner predicate of its clause in this context. This effect follows correctly from the condition on the use of the inflected infinitive described in (21) which restricts the occurrence of this form to contexts where it is the final predicate of its clause. In (32) the infinitive is the inner predicate and mandei and viu are the final predicates of their clauses as verified above. In these monoclausal sentences, the infinitive is not the final predicate of its clause and therefore cannot be inflected.
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
18
(32) (a) *Eu mandei venderem os discos aos meus amigos. (b) *Clarice viu cometerem vários erros às crianças.
It is recognized that there are two possible constructions available for causative and perception verbs. The second construction in which these verbs can participate is the biclausal 2-control construction illustrated below. In this case, each of the verbs constitutes the final predicate of a separate clause. In addition, the two clauses share an argument, a nominal that bears both the 2 relation in the upstairs clause and the 1 relation in the downstairs clause. Whereas in the monoclausal construction in (29) the subject of the infinitive revalues to 3 and appears after the verb, the subject in the biclausal 2control construction (os meus amigos, as crianças) appears directly before the infinitive and is in the accusative case. (33) (a)
(b)
Eu mandei os meus amigos venderem os discos. ‘I ordered my friends to sell the records’
Clarice viu as crianças cometerem vários erros. ‘Clarice saw the children make several mistakes’
Since the infiniְive is the final predicate of its clause in these biclausal structures, the inflected form of the infinitive may occur, as is demonstrated in these examples. In fact,
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
19
its use in this environment is quite frequent, due to the strong tendency to use the inflected infinitive in the presence of an overt subject. Using the clitic position test for clause membership, we can verify that these constructions are indeed biclausal. (34) (a) Eu mandei-os venderem os discos. ‘I ordered them to sell the records’ (b) Eu mandei-os venderem-nos. ‘I ordered them to sell them’ (35) (a) Clarice viu-as cometerem vários erros. ‘Clarice saw them make several mistakes’ (b) Clarice viu-as cometerem-nos. ‘Clarice saw them make them’
The subject of the infinitive in these sentences (os meus amigos; as crianças) is realized as an accusative clitic attached to the upstairs verbs mandei and viu. The direct object of the infinitive (os discos; vários erros) is also realized as an accusative clitic; however, it cliticizes to the downstairs verb-the infinitive. Since clitics attach to the final predicate of their clause, we can clearly conclude that the infinitive in this case is the final predicate of its own separate clause. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in this context follows correctly from the condition stated in (21) which restricts its use to environments where the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. In the above biclausal sentences, the infinitive (venderem, cometerem) constitutes the final predicate of the downstairs clause, while the causative and perception verbs (mandei, viu) are the final predicates of the upstairs clause. Since the infinitive in this construction is the final predicate of its clause, it may occur in its inflected form. (36) (a) Eu mandei-os vender / venderem os discos. (b) Clarice viu-as cometer / cometerem vários erros.
Negation is another diagnostic test that distinguishes monoclausal and biclausal constructions. As stated above, only final predicates can be negated in Portuguese. The negation of an inner predicate is disallowed. In the monoclausal union construction proposed for causative and perception verbs, only the final predicates mandei and viu accept negation. Since the infinitives are inner predicates of the same clause, they cannot be negated in this structure. (37) (a) Eu não lhes mandei vender os discos, ‘I did not order them to sell the records’ *Eu lhes mandei não vender os discos. (b) Eu não lhos mandei vender. ‘I did not order them to sell them’ *Eu lhos mandei não vender. (38) (a) Clarice não lhes viu cometer nem um erro.
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
20
‘Clarice did not see them make even one mistake’ *Clarice lhes viu não cometer nem um erro. (b) Clarice não lhos viu cometer. ‘Clarice did not see them make them’ *Clarice lhos viu não cometer.
In the biclausal construction for the same causative and perception verbs, negation is allowed on the upstairs verbs mandei and viu and also on the downstairs infinitives venderem and cometerem. The acceptability of negation on the infinitives in these examples indicates that they are the final predicates of their clauses. This effect follows from the claim that these constructions are biclausal. Negation in examples (39a) and (39b) shows that mandei and venderem are final predicates of two separate clauses. (39) (a) Eu não os mandei venderem os discos. ‘I did not order them to sell the records’ (b) Eu mandei-os não venderem os discos. ‘I ordered them not to sell the records’
The acceptability of negation with the infinitive in (40b) shows that venderem is the final predicate of its clause. In addition, the position of the clitic representing the 2 of the infinitive (os discos) in (40a) and (40b) indicates that the infinitive is a final predicate, since clitics attach to the final predicate of their clause. (40) (a) Eu não os mandei venderem-nos. ‘I did not order them to sell them’ (b) Eu mandei-os não venderem-nos. ‘I ordered them not to sell them’
Negation on viu and cometerem in (41a) and (41b) demonstrates that each is the final predicate of its own separate clause. (41) (a) Clarice não as viu cometerem vários erros. ‘Clarice did not see them make several mistakes’ (b) Clarice viu-as não cometerem nem um erro. ‘Clarice saw them not make even one mistake’
In (42b), the acceptability of negation with the infinitive cometerem indicates that it is the final predicate of its clause. Additional evidence is the position of the accusative clitic representing vários erros which is attached to the infinitive in (42a) and (42b); we can conclude from this that the infinitive is the final predicate, because clitics only attach to the final predicates of their clause. (42) (a) Clarice não as viu cometerem-nos. ‘Clarice did not see them make them’
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
21
(b) Clarice viu-as não cometerem-nos. ‘Clarice saw them not make them’
The position of negation and cliticization in these examples indicates whether a sentence has a monoclausal or biclausal structure. We can use these diagnostics to predict which types of constructions will allow or disallow the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese.
2.3 Biclausal Constructions It is recognized that within the class of biclausal constructions there exist various subdivisions. These can be based on whether the subject of the embedded clause is a shared argument of the superordinate clause, and if so whether it is an initial argument of both clauses. In Portuguese, there are two types of biclausal constructions relevant to the distribution of the inflected infinitive: the basic structure and the 2-control structure. In the biclausal 2-control construction discussed above for causative and perception verbs, the superordinate and embedded clauses share an argument, a nominal that bears both the initial 2 relation in the superordinate clause and the final 1 relation in the embedded clause. In this construction, the two verbs are not clausemate predicates, but each is a predicate of its own clause. The subject of the embedded clause generally appears before the infinitive and is in the accusative case. (43) Nancy viu os seus amigos gastarem muito dinheiro. ‘Nancy saw her friends spend a lot of money’
In this 2-control structure, logical entailment demonstrates that os seus amigos is a semantic argument of both clauses. For instance, the sentence in (43) entails both that ‘Nancy saw her friends’ and that ‘Nancy saw her friends spend a lot of money.’ In the basic structure, there are no shared arguments between the superordinate and embedded clauses. Since the subject of the embedded clause is clearly only a member of its own clause and is not assigned a semantic role by the superordinate verb, it appears in the nominative case. Verbs that participate in this structure include declarative/epistemic and factive/emotive verbs such as acreditar, afirmar, confirmar, dizer, duvidar, lamentar, pensar, etc.
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
(44)
22
Nancy pensa terem os seus amigos gasto muito dinheiro. ‘Nancy thinks her friends spent a lot of money’
In this example, the subject of the embedded clause (os seus amigos) is not a shared semantic argument of the superordinate verb pensa. This is verified through logical entailment; in other words, it is not logically entailed that ‘Nancy thinks her friends’ but only that ‘Nancy thinks her friends spent a lot of money.’ Since os seus amigos is not assigned a semantic role by pensar, it does not occur as a shared argument in this structure. In both the basic structure and the 2-control construction, the subject of the embedded infinitival clause can appear as an overt nominal or can have a null realization. However, while in the biclausal 2-control construction the subject of the embedded infinitival clause can be realized as an accusative clitic attached to the superordinate verb, the corresponding realization in the basic structure is disallowed (Rouveret 1980:96–7; Pizzini 1981:412). (45) Nancy viu-os gastarem muito dinheiro. ‘Nancy saw them spend a lot of money’ (46) *Nancy pensa-os terem gasto muito dinheiro. *‘Nancy thinks them to have spent a lot of money’
The example in (45) shows that the subject of the embedded clause (os seus amigos), which functions also as an argument of the superordinate clause, can occur as an accusative clitic attached to the matrix verb viu. However, in the basic structure in (46), raising of the embedded subject os seus amigos to the superordinate clause renders the sentence ungrammatical. Since it is never a 2 of the superordinate clause, the embedded subject cannot be represented by an accusative clitic attached to the matrix verb pensa in this structure. The acceptability of the inflected infinitive in these biclausal constructions follows from the condition in (21) that the inflected infinitive must be the final predicate of its clause. In both the basic structure and the 2-control construction, the matrix verb and the embedded infinitive are final predicates of separate clauses. The main difference between these two types of biclausal constructions is that in the 2-control construction, the superordinate and embedded clauses share an argument, a nominal that bears both the
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
23
initial 2 relation in the superordinate clause and the final 1 relation in the embedded clause; on the other hand, in the basic structure there are no shared arguments between the superordinate and embedded clauses.
2.4 Verifiable Predictions for the Use of the Inflected Infinitive Given the condition on the use of the inflected infinitive proposed in (21) and the syntactic effects of related phenomena, we can predict the precise environments where the inflected infinitive will be possible and others where it will be prohibited in Portuguese, Galician, Sardinian, and Old Neapolitan. In contexts where the infinitive occurs with an overt nominative subject, the inflected form is always possible. This effect follows correctly from my analysis in which the nominative subject signals a separate clause for the infinitive (examples from Maurer 1968:146; Jones 1992:297; Gondar 1978:64). (47) Quando os inglêses se rirem de êles terem muito dinheiro e nós pouco, torçamos a orelha e choremos. ‘When the English laugh about their having a lot of money and us little, let’s repent and cry’ (Herc., Lendas, II, 198) [Portuguese] (48) Non keljo a cantares tue. ‘I do not want you to sing’ [Sardinian] (49) É o millor réxime que se pode maxinar pra iles viviren contentos e ditosos. ‘It is the best method that one can imagine for them to live happy and fortunate’ (O porco, 112) [Galician]
These examples are not control constructions; in other words, the embedded subject is not an argument of the superordinate clause. The case of the embedded subject will therefore be nominative, although not overtly marked in the above eles/iles. In these infinitival clauses, the presence of a nominative subject which bears the 1 relation marks a clause boundary and indicates that it is a separate embedded clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate. It follows correctly, then, that this is an environment in which the inflected infinitive can occur in these languages. The use of the inflected infinitive in particular types of constructions in these Romance languages follows from the condition in (21). The presence of auxiliation, passive, or reflexivization with an inner predicate automatically signals a separate clause in which the final predicate may be an inflected infinitive. As discussed in the previous section, auxiliation occurs only in the final P-sector(s) of a clause. This explains why the presence of an auxiliary or passive in a complex predicate indicates that it belongs to a separate clause, as in (50). In this example, the auxiliary terem must be the final predicate of the embedded infinitival clause and as such can occur inflected. (50) A firmo terem chegado os navios. ‘I declare that the ships have arrived’
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
24
Similar examples in other Romance languages in which the presence of auxiliation signals a separate clause for the infinitive include the following: (51) Non credo di ésseret ghiratu Juanne. ‘I do not think that John has returned’ [Sardinian] (52) tenemo secondo la santa fè cattolica essereno stati non homicidi li occidituri. ‘We hold according to the holy Catholic faith that the killers were not murdered’ (Del Tuppo; see Rohlfs 1969: §709) [Old Neapolitan]
In addition, since clitics cliticize to the final predicate of their clause in the major Romance languages, the presence of a reflexive clitic on an inner predicate signals a separate clause for that predicate, as in (53). These are contexts in which the inflected infinitive is possible, as is predictable under the present analysis since the inner predicate is the final predicate of its clause. In (53), the placement of the reflexive clitic se on the infinitive queixar indicates that the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause, and may occur in its inflected form. The acceptability of either form of the infinitive demonstrates that the use of the inflected form is optional in the contexts consistent with the condition in (21). (53) Pasquale ouviu-os queixar-se/queixarem-se. ‘Pasquale heard them complain’
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
25
The presence of a reflexive clitic with the infinitive in these examples indicates that the infinitive is the final predicate of its own clause. The optional occurrence of the inflected infinitive in these constructions correctly follows from the condition stated in (21) that the inflected infinitive must be the final predicate of its clause. (54) Non se che ocurríu nunca pensar que podías quedáreste cego, que un día ao espertáreste notarías os ollos valeiros? ‘Didn’t it occur to you that you could remain blind, that one day on waking up you would notice your empty eyes?’ (A orella, 55) [Galician] (55) Lo re Laumedonta…avesse negato albiergo a quilli Grieci, chi navegavano in altre parte, de non se potereno reposare. ‘The king Laumedonta had denied shelter to those Greeks, who were travelling in other parts, so that they might not rest’ (Libro de la destructione de Troya, 18.6–8) [Old Neapolitan] (56) Juanne at tuncatu su barcone pro non s‘ istremparet sa janna. ‘John shut the window so that the door would not slam’ [Sardinian]
The acceptability of the inflected form can also be expected in exclamative and interrogative clauses like the following (from Maurer 1968:107; Gondar 1978:137). Since these sentences are independent clauses, there is nothing to which the infinitive is subordinate; therefore, the infinitive is clearly the final predicate, and may appear in its inflected form. (57) Não comeres, tu que estalavas de fome, e ficares ai como perereca diante da cascavel? ‘You not eat, you who were dying of hunger, and stay there like a tree frog before a rattlesnake?’ (Monteiro Lobato, Negrinha, 75) [Portuguese] (58) Também, irem a Queluz com um dia dêstes! Hão de se divertir! ‘Also, they go to Queluz on
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
26
one of these days! They have to have fun!’ (Eça de Queirós, Os Maias, I, 328) [Portuguese] (59) Naneeecho, Naneeecho!, matares tí unha muller, hom!,-berraba cada vez mais o demo do tonto. ‘Nanecho, Nanecho!, you killed a woman, man!-yelled louder and louder the devil of a fool’ (Contos da Galiza, 89:197) [Galician]
A sequence of conjoined infinitives is an additional predictable context for the inflected infinitive. The sequence of infinitives indicates a multiclausal structure wherein each infinitive is the final predicate of a separate clause. This environment would allow for the possible use of the inflected form (examples (60) Quem vos mandou agarrar-vos tenazmente, e espalhardes as raízes e as mergulhardes no subsolo? ‘Who ordered you to cling stubbornly, and to scatter your roots and to dive into the subsoil?’ (A.Arinos, Pelo Sertão, 92) [Portuguese] (61) Tiñabamos que compor cantigas grorificadoras da Pauta e sermos felices na nosa comunidade familiar. ‘We had to compose songs glorifying Pauta and be happy in our familiar community’ (Elipsis, 59) [Galician] (62) Erano ancora in quella citate, zoèy de sopre a le plaze, ordenate e facte multi e diversi portichy, sotto de li quale poteano largamente andare la gente per tiempo plovioso, e recostarenosse in quilli luochy covierti senza poterenosse bagnare né infondere dall’acqua plovea. ‘There were ordered and made in that city, that is above the plazas, porticos many and diverse, under which people could walk during rainy weather, and take shelter in those covered places without getting wet or flooding in the rain’ (79.19–23) [Old Neapolitan]
We should also expect the possible use of the inflected infinitive after verba dicendi, such as dizer, afirmar, proibir, rogar, pedir, etc. The monoclausal union construction is demonstrably not available to these verbs, 5 hence the 5
The verb mandar ‘order’ is an exception; as we have seen, it may take a monoclausal union structure or a biclausal 2-control structure (see 2.2).
occurrence of the inflected infinitive with these verbs is always possible because these are biclausal constructions in which the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause (examples from Maurer 1968:113, 184; Gondar 1978:111; Loporcaro 1986:196). (63) o instinto dissera-lhe serem esses homens iguais a si e aos seus camaradas. ‘instinct had told him that those men were equal to him and to
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
27
his camarades’ (Duarte, Vencidos, 80) [Portuguese] (64) Quão profundo e formidável é o mandamento que nos prescreve tomarmos cada qual aos ombros a nossa cruz. ‘How profound and formidable is the commandment that prescribes us to each take on our shoulders our cross’ (Rui, Prece de Natal, 42) [Portuguese] (65) O que non se pode é aceutar como ouxetivas e válidas interpretacións que denotan claramente seren productos ideoloxizados. ‘What one cannot do is accept as objective and valid interpretations that express clearly to be ideologicalized products’ (Conflicto lingüístico, 48) [Galician] (66) i poviri malati sensa agiuto o conseglio di medici i quali sensa alchuna carità domandano esserono paghate. ‘the poor sick without help or advice of doctors who without any charity demand to be paid’ (Cronaca di Partenope, 11.13–5) [Old Neapolitan]
When the infinitive functions as the subject of a sentence, the inflected form of the infinitive may occur. Such infinitives frequently occur after impersonal verbs or expressions, or as the argument of noun or adjective predicates such as é provável, é pena, é imprescindível, etc. In this context, the infinitive clause is itself an argument of a superordinate predicate, so we know for certain that it forms a separate clause where the infinitive is the final predicate (example from Gondar 1978:93). (67) ¿Dese xeito, non che importa saberes o que se fala? ‘In that way, doesn’t it matter to you to know what they are saying?’ (Teatro, 24) [Galician] (68) É pena não podermos ir. ‘It’s a pity we can’t go’ [Portuguese]
Lastly, another acceptable environment for the use of the inflected infinitive is after a preposition. Similar to the above case, the infinitive clause is itself an argument of the preposition. We can conclude that in this case the infinitive is the final predicate of its own separate clause. This is a frequent context for the use of the inflected infinitive where it can occur as the complement of a noun, adjective, or adverb, in adverbial clauses, or equivalent to a gerund after a or sem (examples from Maurer 1968:114, 115; Jones 1992:297; Loporcaro 1986:203; Gondar 1978:127). (69) E os tropeiros, certos de estarem diante de um fato sobrenatural, falavam baixo. ‘And the cattle drivers, certain of being in the presence of a supernatural occurrence, spoke softly’ (A. Arinos, Pelo Sertão, 37) [Portuguese] (70) Acostumaram-se àquilo de verem tudo política e de chamarem tudo política. ‘They were
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
28
used to that way of seeing everything as politics and of calling everything politics’ (Castilho, Felicidade, 7, 140) [Portuguese] (71) Su postinu est colatu prima de arrivaremus. ‘The postman came by before we arrived’ [Sardinian] (72) se sforzano…per se potereno ben defendere da nuy. ‘they strive to be able to defend themselves well from us’ (Libro de la destructione de Troya, 44.4–5) [Old Neapolitan] (73) Chegara o tempo de froitificaren as ideas espalladas pola Revolución francesa. ‘The time had arrived for the ideas popularized by the French Revolution to bear fruit’ (Vicente Risco, 72) [Galician]
Contexts in which the inflected infinitive will always be prohibited are ones in which the infinitive is the inner predicate of a monoclausal construction. An obvious example of such context is the union construction available to modals and causative and perception verbs described in 2.2 above. The monoclausality of a sentence can be confirmed through clitic position and negation. An additional effect is that the inner 1 of a transitive infinitive would be dative in the union construction of causative and perception verbs, whereas it would be accusative in the biclausal 2-control construction. For instance, in (74) the subject of the inner predicate vender occurs with the final predicate mandei as the dative clitic lhes, indicating that the two verbs are clausemates. In this context, the infinitive cannot occur inflected because it is not the final predicate of its clause, as shown in (75). (74) Eu mandei-lhes vender os discos. ‘I ordered them to sell the records’ (75) *Eu mandei-lhes venderem os discos. ‘I ordered them to sell the records’
An additional environment where the inflected form will be excluded is when the infinitive is used in a general sense or with abstract meaning. Since in this case there is no subject for the infinitive to agree with, it cannot take inflection (examples from Maurer 1968:108). (76) E resta saber por fim se o estilo não é uma disciplina do pensamento. ‘And it remains to find out finally if style is not a discipline of thought’ (Eça de Queirós, Os Maias, I, 324) [Portuguese] (77) Nos ares andam sempre idéias de tôdas as idades sem falar nas que vão caindo mortas. ‘In the air ideas from all ages always progress not to mention those which fall away dead’ (Castilho, Felicidade pela Agricultura, VII) [Portuguese] (78) O traballar é proveitoso. ‘Working is profitable’ [Galician]
The syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive
29
Given the condition in (21) on the use of the inflected infinitive and the discussion of other syntactic phenomena provided in this chapter, we can correctly predict the precise range of environments where the inflected infinitive will be acceptable and others where it will be excluded. This description will serve as a background for my critique of previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician provided in the next chapter and as a background for my discussion of the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in other Romance languages provided in chapter six.
.
CHAPTER 3 Previous Accounts of the Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive Much has been written concerning the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Many scholars have attempted to predict the occurrence of the inflected infinitive by providing long lists of rules and norms and relevant examples. However, since these descriptions of the inflected infinitive did not attempt any serious structural analysis, rules proposed for its use ended up being inconsistent and imprecise. Using my syntactic analysis of the inflected infinitive from chapter two as a background, I will study the descriptions provided by previous linguists and grammarians for the distribution of the infinitive in Portuguese and Galician and demonstrate how these attempts have failed to capture the necessary condition for the inflected infinitive in these languages.
3.1 Previous Accounts for Portuguese 3.1.1 Soares Barbosa (1822) Soares Barbosa (1822:283–4) was the first grammarian to propose rules for the use of the Portuguese inflected and uninflected infinitives. He states that the uninflected infinitive must be used: 1. Whenever the subject of the governing verb is the same as the infinitive, as in eu quero fazer ‘I want to do,’ nós queremos fazer ‘we want to do,’ etc. 2. Whenever one wishes to express the action of the infinitive in a general sense, without specifying a subject, as in mentir é faltar à verdade ‘to lie is to be lacking in truth.’ As support for his first rule, Soares Barbosa claims that the use of an inflected infinitive in the following sentences from Camões is incorrect, because the subjects of the two verbs in each sentence are identical. (1) Ó Netuno, lhe disse, não te espantes de Baco nos teus reinos receberes . ‘Oh, Neptune, I said to him, don’t be afraid of receiving Bacchus in your kingdoms’ (Camões, Lus. VI, 15) (2) E folgaras de veres a policia Portuguesa na paz, & na milicia. ‘And you will be at ease by
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
32
seeing the Portuguese police in peace and in warfare’ (Lus., VII, 72)
However, Said Ali (1966) suggests that the inflected infinitive is used in the first example to clarify the subject of the infinitive-that it is not Baco, and in the second to give emphasis to the subject that is performing the action. Stylistic considerations of clarity and emphasis, discussed in the previous section, contribute to the choice to use the inflected infinitive in (1) and (2). Others have disagreed with the first rule because they see fault in Soares Barbosa’s claim that there are two subjects, of the conjugated verb and of the infinitive, in examples like eu quero fazer (Said Ali 1966; Maurer 1968). Instead, they view the construction as an infinitive together with an auxiliary forming one clause with one subject, in other words a monoclausal structure. The pattern observed by Soares Barbosa in his first rule is entailed by my analysis. The occurrence of the uninflected infinitive together with certain verbs like modals and auxiliaries when the subjects of the verbs are the same follows from the observation presented in the previous chapter that modals like querer allow for both a monoclausal and biclausal structure in Portuguese. When the infinitive participates in the monoclausal structure, it must be uninflected because it is not the final predicate of its clause. Although the uninflected infinitive is more common with modal verbs, the inflected infinitive can and does occur in this context since modals also allow a biclausal structure in which the infinitive is a final predicate. The rules given by Soares Barbosa for the use of the uninflected infinitive are vague but give us insight into its use. As we have seen in (1) and (2), the inflected infinitive can occur when the subject of the main verb and the infinitive are the same, which contradicts Soares Barbosa’s first rule above. Therefore, the identity of subjects is not a deciding factor in the choice to use either infinitive. Instead, the pattern that motivates his assertion in the first rule can be stated more accurately by claiming that only the uninflected infinitive can occur in monoclausal structures where it is an inner (non-final) predicate. His second rule states the obvious: when the infinitive expresses an action with no specific subject, the uninflected infinitive must be used. The inflected infinitive is clearly irrelevant in this context, since there is nothing for the inflection to agree with. Soares Barbosa next presents the following rules for the purported obligatory use of the inflected infinitive: 1. When the subject of the infinitive is different from the finite verb, or if there is uncertainty as to the subject of the infinitive, as in creio termos sido enganados ‘I believe we have been deceived.’ 2. When the infinitival clause, either as a subject or attribute of another verb, or as a complement of a preposition, is taken in a personal and not an abstract sense, as in louvares-me tu me causa novidade ‘your praising me produces curiosity in me.’ Soares Barbosa claims that the purpose of every instance of the inflected infinitive is to get rid of any uncertainty that there could be over whether or not the subject is the same for both verbs. Here he incorporates a stylistic motive for its use—the need for clarity— which is important but does not always determine the use of the inflected form. For
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example, it does not explain why the inflected infinitive would co-occur with overt subject pronouns. The pattern observed by Soares Barbosa in his first rule (use the inflected form when the subject of the infinitive is different from that of the main verb) is true in rough outline. Both this general pattern and the particular departures from it are entailed by my analysis. If the infinitive has a subject different from that of the main verb, the infinitive generally belongs to a separate clause. This would suggest that the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause, which is the environment where the inflected infinitive occurs. In disagreement with this first rule, Said Ali (1966:64) points out that this rule would allow for sentences such as: (3) *Não nos deixeis cairmos em tentação. ‘Don’t let us fall into temptation’ (4) *Faço-te estudares. ‘I make you study’
Also, this rule does not allow for acceptable sentences such as: (5) Deixai vir a mim os pequeninos. ‘Let the children come to me’ (6) Fazei-os sentar. ‘I made them sit down’
which would seem to conflict with the first rule because the infinitive does have a different subject but remains uninflected. Therefore, identity or non-identity of subjects does not correctly predict the occurrence of the inflected and uninflected infinitives. A more unified and reliable diagnostic for the use of the inflected infinitive is its status as a final predicate, regardless of whether its subject is the same as that of the verb in a superordinate clause. Soares Barbosa’s second rule for the inflected infinitive is general and obvious: use the inflected infinitive when the action indicated by the infinitive is taken in a personal and not a general sense. In other words, the inflected infinitive is not used when the subject of the infinitive is unspecified. The condition proposed in my analysis provides a more unified and accurate account of the phenomena described in Soares Barbosa’s rules. 3.1.2 Diez ([1836–44] 1973) Diez (1973) claims that the inflected infinitive is used only in cases where it is possible to substitute it with a finite verb, whether the infinitive has its own distinct subject or not. He also states that when the infinitive occurs with a modal, it can never be inflected. (7) Alegram-se por terem visto o pai. (= porque vieram o pai) ‘They rejoice because they saw their father’ (8) Acreditando tu não me teres ofendido. (= que não me ofendeste) ‘Believing that you didn’t offend me’ (9) Afirmo terem chegado os navios. (= que chegaram os navios) ‘I assert that the ships had arrived’
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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Although imprecise, Diez’s rule reveals a valuable linguistic observation. His statement that the inflected infinitive occurs only when it can be substituted by a conjugated verb reflects the fact that the infinitive has lost some of its indefinite value as a nominal by adopting personal endings and therefore approaching a more finite value. By equating the infinitival clause with a finite clause in this context, Diez hints at the fact that when the inflected infinitive is used, it occurs in its own clause and it is the final predicate of that clause. His rule, however, does not predict the occurrence of the inflected infinitive with modal verbs and in other constructions in which the infinitive cannot be substituted by a finite verb. For example, in (10) and (11) the inflected infinitives seres and dizerem cannot be substituted by a clause with a finite verb. (10) Possas tu, descendente maldicto de uma tribu de nobres guerreiros, implorando crueis forasteiros, seres presa de vis Aymorés. ‘May you, a cursed descendent of a tribe of noble warriors, begging cruel strangers, be the prey of the Aymorés’ (G.Dias, Y Juca Pyrama) (11) Donde vem dizerem as molheres prenhes que às vezes está no ventre tão quieta a criança. ‘Whence the pregnant women come to say that sometimes the child is so still in the womb’ (Nunes, Arr. 569)
In addition, Diez’s assertion that the inflected infinitive never occurs after a modal is incorrect, as we can see in the above sentences, because it can occur optionally in the biclausal structure available to modal verbs described in 2.2. Diez’s observations concerning the inflected infinitive are incomplete and do not correctly predict its actual usage in Portuguese. 3.1.3 Said Ali (1966) Said Ali (1966:63–66) suggests two cases where an infinitive may be used: (1) when the infinitive unites with a verb of incomplete meaning, forming with it a complete predicate, or (2) when the infinitive has or admits its own subject, mattering little whether or not it is the same as the subject of the other verb. According to him, the uninflected infinitive occurs in the first context, and the inflected infinitive in the second. Although it would be difficult to decide a priori which complement-taking verbs are “verbs of incomplete meaning,” what emerges from Said Ali’s discussion is that he means to delineate a class which includes modals (poder, saber, dever, haver de, ter de, querer) and causatives (fazer, mandar, deixar) which, according to him, always occur with an uninflected infinitive. There are other verbs and phrases such as estar a, costumar, começar a, continuar a, ousar, desejar, gostar de, vir that for him always take an uninflected infinitive. Since the uninflected infinitive shows no overt subject, he concludes that an infinitive without a subject is the same as an infinitive without inflection. Under my analysis we expect to find in broad outline patterns like those described by Said Ali. From the condition proposed in chapter two, we know that the inflected infinitive is prohibited in monoclausal constructions, because the infinitive in these contexts is an inner predicate and not the final predicate of its clause. The verbs
Previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive
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listed by Said Ali above are generally interpreted by many scholars to have a monoclausal structure, and therefore would co-occur only with the uninflected infinitive, as he proposes. However, as we have seen in 2.2 and 3.1.2, modals, causatives, and other similar verb phrases in Portuguese allow for both a monoclausal and biclausal structure. When the infinitive participates in the monoclausal structure, it must be uninflected because it is not the final predicate of its clause, but in the biclausal structure available to these verbs, the inflected infinitive may occur because the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. Therefore, a more accurate explanation would include the status of the infinitive as a final or inner predicate of its clause. Said Ali suggests that whenever an overt subject occurs with an infinitive, the infinitive must be inflected. Although this is a strong tendency in Portuguese, this use does not appear to be obligatory. For example in (12), the infinitive occurs with an overt subject (os meninos) but is not inflected (Thomas 1969:193). (12) Ouvi os meninos dizer que iam à praia, ‘I heard the boys say they were going to the beach’
Said Ali states that the use of the inflected infinitive is obligatory when the action expressed by the infinitive can refer to a person or something different than what we have in mind: (13) Deixas criar aas portas o inimigo por yres buscar outro de tão longe. ‘You let the enemy set up at the entrance because you went to search for another so far away’ (Camões, Lus., 4, 101)
This need for clarity allows for the use of the inflected infinitive in conditions where one normally does not expect it. For example, he claims that it can appear with a modal or causative verb if there is some distance between the conjugated verb and the infinitive. As discussed previously in 2.2, the inflected infinitive can occur in the biclausal construction available to modal, causative, and perception verbs in Portuguese even if there is no distance between verbs. (14) Mas a selva já começa a rarear, e os ginetes a resfolegarem com mais violencia. ‘But the woods already start to be scarce, and the horsemen to breathe with more violence’ (Herculano, Eur., 227) (15) Deviam-n-o trazer todos vocês nas palmas, dar mil graças aos ceos, e acabarem de crer. ‘All of you should bring him in triumph, give many thanks to the heavens, and conclude believing’ (Castilho Antônio, Tart, 11)
Said Ali also claims that the inflected infinitive can be used in any environment for emphasis according to the intention of the author. These examples given by the author are instances of an isolated exclamatory infinitive, which is certainly the final predicate of its own clause, and entailed by my analysis. (16) Morreres?!…Oh, não? Salvaste Hermengarda do opprobrio. ‘You die?… Oh,
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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no? You saved Hermengarda from infamy’ (Herculano, Eur., 289) (17) Assassinares uma fraca mulher, assassinarte a ti proprio e renegares da vida eterna. ‘You kill a weak woman, you kill yourself and you renounce eternal life’ (Herc. M. de C. 1, 2)
Said Ali (1966:73–74) believes that we can reduce all uses of the two infinitives to the following five rules. Uninflected Infinitive: 1. Whenever the verb indicates action in general, as if it were an abstract noun, or when its meaning does not suggest any specific subject. 2. In compound and periphrastic verbs, unless there is a need for clarification, for example if the finite verb and infinitive are separated by some distance making the meaning of the clause unclear. His first rule is obvious, for the infinitive cannot take inflection if there is nothing for it to agree with, as discussed in 3.1.1. The pattern observed in Said Ali’s second rule is entailed by my analysis, because some compound and periphrastic verbs occur only in a monoclausal construction in which the infinitive is always a non-final predicate and would therefore never be inflected. But if these verbs occur in a biclausal construction, then the infinitive may be inflected because in this case it would be the final predicate of its own clause. In this second rule, Said Ali does not identify which verbs he considers to be compound verbs and periphrastic verbs; as we have discussed with his explanation of modal and causative verbs above, it is insufficient to list types of verbs with which the uninflected infinitive occurs, because with some verbs there are two structures available for their use: monoclausal and biclausal. The true determining factor, therefore, is the status of the infinitive as an inner or final predicate of its clause. Said Ali presents the following rules for the use of the inflected infinitive. Inflected Infinitive: 1. Whenever the infinitive is accompanied by an overt subject, noun, or pronoun, whether the same or different from the other verb. 2. Whenever it is necessary to underscore the agent, and refer the action especially to a subject, either to avoid confusion, or to clarify the thought. 3. When the author intentionally emphasizes the person to whom the action refers. In other words, what determines the use of the inflected infinitive in Said Ali’s view is: the presence of an overt subject, and therefore simple obligatory agreement; the necessary emphasis of the subject to facilitate comprehension; and the intentional emphasis to underscore the person involved in the action. All of these are elements outlined in my analysis of the inflected infinitive-stylistic concerns such as clarity and emphasis, and the presence of an overt subject with the infinitive. The latter pattern
Previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive
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entails a biclausal structure (see 2.4), because the presence of an overt subject with the infinitive signals a separate clause for the infinitive in which it is the final predicate and can be inflected. Said Ali’s second and third rules fit with my analysis; however, there are instances where the inflected infinitive is excluded independently of emphasis or clarity, namely when the infinitive is not the final predicate of its clause. Therefore, the stylistic considerations of emphasis and clarity can only be brought to bear when the syntactic condition for the use of the inflected infinitive is met. Said Ali points out other uses of the inflected infinitive, such as in the construction ao+infinitive, which is equivalent to the temporal clause introduced by the conjunction quando. This observation follows from the general use of the inflected infinitive in prepositional phrases (see 2.4). When it occurs after prepositions like ao, the infinitive clearly belongs to a separate embedded clause and therefore can occur inflected. The presence of the reflexive clitic se attached to the infinitive in this example also indicates that it is the final predicate of its own clause (see 2.2). (18) Ao aproximarem-se , os dous exercitos de nuvens prolongaramse. ‘On their approaching, the two arrays of clouds extended themselves’ (Herc. Eur. 53)
Said Ali also gives examples of an inflected infinitive used with verbs of declaring, showing, and thinking. The inflected infinitive can occur in these contexts because they are biclausal constructions and the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. The monoclausal union construction is not available to verba dicendi in Portuguese 1 and therefore the possibility of an inflected infinitive in this context is predictable. In addition, this is confirmed if we look at auxiliation in (19) and (20). Auxiliation only occurs in the final P-sector(s) of a clause, and the presence of the auxiliary serem in these examples indicates that it is the final predicate of its own clause and explains the occurrence of the inflected form. (19) Para que indinasse a el rey contra elles com algumas razões apparentes, que lhe deram para o caso, affirmando serem verdadeiras. ‘So that he provoked the king against them with some feigned motives, that they had given him for the case, asserting them to be true’ (Barros, Dec. 1, 4, 9) 1
An exception is mandar ‘command,’ which accepts the monoclausal construction, as we saw earlier (2.3). (20) Dizendo serem aquellas cousas engano. ‘Saying that those things are a mistake’ (Barros, Dec. 1, 3, 10) (21) E estando elle e os outros contentes, cuidando terem bom posto …foram de noite todos chamados. ‘And he and the others being happy, imagining that they had a good position, all were summoned at night’ (Barros, Dec. 3, 2, 9) (22) Estiveram mui promptos, mostrando terem
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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contentamento na paciencia. ‘They were very ready, showing that they had satisfaction in patience’ (Barros, Dec. 1, 5, 2)
Said Ali states that the use of the inflected or uninflected infinitive after a preposition seems arbitrary and depends on the intention of the author and not on a fixed grammatical rule (1923:148). In my analysis, the occurrence of the inflected infinitive after a preposition is always possible, because the prepositional phrase consists of a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate. Its use in these contexts may be determined instead by other factors, such as stylistic considerations or the presence of an overt subject. (23) Parece que havia de dizer: os Anjos ouvem a palavra de Deos para a fazerem e nam, os Anjos fazem a palavra de Deos para a ouvirem … Pois porque diz que fazem para ouvir , e não ouvem para fazer? ‘It seems that it was necessary to say: the angels hear the word of God in order to do it and not, the angels do the word of God in order to hear it… So why say that they do to hear and not they hear to do?’ (Vieira, Serm. 3, 53) (24) Guardaram a palavra de Christo antes de a ouvir . Executaram a palavra de Christo antes de a ouvirem . ‘They defended the word of Christ before hearing it. They enforced the word of Christ before hearing it’ (Vieira, Serm. 3, 53–4)
Although the inflected infinitive is frequently used in exclamative and interrogative clauses for emphasis (see 16–17 above), Said Ali (1923:138) provides examples of the uninflected infinitive used along with an overt subject in similar contexts. The presence of an overt subject with the infinitive normally triggers the use of the inflected form of the infinitive, however these examples taken from Old Portuguese show that the distribution of the inflected and uninflected forms of the infinitive was more fluid at that time. That is, the occurrence of an uninflected infinitive after an overt subject in the following examples perhaps indicates that the use of the inflected form was not as widespread in older stages of the language. (25) Alcarac, nõ poso creer taaes cousas, como me dizes, ca som contra natura; quatro mil cavaleiros mãteer lide a tantos e tã boos como os meus erã! ‘Alcarac, I cannot believe such things, as you tell me, because they are against nature; four thousand horsemen maintain battle against so many and such good men as mine were!’ (Livro de Linhagem 189) (26) Vós arriscar vossa Pessoa, e a vossa vida! Vós ir padecer e morrer a mãos de vossos inimigos. ‘You risk your person, and your life! You go to suffer and die at the hands of your enemies’ (Vieira, Serm. 7, 269)
Previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive
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Said Ali’s discussion of the distribution of the inflected infinitive reflects many of the ideas inherent to my analysis. He suggests that factors such as emphasis, clarity, and the presence of an overt subject play an important role in the choice to use the inflected form. Although his rules hint at it, they fail to capture the nature of the underlying structure involved in the use of the inflected infinitive.
3.1.4 Silva Dias (1959) Silva Dias (1959:235–239) lists several rules for the use of the infinitive in Portuguese. He claims that when the infinitive has an overt subject, the inflected infinitive must be used in modern Portuguese. Although this is a strong tendency, it is not an obligatory use (see 2.4). Old Portuguese employs either form of the infinitive in this context, as demonstrated in (27) where reparar remains uninflected in the presence of the overt subject defensores. (27) Sendo impossivel e forçoso tão poucos defensores… reparar em poucas horas o estrago de huma fortaleza. ‘Being impossible and necessary that so few defenders repair in a few hours the damage of a fortress’ (Freire, 111) (28) Viu-se ao longe… respandecerem as cumiadas das montanhas. ‘One could see afar off the summits of the mountains shine’ (Herc., Eur., 86)
Even if the subject is not expressed but understood, Silva Dias claims that the inflected infinitive is used when the infinitive governs a predicate. (29) As proposições medicas, para serem aphorismos, hão de ser de Hippocrates. ‘Medical adages, in order to be aphorisms, have to be from Hippocrates’ (Vieira, 5, 141)
He also claims that the inflected infinitive must be used to indicate reciprocity. Maurer (1968:243) agrees that this is a strong tendency in Portuguese, but one can find examples to the contrary in which the use of a reflexive clitic alone shows the reciprocal action. (30) Quase sempre, porém, estão a namorar -se aos pares. ‘Almost always, however, they are flirting with each other in pairs’ (V.de Taunay, Inocência, I)
The use of the inflected infinitive is never obligatory in modern Portuguese; therefore, I would suggest that the above data cited by Silva Dias constitute optional uses of the inflected form. Silva Dias lists the following environments in which the uninflected infinitive is found:
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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1. When it is used as a noun: Se és o anjo que preside ao fado da Hespanha, mais submisso ainda será o nosso obedecer ‘If you are the angel who presides over the destiny of Spain, even more compliant will be our obeying’ (Herc., Eur., 188) 2. When it is used in an entirely general manner without reference to a determined subject: Grande mal he não sarar com os remedios; mas adoecer dos remedios ainda he mal mayor ‘A great evil it is not to heal with medicines; but to fall sick from medicines is an even greater evil’ (Vieira, I, 551) These two uses of the uninflected form are predictable, because the infinitive cannot take inflection if there is nothing for it to agree with (see 2.4). 3. When it is used with the meaning of an imperative: Companheiros, despedir esta noite da montanha e das tristezas, e aparelhar para amanhan me seguirdes ‘Companions, take leave tonight from the mountain and from sorrow, and prepare to follow me tomorrow’ (Cast., Q.Hist, IV, 14) The infinitive is not the common imperative form in modern Portuguese, although its use seems to be more frequent in older stages of the language.s 4. When in the active voice it is interpreted in the passive sense: foy forçado…mandarem-se fazer as cartas polos Secretarios ‘it was forced that the letters were ordered to be made by the secretaries’ (Sousa, V. do Arc., 1, 523) The gloss shows that this sentence is passive in meaning, however there is no passive in its structure. Rather it is a causative union, which is illustrated by the fact that the 2 of fazer becomes the 1 of mandar; the inner 1 of fazer becomes a chômeur, signaled by por in Portuguese (Rosen 1984b; Blake 1990:123). (31)
P 2 1 P Cho 2 Cho 1 P Cho 1, 2 Cho Cho P Cho 1 Cho Cho mandarem- fazer as polos [Unspec] se cartas Secretarios
Silva Dias’s observation in rule 4 follows from my analysis where only the uninflected infinitive can occur as the inner predicate in a union construction. Therefore, it is not the meaning of the infinitive that is the deciding factor in its use but the syntactic environment of the infinitive. 5. After certain verbs and verb phrases like acabar de, estar a, ter de, poder, querer, ir (a), vir (a), acudir, correr, dizer, mandar, corvo…foy-sse a buscar e achou muytas penas de pãaos ‘The crow …went to search and
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found many peacock feathers’ (Fabul., fab. 12); Hay nesta çidade dous fornos de fazer vidro ‘There are in this city two kilns to make glass’ (Ms. da Bibl. de Lx.a de 1552, 11 v.) The verbs listed here by Silva Dias are examples of some Portuguese verbs that can participate in a monoclausal union construction. His pattern then is entailed by my analysis, because only the uninflected infinitive can occur in the internal sectors of union constructions. A problem with Silva Dias’s observation is that at least some of the verbs he lists can also participate in a biclausal construction (see 2.2), from which the inflected infinitive is not excluded. As we have seen previously, a mere list of verbs is insufficient in predicting the use of the infinitive. 6. As a complement of deixar, fazer, mandar: fariam chover sobre os infieis as armas de arremesso ‘they made rain upon the infidels the missile weapons’ (Herc., Eur., 273) My analysis of the infinitive entails the above pattern; only the uninflected infinitive can appear in the union construction available to causative verbs. However, as we have seen in 2.2, the causative and perception verbs can also participate in a biclausal construction in which the use of the inflected infinitive is possible. Therefore, the patterns listed by Silva Dias can all be unified under my analysis of the distribution of the infinitive. Rather than looking at verb meanings or lists of verbs, a more accurate description of the infinitive takes into account the clause boundaries of the sentence and the status of the infinitive as an inner or final predicate. Silva Dias states that the inflected infinitive may be used in any of the above environments anytime the infinitive is located far from from the conjugated verb. Therefore, the need for clarity or emphasis determined by the writer or speaker of Portuguese can override any prescriptive rules. (32) Costumavão no dia da sua festa levarem -na em procissão pola cidade. ‘They were accustomed on her feast day to carry her in procession throughout the city’ (Sousa, V. do Arc., 1, 281) (33) Os godos, porêm, tinham a vantagem de caminharem ordenados. ‘The Goths, however, had the advantage of travelling orderly’ (Herc., Eur., 91) (34) E, alongando a vista pelo portal do recinto, viu alvejar os turbantes, e, depois, surgirem rostos tostados, e, depois, reluzirem armas. ‘And, extending his sight through the gate of the fence, he saw the turbans whiten, and then, parched faces rise, and then, weapons glitter’ (Herc., Eur., 257)
Although the need for clarity or emphasis can indeed influence the use of the inflected form, these stylistic concerns can apply only when the condition on the use of the
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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inflected infinitive is met first. My analysis has shown that the inflected infinitive is restricted to contexts in which it is the final predicate of its clause. 3.1.5 Almeida (1965) Almeida attempts to provide his readers with more comprehensive rules for the use of the inflected infinitive. First, he states that every time the infinitive together with the finite verb constitutes a verb phrase, the uninflected infinitive must be used. 3 The use of the inflected infinitive in such examples as desejamos 3
Almeida claims that the inflected infinitive never occurs after expressions like ter (com) que because there is an ellipsis of the verb poder, which forms together with the
comprarmos livros ‘we wish to buy books’ and acham-se em mau estado, devendo serem substituídas ‘they are in a bad state, having to be substituted’ is unnecessary and wrong, according to Almeida, because the infinitive is part of a verb phrase, of which only the main verb should be conjugated. The infinitive here becomes “an essential part” of the verb which governs it and is “intimately subordinate” to it. The pattern observed by Almeida falls in line with my analysis. His description of the uninflected infinitive which occurs together with a finite verb in a “verb phrase” parallels the occurrence of the uninflected infinitive in monoclausal constructions in my account. However, Almeida does not recognize the optionality of the use of the inflected infinitive, nor the optional availability of biclausal constructions with certain modal verbs. Contrary to his examples, the inflected form can occur after dever, desejar, and similar verbs in the biclausal constructions available to these verbs. My account takes into consideration the syntactic properties of these verbs to predict the distribution of the infinitive. As proof against the rules proposed by Soares and Diez (see 3.1.1, 3.1.2), Almeida claims that in the Latin-type infinitival clause the uninflected infinitive is preferred: mandei os homens procurar ‘I ordered the men to search’ where os homens is the subject of procurar. As discussed in my analysis, these verbs allow for two constructions-mandei procurar aos homens and mandei os homens procurarem, where the first is monoclausal and the second biclausal. In such constructions where the subject of the infinitive is expressed by a clitic, Almeida asserts that only the uninflected infinitive should be used: mandou-nos sentar ‘he ordered us to sit,’ êle não nos deixará enganar ‘he will not let us make a mistake,’ viu-nos deitar ‘he saw us lie down,’ ouviu-nos queixar da sorte ‘he heard us complain about luck.’ These examples given by Almeida are instances of the union construction available to causative and perception verbs in which only the uninflected infinitive can occur (see 2.2). This can be verified by looking at the position of the clitic which is attached to the finite verb in each infinitive a verb phrase: tinham muito com que se (pudessem) alegrar ‘they had much to be happy about’ (497). This explanation is unlikely due to the lack of evidence that poder exists or existed in these phrases. Others claim that ter (com) que patterns with auxiliaries and modals which occur only in monoclausal constructions, which would explain why the inflected infinitive would not occur here. However, examples from Maurer (1968:197) indicate that the inflected infinitive can indeed occur after such verb phrases:
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(i) Porque se ao tempo da frota não pagarem o que devem, não terão com que se aparelharem para a safra vindoura. ‘Because if at the time of the fleet they don’t pay what they owe, they won’t have anything with which to prepare themselves for the coming harvest’ (Antonil, Cultura e Opulência, I, 12) case, which indicates that it is the final predicate of the clause. In addition, the nonrealization of the reflexive clitic with the inner predicates which are reflexive verbs (sentar, enganar, deitar, queixar) clearly indicates that these structures are monoclausal. However, Almeida’s assertion that only the uninflected infinitive occurs when the subject of the infinitive is expressed as a clitic is incorrect. In the biclausal construction available to these verbs, the inflected infinitive can occur even when its subject is expressed as a clitic: eu mandei-os venderem os discos ‘I ordered them to sell the records.’ Almeida points out that when an infinitive used after a preposition is equivalent to the Latin present participle or gerund, the uninflected infinitive must be used: (35) flores a recender cheiros vários (= flores recendentes) ‘flowers emitting various fragrances’ (36) andavam a entrar-lhe por casa (= andavam entrando) ‘they went entering the house’
For him, the same rule applies to preposition+infinitive constructions that constitute complements of nouns or adjectives: destinados a conseguir grandes coisas ‘destined to achieve great things,’ desejosos de alcançar vitória ‘desirous of achieving victory.’ These rules are unsatisfactory, however, because instances do exist where the inflected infinitive occurs in these same environments (see 2.4). (37) Tínhamos já perdido tôda a esperança de chegarmos a salvamento. ‘We had already lost all hope of our reaching salvation’ (Figueiredo, Atos, 27, 20)
In addition, the use of the inflected form of the infinitive is always possible in prepositional phrases where the infinitive is the final predicate of its own separate clause. To explain exceptions to these rules, many, including Almeida, claim that in instances where the conjugated verb and the infinitive are separated by several words or phrases the inflected infinitive may be used for the sake of clarity. Many times in a sequence of infinitives, the first if close to the conjugated verb will be uninflected and the rest will be inflected. (38) Praza a Deus que Bolívar, San Martin, Nabuco e tantos outros continuem a imitar os servos dêste Novo Mundo, a prosseguirem na sua marcha e a manterem vivo o fogo. ‘Please God that Bolívar, San Martin, Nabuco and many others continue to imitate the serfs of this New World, to proceed in their course and to keep alive the fire’
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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If a prepositional infinitive occurs before the main verb, it also may be inflected if necessary for clarity: (39) Na expectativa de sermos atendidos, muito lhe agradecemos. ‘In anticipation of being considered, we give you much thanks’
These patterns observed by Almeida are predicted under my analysis, because they exemplify the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in biclausal structures. For example, the sequence of infinitives displayed in (38) indicates a multiclausal structure in which each of the infinitives is the final predicate of its own clause and, as such, can occur inflected. The use of an inflected infinitive in (39) is predictable under my analysis, because it occurs after a preposition where it is the final predicate of its own clause. However, the issue of distance between superordinate verb and infinitive suggested by Almeida is insufficient to predict correctly the distribution of the inflected form. Therefore, a more unified account would look at the clause boundaries of the sentence and the status of the infinitive in that sentence. 3.1.6 Maurer (1968) Maurer Jr. (1968:134–155) offers three basic rules for the obligatory and optional uses of the two types of infinitive. His first rule is for the obligatory use of the uninflected infinitive and states that when the infinitive is rigorously impersonal, that is when the action expressed by it does not refer to any agent, expressed or inferred from the context, it is always uninflected. The following are some examples. This pattern follows from my analysis in 2.4. (40) Nos ares andam sempre idéias de tôdas as idades sem falar nas que vão caindo mortas. ‘In the air ideas from all ages always progress not to mention those which fall away dead’ (Castilho, Felicidade pela Agricultura, VII) (41) Não é tempo de descansar êste, mas de vigiar e de orar. ‘It is not time to rest, but to keep vigil and to pray’ (Garrett, Viagens na Minha Terra, XVII, 88)
A specific case given for the obligatory use of the uninflected infinitive is when the infinitive functions as an imperative. 4 Maurer claims that this case 4
Maurer also claims that the uninflected infinitive must be used when it is the complement of an adjective, noun, or certain verbs, usually occurring after a preposition or after que, in constructions which correspond to the Latin supine or to the infinitive in
corresponds to the impersonal nature of the uninflected infinitive because there is no subject expressed with the verb. He understands these to be simple verbal nouns, equivalent to such exclamations as atenção! cuidado!. (42) Muitos de teus ricos-homens estão conjurados contra ti: teu próprio irmão o está.
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Partir !, partir ! ‘Many of your rich men are conspired against you; your own brother is. Leave!, leave!’ (Herc., Lendas, I, 128) (43) O que vos digo é a verdade-continuou Pacheco.—Mas não afrouxar ! ‘What I say to you is the truth-Pacheco continued.—But don’t shake!’ (Herc., Lendas, I, 150)
The above ocurrences of the infinitival imperative are not common in modern Portuguese, as mentioned in 3.1.4. This use of the uninflected infinitive as an imperative in older stages of Portuguese is a special case which is not predicted under my analysis. Maurer’s second rule involves the obligatory use of the inflected infinitive, and states that when the infinitive is clearly personal, that is when it has its own subject, expressed or not, it is always inflected whether or not the subject is identical to that of the governing verb. (44) Será melhor vocês saírem um pouco mais cedo. ‘It will be better if you leave a little earlier’ (45) Supúnheis terdes sido vós os maiores beneficiados. ‘You suppose you have been the greatest benefitted’
The last example, according to Maurer, must have an inflected infinitive because the infinitive has its own subject, even though it is the same as the governing verb. Under my analysis, these infinitives can be inflected because they are final predicates of their clauses. For example, auxiliation in (45) confirms that the infinitive terdes is the final predicate of a separate clause, because auxiliation occurs only in the final P-sector(s) of a clause (see 2.2). Contrary to Maurer’s rule, the inflected infinitive can be excluded even in cases where it does have its own subject (see 2.2, 3.1.3). the passive voice. This assertion is incorrect as we have seen with counterexamples in 2.3 and 3.1.5, repeated here:
(i) E os tropeiros, certos de estarem diante de um fato sobrenatural, falavam baixo. ‘And the cattle drivers, certain of being in the presence of a supernatural occurrence, spoke softly’ (A.Arinos, Pelo Sertão, 37) (ii) Na expectativa de sermos atendidos, muito lhe agradecemos. ‘In anticipation of being considered, we give you much thanks’ A specific case where the inflected infinitive is always obligatory for Maurer is when the subject of the infinitive is expressed overtly, be it different or identical to the subject of the main verb. (46) Vou saber novas certas dêle-no fim de 20 anos de o julgarem todos perdido. ‘I will know new certainties about him-after 20 years of everyone having considered him lost’ (Garrett, Frei Luís de Sousa, Act 3, Scene 4) (47) E o tenente disse para nós não sairmos mais
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de casa. ‘And the lieutenant told us not to leave home again’ (L.Dupré, Eramos seis, 114) (48) Para chegarem as fôrças a êsse ponto, haviam caminhado desde Santos 264 léguas brasileiras. ‘For the troops to arrive at that point, they had travelled 264 Brazilian leagues from Santos’ (Visconde de Taunay, Memórias, 144)
Maurer adds that even if the subject is not expressed, the infinitive is obligatorily inflected if it refers to an agent implied by the context. (49) Convidava a Candinha a dar um pulo a Contagem, para trazerem uns cajus que Ambrosina lhe prometera. ‘He invited Candinha to take a trip to Contagem, to bring some cashews that Ambrosina had promised him’ (Arinas, Pelo Sertão, 68) (50) Insensìvelmente o serviço adiantava-se-lhe nas mãos e difícil seria acharem -no atrasado alguma vez. ‘Imperceptibly the job progressed in his hands and it would be difficult for them to find him behind ever’ (Dinis, Uma Família Inglêsa, 85)
The last example shows the use of the third person plural when the agent of the action is an unspecified ‘they.’ The above examples are predicted under my account, because the inflected infinitive in each case is the final predicate of its clause. Although there is a strong tendency to use the inflected infinitive in the presence of an overt subject in Portuguese, this is certainly not an obligatory rule, as I have already demonstrated (see 3.1.3). The use of the inflected infinitive is entirely optional in the environments available for its use, and the presence of an overt subject does not always predict the use of the inflected form. Maurer’s final rule addresses the optional use of the inflected infinitive: when the infinitive, in spite of not having a subject, expresses an action undertaken by an agent that is known from the context and to which the action is attributed, the infinitive can be inflected or uninflected. (51) Êles trabalharam muito para obter / obterem êste resultado. ‘They worked a lot to obtain this result’ (52) Admitiram-se todos os candidatos desejosos de continuar / continuarem os seus estudos. ‘All the candidates were admitted desirous of continuing their studies’
Under this category fall many types of constructions. For example, when the infinitive occurs with a reflexive clitic, it should be inflected according to Maurer’s second rule. The mere existence of a reflexive clitic in such cases indicates that the infinitive has a subject, therefore requiring the infinitive to be inflected. Although examples can be found
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with both types of infinitive, Maurer claims that modern Portuguese prefers to use the uninflected infinitive in this situation (1968:149–150). (53) Que quer que seja, disse Persival, de confrontar -vos convém, ca de haver homem pesar e sanha em tal guisa nom lhe poderia ende vîir senam mal ‘Be what it may, said Persival, it is proper to confront yourself, because from a man having sorrow and fury in such a manner nothing but evil could come from it’ (A Demanda do Santo Graal, 203) (54) Conhecer -nos e convencermo -nos de que a realidade exterior não corresponde a comoção formidável que experimentamos, é já uma grande coisa. ‘To know ourselves and to convince ourselves that outside reality does not correspond to the immense tumult that we experience, this is a great thing’ (O.Mota, Valor, XIII, 184)
In this last example both the inflected and uninflected infinitives occur side by side. Although this seems to contradict his second rule, Maurer claims that the inflected infinitive is not obligatory in these constructions because, even though the reflexive clitic suggests a personal meaning, there is no overt subject with the infinitive. To prove this point, he shows the parallel use of the infinitive with a reflexive clitic in other Romance languages (il faut vous tenir tranquilles). This proof, however, is irrelevant since these other Romance languages do not possess an inflected infinitive. The optionality of the inflected infinitive in this context follows from my analysis. The presence of a reflexive clitic attached to an infinitive indicates that the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause (see 2.4), which is the relevant context for the use of the inflected form. Many times in Portuguese there are, in a sequence of infinitives, several inflected and uninflected varieties used together. Maurer explains that this most frequently happens when those infinitives occurring next to the original subject are inflected while those farthest from the overt subject remain uninflected. (55) A razão por que muitos moços enganam as môças e vice-versa é escreverem as suas cartas, e entregá -las de mão a mão… ‘The cause for which many boys deceive girls and vice-versa is they write their letters and deliver them from hand to hand…’ (Machado de Assis, A Semana, I, 91)
In reality, the opposite case is just as frequent. Those infinitives closest to the governing verb or subject are uninflected while those farthest are inflected due to the need for clarity. (56) Em que pareciam soluçar tormentosas legendas de amôres místicos, e rolarem pelas escadarias dos cadafalsos vermelhas calças palpitantes. ‘In which tempestuous legends of mystical loves seemed to sob, and stirring red
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
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trousers [seemed] to run throughout the stairways of the scaffolds’ (Fialho, Contos, 175) (57) Parecia-me a mim, que se avião de levantar todos, e irem -se lançar todos aos pés de Christo. ‘It seemed to me, that all should rise up, and go to throw themselves all at the feet of Christ’ (Vieira, II, 181)
These sequences of inflected and uninflected infinitives occurring together is predictable under my analysis, because conjoined infinitives cannot be inner predicates in union constructions but are necessarily subordinate in biclausal structures (see 2.4). Another curious fact about the infinitive is that Old Portuguese shows instances of the uninflected infinitive used even when it has an overt subject. This usage is uncharacteristic of the modern language where an inflected infinitive would generally be expected. (58)…era custume em aquel tempo de cavaleiros andantes seer recebidos em lugares estranhos. ‘it was the custom in that time for errant knights to be received in foreign places’ (A Demanda do Santo Graal, 423) (59) Mandou alcarac Reis e Infantes e outros altos homees acometer os christãos. ‘Alcarac ordered kings and infantes and other high men to attack the Christians’ (Port. Mon. Hist. I Script. 186)
Maurer’s description contains interesting observations about the infinitive, but fails to provide a unified account for its use. His rules are confusing and sometimes contradictory and do not shed light on the true structural differences behind the distribution of the inflected and uninflected forms of the infinitive. For Maurer, the distinguishing factor between the two infinitives seems to be the personal or impersonal meaning of the verb and not the syntactic contexts for its use.
3.1.7 Thomas (1969) Thomas claims that the inflected infinitive can be used in any grammatical context in which the uninflected infinitive can occur, with the single exception that it does not form pure nouns without any verbal force (1969:192). This view is empirically inadequate because, as we have seen, the inflected infinitive cannot occur when it is not the final predicate of its clause. Thomas lists the following as the most frequent uses of the inflected infinitive (1969:188–190, 192–3): A. If the subject of the infinitive has not been previously expressed in the sentence. (60) Ao sairmos do hotel, demos com o corpo de bombeiros. ‘As we left the hotel, we ran into the fire department’
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(61) Eu admiro é êles correrem tanto, sem se apartarem. (Suassuna, Auto da Compadecida) ‘What surprises me is their running so far without separating’ (62) Creio estarem de volta já. ‘I think they are already back’
This is in accord with my claim that the inflected infinitive can be used for clarification or emphasis of the subject, though only in the syntactic contexts appropriate to its use. B. When the subject of the infinitive is expressed as the object of the preceding verb, the infinitive tends to be uninflected if it follows immediately. However, if the infinitive is separated from the conjugated verb by an object of the main verb or other words, there is more probability that the infinitive will be inflected. The greater the separation, the more likely one is to use the inflected form. (63) Deixa-nos ir embora. ‘Allow us to go’ (64) Papai nos deu ordem de irmos passear. ‘Daddy gave us orders to take a walk’ (65) Aconselharam os índios a plantarem mandioca ‘They advised the Indians to plant manioc’
As we have seen, distance between the conjugated verb and infinitive is irrelevant to the use of the inflected infinitive. For example, the inflected infinitive would be prohibited in monoclausal constructions even if the two verbs were separated, because the infinitive in these instances is not a final predicate. Distance may influence the need for clarification of the subject of the infinitive in relevant contexts. C. When the subject of the infinitive is the same as the preceding conjugated verb, the infinitive tends to be uninflected, but the inflected infinitive is sometimes used for emphasis. (66) Os oficiais do exército não podem ser presos pela polícia. ‘The officers of the army cannot be arrested by the police’ (67) Apanhamos uma maça ao sair do pomar. ‘We picked up an apple as we left the orchard’ (68) Não podem serem iguais. ‘They cannot be alike’
As discussed previously (see 3.1.1), the identity of subjects as proposed by Thomas does not play a significant role in the distribution of the inflected infinitive. Instead, his rule touches on the availability of two constructions for modal verbs, as in his (66) and (68); in the monoclausal construction available to modals the inflected infinitive is prohibited, but it can occur optionally in the biclausal construction where it is the final predicate.
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Therefore, to predict the correct usage of the infinitive in this environment, one must look at the clause membership of the infinitive in relation to other predicates of the sentence. D. After ver and ouvir the uninflected infinitive is usually used, but the inflected form can also be found. (69) Ouvi os meninos dizer ( dizerem ) que iam à praia. ‘I heard the boys say they were going to the beach’
This rule also touches on the availability of two constructions for causative and perception verbs in Portuguese as discussed in my analysis in 2.2. The inflected infinitive may optionally occur in the biclausal construction, as demonstrated in (69), because it is the final predicate of its clause. Thomas fails to observe the unacceptability of the inflected form in the monoclausal structure available to these verbs. E. Thomas claims that the inflected infinitive is frequently used as an alternative to a clause in the subjunctive. In many cases, the clausal and infinitive constructions exist side by side in spoken and written Portuguese. Some of the most frequent instances are as follows. 1. Following impersonal expressions. (70) Não é provável terem aprendido muito. ‘It is not likely that they have learned much’ (71) É imprescindível partirmos já. ‘It is absolutely necessary for us to leave now’
These instances are predictable because the infinitive clause is itself an argument of the superordinate predicate (é provável; é imprescindível), so in this context we know it is not a clausemate of that predicate but rather forms a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate (see 2.4). 2. After verbs of ordering, permitting, forbidding, etc. (72) Proibiram termos bebidas alcoólicas nos quartos. ‘They forbade us to have alcoholic drinks in our rooms’ (73) Êle pediu para ajudarmos com o trabalho. ‘He asked us to help with the work’
This observation is entailed by my analysis because these constructions are biclausal and allow for the use of the inflected infinitive. However, Thomas’s claim is not quite accurate because there is a small list of verbs of ‘ordering’ that can prohibit the use of the inflected form. The causative and perception verbs (mandar, fazer, deixar, ver, ouvir, sentir) fall under Thomas’s class of verbs, but when they participate in the monoclausal construction the occurrence of the inflected infinitive is excluded. 3. After verbs of emotion. (74) Sinto termos magoado nosso anfitrião. ‘I am sorry that we hurt our host’s feelings’
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(75) Temo terem vindo cedo demais. ‘I fear that they have come too early’
The position of the auxiliary (termos, terem) in these examples.shows where the clause boundaries are, thus making the possibility of an inflected infinitive predictable. As discussed in 2.2, auxiliation occurs only in the final P-sector(s) of a clause; so in (75), for instance, temo could not be a later predicate in the same clause with the auxiliary ter. The presence of an auxiliary in these examples thus indicates that it is the final predicate of its clause. 4. Whenever an adverbial conjunction may be replaced by a preposition. (76) Vamos acabar êste jôgo antes de perdermos tudo. ‘Let’s finish this game before we lose everything’ (77) Êle abriu a cancela para os cavalos entrarem no curral. ‘He opened the gate for the horses to enter the corral’ (78) Tudo isso aconteceu sem sabermos nada. ‘All that happened without our knowing anything’
This use is predictable because the inflected infinitive is always possible after a preposition in Portuguese (see 2.4); when it occurs in prepositional contexts, the infinitive clearly belongs to a separate embedded clause, where it functions as the final predicate. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive as an alternative to a subjunctive or adverbial clause in Portuguese suggests a parallel between a subordinate finite clause and an inflected infinitival clause. Like a subjunctive or adverbial clause, these infinitival clauses are separate subordinate clauses in which the inflected infinitive is the final predicate. Because his rules rest on string-based observations, Thomas fails to capture the general structural properties of the inflected infinitive, and some of his explanations are contradictory. He does, however, hint at some important properties of the inflected infinitive, including its use for clarity and emphasis and the availability of two types of constructions for modal and causative verbs. His account fails to exclude the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in the monoclausal construction available to these verbs. 3.1.8 Lima (1972) Other linguists have recognized that the use of the inflected infinitive is frequently governed by stylistic considerations. Lima, noting the inadequacy of previous descriptions of the use of the Portuguese inflected infinitive, suggests that existing along with grammatical rules, and sometimes interfering with them, many times certain cases demanding clarity, emphasis, and harmony of expression surpass any grammatical restrictions or norms (1972:380). He proposes only one case where the use of the inflected infinitive is obligatory-when the infinitive has its own (overt) subject, different from the subject of the main verb.
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(79) Veio-me à lembrança a notícia lida naquela manhã de estarem fechadas todas as farmácias da cidade. ‘I suddenly remembered the news read that morning that all the pharmacies in the city would be closed’ (Machado de Assis) (80) Cerrai a porta, que há aí alguns vizinhos de andares altos, que já murmuram sermos nós ruins gastadores de tempo. ‘Close the door, because there are some neighbors from higher floors who are already whispering that we are bad squanderers of time’ (Castilho)
In these examples, he claims that the presence of an overt subject (farmácias, nós) with the infinitive calls for the obligatory use of the inflected infinitive. This is entailed under my analysis where I have demonstrated a strong tendency for the inflected infinitive to be used in the presence of an overt subject; however, this is not an obligatory use in Portuguese (see 3.1.3). An additional problem with Lima’s rule is that it does not exclude the inflected infinitive from monoclausal constructions, where the infinitive may have its own subject different from the subject of the main verb and yet cannot occur in its inflected form (fiz trabalhar os meus alunos ‘I made my students work’). The presence of an overt subject does not correctly predict the occurrence of the inflected infinitive and does not call for its obligatory use. Lima also lists environments in which the uninflected infinitive is normally used (380–2): 1. When used with nominal value, without referring to a subject: Viver é lutar ‘living is fighting’ 2. When used as an imperative: Cessar o fogo, paulistas! ‘Cease fire, Paulistas!’ 3. When used as a complement of an adjective after the preposition de, and having passive meaning: Versos! são bons de ler , mais nada; eu penso assim ‘Verses! they are good to read, nothing else; that is what I think’ 4. When used after the preposition a as the equivalent of a gerund indicating manner or purpose: Todos no mesmo navio, todos na mesma tempestade, todos no mesmo perigo, e uns a cantar , outros a zombar , outros a orar e chorar ? ‘All in the same ship, all in the same storm, all in the same danger, and some singing, others making fun, others praying and crying?’ 5. When used with a modal: Podemos sair ‘We can leave’ 6. When the subject of the infinitive is an atonic personal pronoun which serves also as the complement of any five verbs (ver, ouvir, deixar, fazer, mandar): Viu-os partir um herege ‘A heretic saw them leave’ This observation made in rule 1 is an obvious one, for the infinitive cannot be inflected if there is nothing for the inflection to agree with. The occurrence of the uninflected infinitive as an imperative in rule 2 is an uncommon use in modern Portuguese (see 3.1.4;
Previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive
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3.1.6). I would argue that the reason the infinitive occurs uninflected is that it does not have a second person underlying subject; for example, it cannot co-occur with an emphatic pronoun subject (*Partir tu!). Contrary to Lima’s rules 3 and 4, the inflected infinitive may occur as the complement of an adjective as in (81), and after the preposition a equivalent to a gerund as in (82) (see 3.1.5). (81) Incapazes de conhecerem a vantagem da ordem e da disciplina, êstes homens rudes combatiam meios nus. ‘Incapable of recognizing the advantage of order and of discipline, these primitive men fought half nude’ (Herc., Eur. 9) (82) Sempre o queriam melhor, melhor, ficando ambos largo tempo ou a meditarem silenciosos…ou discutindo com animação e fogo. ‘They always wanted it better, better, both staying a long time or meditating silent…or arguing with animation and fire’ (Taunay, Memórias, 295)
The occurrence of an inflected infinitive as a complement of an adjective and after the preposition a is predicted under my analysis, because the inflected form is always possible after a preposition where it functions as the final predicate of its own clause (see 2.4). As we have seen throughout this chapter, only the uninflected infinitive can occur in the monoclausal construction available to modal verbs, but the inflected infinitive may occur when these verbs participate in a biclausal construction, contrary to Lima’s rule 5. The assertion made in his final rule is correct when these five verbs participate in a union construction, but when they occur in a biclausal structure the inflected form may be used as well as in (83). (83) Na tua aula, …onde te vi…feliz, quando nos vias fazermos boa figura. ‘In your classroom…where I saw you…happy, when you saw us make a good appearance’ (J.Ribeiro, Coração, 21)
Therefore, a more coherent discussion of the distribution of the infinitive must take into account the clause structure of these sentences, where the inflected infinitive will correctly be excluded from monoclausal structures but possible in biclausal constructions. According to Lima, some cases in which the inflected infinitive may bypass these grammatical norms set for the uninflected infinitive in favor of stylistic concerns are: 1. When used with a modal which is distanced from the infinitive: Todas aquelas cenas dispersas e incompletas na memória de Cervantes deviam, animadas por uma grande fantasia de poeta, sublevarem -se-lhe na mente ‘All those scenes scattered and incomplete in Cervantes’s memory should, stimulated by a poet’s great fantasy, raise up in his mind’ 2. When the subject of the infinitive is a noun which serves also as the object of any of five verbs (ver, ouvir, deixar, fazer, mandar): Viu saírem e entrarem mulheres ‘He saw women leave and enter’
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3. When, even though the infinitive and main verb have the same subject, there is a need to emphasize the agent of the action of the infinitive: Virtude, sem trabalhares e padeceres , não verás tu jamais com teus olhos ‘Virtue, without working and suffering, you will never see with your own eyes’ Stylistic considerations of clarity and emphasis are factors recognized in my analysis, but they apply only under the condition that the infinitive is the final predicate of its own clause. Lima’s observation in rule 2 follows from my account in which the inflected infinitive is possible in the biclausal construction available to the causative and perception verbs. Lima’s statement is not clear, because in the monoclausal construction with these verbs the subject of the infinitive can be a noun, but the inflected infinitive would be prohibited. A more accurate assertion must specify the clause structure and status of the infinitive in that clause. What is unique about Lima’s account is that he recognizes that there are tendencies and not prescriptive rules governing the distribution of the inflected infinitive, and he envisions that any grammatical rule can be overridden in favor of stylistic considerations. However, his rule for the obligatory use of the inflected infinitive should be revised to include any instance of an infinitive with an overt subject, whether it is different from the subject of the main verb or not. And, as we have seen, this rule should be optional and not obligatory. 3.1.9 Abreu and Rameh (1973) The prescriptive grammar by Abreu and Rameh outlines the following uses for the inflected and uninflected infinitives (1973:214–5). 1. The inflected infinitive can be used when the subject of the infinitive is not the same as the subject of the main clause: Vocês viram os gaúchos fazerem churrasco ‘You saw the cowboys making a barbecue’ 2. The inflected infinitive must be used when the subject of the infinitive is the same as that of the main verb, and is expressed overtly before the infinitive: Depois de nós descansarmos , continuaremos a viagem ‘After resting, we will continue the trip’ 3. Either the inflected or uninflected infinitive can be used after a preposition and when the subject of the infinitive is not overtly expressed: Nós trouxemos uns amigos para jantar / jantarem na Colombo ‘We brought some friends to have dinner at the Colombo’ 4. The uninflected infinitive is used when the infinitive and the main verb constitute a verb phrase: Eles tinham que ficar ‘They had to stay’ 5. The uninflected infinitive must be used when the subject of the infinitive is a clitic: A mãe os mandou comprar alguma coisa ‘The mother ordered them to buy something’
Previous accounts of the distribution of the inflected infinitive
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The authors’ first rule does not exclude the inflected infinitive from monoclausal constructions, and as discussed previously the identity or non-identity of subjects is not a relevant criterion for the use of the inflected infinitive. The second rule is a tendency in Portuguese and not an obligatory usage. Rule 3 correctly states that either form of the infinitive may be used after a preposition, which was discussed in 2.4. The assertion in rule 4 is half true in that only the uninflected infinitive can occur in the monoclausal construction available to modals and a few other verbs. However, the inflected infinitive is also possible with these same verbs in a biclausal construction as in (84). (84) Queres ser mau filho, mau amigo, deixares uma nódoa d’infâmia na tua linhagem? ‘You want to be a bad son, a bad friend, to leave a stain of dishonor on your lineage?’ (Herc.)
The last rule given by the authors also falls under my analysis; we have seen that only the uninflected infinitive can occur in the monoclausal construction available to causative and perception verbs. However, whether the subject of the infinitive is realized as a clitic is irrelevant, because in the monoclausal structure the subject of the infinitive is revalued to a 3 (a mãe mandou comprar alguma coisa aos homens). Another problem with this rule is that the subject of the infinitive can be realized as a clitic in a biclausal construction with these same verbs, and the inflected infinitive will be possible. An example is (85), where the infinitives are demonstrably situated in separate subordinate clauses. The position of the clitic attached to the infinitive shows us that it is the final predicate of its own separate clause. (85) Ele viu-as entrarem , prostrarem -se de braços estendidos, chorando, e não se comoveu. ‘He saw them enter, prostrate themselves with arms extended, weeping, and he wasn’t moved’ (Coelho Netto, OS, I, 1328)
A more unified account must stress the difference in use of the infinitive in monoclausal and biclausal constructions and the status of the infinitive in these structures. 3.1.10 Chaves (1981) Chaves agrees that many of the previous explanations for the use of the inflected infinitive are contradictory and confusing, and proposes two rules for the purported obligatory use of the inflected infinitive in modern Portuguese (1981:117–121). First, the inflected infinitive must be used when the infinitive has an explicit subject. (86) …e feito o cômputo dos tempos, se achou serem passados trezentos anos. ‘and having made the computation of time, it was found that three hundred years had passed’ (Bernardes, Sermões e Práticas II, 242)
In older stages of the language, one can find examples of an uninflected infinitive used in these cases. For instance, andar in (87) is an uninflected infinitive although it has an overt subject os cães.
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(87) Não sofre muito a gente generosa andar -lhe os cães os dentes amostrando. ‘Generous people do not suffer much from dogs going around displaying their teeth to them’ (Camões, Lus. I, 87)
Under my analysis (see 2.4), what Chaves’s first statement expresses is at best a tendency, not a rule. Chaves’s second rule states that the inflected infinitive must be used when the need for clarity requires its use to specify which is the subject of the infinitive. (88) Ó Netuno, lhe disse, não te espantes de Baco nos teus reinos receberes . ‘Oh, Neptune, I said to him, don’t be afraid of receiving Bacchus in your kingdoms’ (Camões, Lus. VI, 15)
According to Chaves, the use of the inflected infinitive is optional as a stylistic device, governed by the following criteria: the uninflected infinitive is vague and general; the inflected infinitive is concrete, alive, and dynamic. The author observes that the inflected infinitive is frequently used for emphasis or when there is some distance between the infinitive and the main verb. (89) E, alongando a vista pelo portal do recinto, viu alvejar os turbantes, e, depois, surgirem rostos tostados, e, depois, reluzirem armas. ‘And, extending his sight through the gate of the fence, he saw the turbans whiten, and then, parched faces rise, and then, weapons glitter’ (Herc., Eur., 257)
The observations made by Chaves are correct so far as they go; the inflected infinitive does tend to be used when it has an overt subject and it is used for stylistic reasons, but only in contexts consistent with the syntactic condition on its use. Her two rules are too general to capture all the uses of the infinitive, and also fail to exclude the inflected form in monoclausal structures in which the infinitive is not the final predicate. 3.1.11 Cunha and Cintra (1985) Cunha and Cintra also agree that previous rules for the use of the infinitive are insufficient due to the influence of stylistic concerns such as rhythm, emphasis, and clarity. They conclude that the choice to use the inflected infinitive falls more under the category of style than of grammar (474, 478). Instead of rules, they favor a description of general tendencies for the inflected and uninflected infinitives. Since these mirror almost exactly those outlined above for Lima, I will briefly mention only two differences. First, the authors indicate that the inflected infinitive is used when the infinitive has an expressed subject, and they do not specify whether this subject must be different from or the same as that of the main verb. I believe that this is a more accurate observation than that maintained by others described above. Secondly, Cunha and Cintra mention an
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additional environment for the use of the inflected infinitive: to indicate an indeterminate subject by using the third person plural inflection (477): (90) Ouvi dizerem que Maria Jeroma, de todas a mais impressionante, pelo ar desafrontado e pela pintura na cara, ganhara o sertão. ‘I heard them say that Maria Jeroma, of all the most impressive, for her appeasing manner and for the make-up on her face, had received the land’ (G.Amado, HMI, 143) (91) O culpado de tudo é aquele tal de Doutor Reinaldo. Por que não deixou levarem a sujeita para o Recife? ‘The one guilty of everything is that Doctor Reinaldo. Why didn’t he let them take the guy to Recife?’ (J.Condé, TC, 247)
These are examples of the inflected infinitive used in the biclausal construction available to causative and perception verbs, as described in my analysis (see 2.2). As emphasized by contemporary grammarians, I believe that a description of the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese must take into account that it is above all a stylistic tool that many times surpasses grammatical norms set for the use of the infinitive. However, those who focus exclusively on its stylistic use fail to recognize its syntactic limitations. Many of the grammarians discussed above have managed to discern the importance of stylistic concerns and the tendency to use the inflected infinitive with an overt subject. None, however, have recognized the precise syntactic environments relevant to its distribution.
3.2 Previous Accounts for Galician Considerably less has been written about Galician, a non-standard language of northwestern Spain. Since grammars of Galician are less plentiful than those for Portuguese, not as much attention has been given to the description of the use of the inflected infinitive in this dialect. But because of the linguistic history shared by Galician and Portuguese, we will see that the distribution of this form in both languages is quite similar and its limits can be predicted under my analysis. The condition on the use of the inflected infinitive in Galician is the same as that for Portuguese: the inflected infinitive must be the final predicate of its own clause. 3.2.1 Saco y Arce (1868) The first grammarian to address the use of the inflected infinitive in Galician was Saco y Arce (1868). Noting the difficulty in determining exact uses for the inflected and uninflected infinitives, he describes general tendencies for the use of each. For him, without any existing norms it becomes difficult to describe a use which presents many variations, especially when the phenomenon is one where the subjective factor is of
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utmost importance (152). He mentions the following tendencies for the use of the uninflected infinitive. 1. When the infinitive has an abstract meaning, lacking personal reference: O traballar é proveitoso ‘Working is profitable’ 2. When the infinitive functions as a direct complement of another verb, especially if there is no intervening preposition: Teus pais mándante saír ‘Your parents order you to leave’ The author’s first case is obvious, as we have seen with Portuguese, because the infinitive cannot have inflection if there is nothing for it to agree with. His second case fails to capture the precise facts concerning the use of the infinitive, because the term “direct complement of a verb” does not address the issue of clausality. A problem with this case is that it is too general, for although the uninflected infinitive is commonly used after modals and causatives, the inflected infinitive can also be used after these and other verbs even when there is no intervening preposition (Gondar 1978:51). The pre-theoretical terminology he uses fails to make the crucial distinction between monoclausal and biclausal constructions, which is captured in a more concise manner by my analysis. For instance, in (92) the inflected infinitive occurs even though it is the direct complement of a superordinate verb and there is no intervening preposition. A more accurate description would take into account the structure of the sentence and the status of the infinitive as a final or non-final predicate. (92) Admitíu sermos tan bons estudantes coma el. ‘He admitted that we are just as good students as he is’
Even with a modal verb, the inflected infinitive can be used if it occurs as the final predicate of its clause. In addition, Gondar notes that the presence of a preposition does not seem to be a determining factor for the use of either form of the infinitive, because there are some verbs that govern a preposition and which rarely take an inflected infinitive (ter de, deber de, haber de), while there are other verbs which govern a preposition and do permit an inflected infinitive (falar de, consistir en, etc.). Instead, one must look at the clause structure of the sentence to determine the acceptability of the inflected form. Saco y Arce lists only two tendencies for the use of the inflected infinitive. 1. When the infinitive functions as the subject of a clause, especially with a copular verb and if its subject is a specific person: Foi lástima non llo avisares ti ‘It was a shame you didn’t warn him about it’ 2. When the infinitive accompanied by a preposition functions as an adverbial complement, especially if the subject is the same as the subject of the main verb: Pra loitares ti comigo, tes mui poucas forzas ‘For you to fight with me, you have very little strength’ These two cases in no way cover all the possible functions of the inflected infinitive for Galician. It is true that this form frequently occurs as the subject of a sentence after a
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copular verb or after certain impersonal verbs or expressions (parece, convén, é mester, é necesario, etc.). These instances are predictable because the infinitive clause is itself an argument of the superordinate predicate, so in this context we know it forms a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate (see 2.4). The author’s second case is entailed by my account as well, because the inflected infinitive is always possible after a preposition. In this context, the infinitival clause forms a separate clause where the infinitive is the final predicate and can occur inflected. However, contrary to what is stated in this second rule, whether the subject of the infinitive is the same as or different from the subject of the main verb is not a determining factor for the use of the inflected infinitive (Gondar 1978:53). Factors that are more likely to influence its use are distance, emphasis, clarity, and so on. Other environments, not covered by Saco y Arce, where the inflected infinitive is frequently used include: as an attribute, as the second term of a comparison, as the complement of an adjective, and as a complement of a noun. The account given by Saco for the use of the infinitive is too restrictive and therefore an inadequate description for understanding its distribution. 3.2.2 Lugris Freire (1922) Lugris Freire (1922:93–6) presents some of the same cases and examples as Saco y Arce in his treatment of the use of the infinitive in Galician. For Lugris, the uninflected infinitive must be used when it has an indeterminate meaning, when it is used as a noun, or when it serves as the direct complement of another verb, especially if there is no intervening preposition. These are equal to the cases outlined by Saco y Arce above in 3.2.1 and need no additional commentary. (93) O escrebir moito cansa os ollos. ‘Writing a lot tires the eyes’ (94) Non é bon axudar aos caciques. ‘It is not good to help the chiefs’
Lugris asserts that the use of the inflected infinitive in the following cases is obligatory, which he claims are contexts in which even modern writers frequently commit errors. When the prepositional infinitive appears at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph, the infinitive must be inflected. (95) Sin pidirmos diñeiro a meu pai nada se pode facer. ‘Without our asking my father for money, nothing can be done’
Under my analysis in 2.4, the inflected form is always possible after a preposition where it functions as the final predicate of its clause, but it is never obligatory in this context. When the infinitive occurs at some distance from the main verb, Lugris asserts that it must be inflected even if the main verb expresses personal endings. (96) Viñeron das Américas hai moito tempo sin que ninguen soupera nada, e ao chegaren a terra puxéronse alegres. ‘They came from the Americas a long time ago without anyone
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knowing anything, and upon arriving on land they became happy’
As we have seen previously, distance between the main verb and the infinitive may influence the choice to use the inflected form, but only in contexts where it is possible, namely when the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. The last environment in which the infinitive must be inflected, according to Lugris, is when it functions as a subject of a clause, especially when the subject of the infinitive is expressed or emphasized. (97) O morreren meus pais foi causa da nosa emigración. ‘My parents’ dying was the cause of our emigration’
This use is entailed by my analysis, because in this context the infinitive clause is itself an argument of the superordinate predicate, so we know it forms a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate (see 2.4). This use, however, is not obligatory. In fact, all three of the above are cases in which the use of the inflected infinitive is optional in Galician and not obligatory as Lugris claims. As we have seen for Portuguese, there are no contexts in which the use of the inflected infinitive is obligatory. When the infinitive is reflexive, it can be inflected or uninflected, but Lugris warns against the unnecessary use of the inflected infinitive in cases where the subject of the infinitive is clearly understood without inflection. He claims that the following example sounds redundant in Galician, because the subject of the infinitive is clearly expressed by the main verb and there is little need to repeat it in the infinitive. (98) Emporiso, no ban qu’ imos ollarmos , hai mobles de moito gusto. ‘However, in the room that we are going to look at, there is furniture of good taste’
The use of the inflected infinitive in this example is a stylistic choice made by the author and, although the general tendency might be to use the uninflected form, the use of the inflected form here is not ungrammatical because it occurs as the final predicate of its clause. Lugris adds that the condition for the inflected infinitive in Galician just as in Portuguese is not always clear, and when in doubt one should instead use the uninflected infinitive with a pronominal subject. He implies that the inflected infinitive used without an overt subject (99) and the uninflected infinitive used with a pronominal subject (100) are in complementary distribution. However, just as we have seen for Portuguese, there is a strong tendency to use the inflected infinitive in the presence of an overt subject (Gondar 1978:54). This is the only case where the use of the inflected infinitive approaches an obligatory usage in Galician and in Portuguese, and therefore a sentence such as (100) would normally display the inflected form. (99) Ao chegarmos a Betanzos, falaremos co’ el. ‘Upon arriving in Betanzos, we will speak with him’ (100) Ao chegar nós a Betanzos, falaremos co’ el. ‘Upon arriving in Betanzos, we will speak
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with him’
The obligatory rules provided by Lugris for the use of the inflected infinitive in Galician are in fact optional uses. In addition, his rules are restrictive and do not allude to the importance of syntactic constraints in the distribution of the inflected infinitive. 3.2.3 Carballo Calero (1976) Carballo Calero (1976:309–12) presents a more realistic description of the use of the infinitive in Galician. He outlines four obligatory uses for the uninflected infinitive, some of which coincide with those described by others above. 1. When the infinitive conveys an abstract notion, without referring to any subject or implying an indeterminate subject: nacer é comenzar a morrer ‘to be born is to begin to die’ 2. When the infinitive is the direct complement of another verb which governs it directly: desexas saír ‘you wish to leave’ In this case, distance between the two verbs can prompt the use of the inflected infinitive. 3. In periphrastic or verbal phrases, in which the subject of the infinitive coincides with the subject of the governing verb: hasme contar esa historia ‘you have to tell me that story’ 4. With causative verbs: mandara estudar ‘he had ordered (someone) to study’ The first two cases have been commented on above in 3.2.1. Carballo suggests the influence of distance between verb forms, which in my account affects the choice to use the inflected form only when the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. In addition, distance is not the only factor to cause the use of the inflected form, and one can find counterexamples to his second rule where there is no distance between the main verb and infinitive. (101) Os catalanistas non podían apareceren como federalistas. ‘The Catalanists could not appear like Federalists’ (Vicente Risco, 60) (102) Cómo has ires tí, malpocado, tan noviño que es? ‘How do you have to go, poor thing, so young as you are?’ (Contos da Galiza, 10:60)
Carballo’s third rule follows from my analysis since periphrastic verb complexes are generally monoclausal and as such would prohibit the use of the inflected infinitive. However, he does not specify which verbs fall under this category. The rules 2–4 suggest the exclusive use of the uninflected infinitive in monoclausal constructions, because modal plus infinitive combinations, periphrastic verb forms, and causatives are generally monoclausal. However, many of these same verbs participate in a biclausal construction in which the inflected form is possible. The use of the inflected infinitive with causative verbs and verbs of perception seems to be rare, and modern Galician generally uses the monoclausal construction in these cases, but one can find an occasional example with the inflected form.
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(103) Tamén disque que os criados que trouxera desas terras por onde andivo, non falaban coma nós e que os remudaba cada ano, ou antes si os via tratárense con alguén do povo. ‘Also they say that the servants that he had brought from those lands through which I travelled, didn’t speak like us and that he removed them each year, or sooner if he saw them having dealings with anyone from the town’ (A esmorga, 39)
The existence of instances with the inflected infinitive as in the last three examples means that the use of the uninflected infinitive in these cases is not obligatory and that one must look at the clause structure to determine the acceptability of the inflected form. Carballo claims that beyond those four cases presented for the use of the uninflected infinitive, the choice between the inflected and uninflected infinitives is, in principle, free. He notes that the decision to use the inflected form normally depends on the need for clarity or emphasis. The three most frequent uses of the inflected infinitive, according to Carballo, are the following. 1. When the infinitive clause is the subject of the sentence, especially since the subject of the main verb is different from the subject of the infinitive, and especially when the infinitive has an overt subject: estraña teren morto os dous irmáns o mesmo dia ‘it is peculiar that the two brothers died the same day’ 2. When the infinitive clause is a direct complement and its subject is different from that of the main verb: participóulles teren sido feitas as probas ‘he announced to them that the proofs had been done’ 3. When the infinitive clause is an adverbial complement governed by a preposition, especially if its subject is different from that of the main verb: dínllelo para o gardaren ‘I gave it to them so they would keep it’ The first case is discussed in 3.2.2. Carballo’s second rule fails to capture accurately the facts concerning the use of the inflected infinitive, because the term “direct complement” does not adequately distinguish between the monoclausal and biclausal constructions possible in this context. His statement incorrectly predicts the possible use of the inflected form in monoclausal constructions in which the subjects of the main verb and the infinitive are different. The author’s third rule is also entailed by my analysis in which the inflected form is always possible when it is a final predicate. In prepositional contexts, the infinitival clause is itself an argument of the preposition; therefore, it forms a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate. Carballo adds that the use of the inflected infinitive is very much conditioned by stylistic considerations, underlining the importance of clarity and emphasis as motives for its use. Addressing the claim that these three cases are the most frequent uses of the inflected infinitive, Gondar argues that even though the inflected infinitive is possible in these contexts, they are not the most frequent (1978:56–7). He suggests that the environment where the inflected form occurs most frequently is as the complement of a noun. Carballo’s analysis is similar to mine in the following respects: he seems to be excluding the inflected form from monoclausal constructions in his rules 2–4 for the
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uninflected infinitive; he recognizes the optional nature of the inflected form; and he understands the role that stylistic motives play in the choice to use the inflected form.
3.2.4 Instituto de la Lengua Gallega (1972) The Instituto de la Lengua Gallega (1972:151–3) presents several basic rules for the correct use of the infinitive in Galician. It offers two contexts for the use of the uninflected infinitive. 1. When there is no personal subject in the sentence: Non vale a pena facerl les caso ‘It’s not worth it to pay attention to them’ 2. When the infinitive depends on a personal verb and has the same subject as it: Non saben ler ‘They don’t know how to read’ All the examples given for the first rule reflect instances of the infinitive functioning as the subject of a sentence. As we have seen previously, the inflected form of the infinitive is frequently used in this context when one wishes to attribute the action to a specific agent, or the uninflected form can be used if the infinitive indicates an action in a general sense without reference to any subject. The absence of an overt subject in this case is not a motivating factor for the use of the uninflected infinitive, because there are abundant examples where the inflected form is used in the absence of an overt subject. The Instituto’s second rule seems to be suggesting the exclusive use of the uninflected infinitive in monoclausal constructions, but the statement is quite vague because the inflected form can occur as the complement of a personal verb as well. It does not take into consideration factors such as distance, emphasis, or clarity which tend to prompt the use of the inflected infinitive in this context. As already discussed, identity of subjects is not a motivating factor in the choice of either form of the infinitive. The Instituto de la Lengua Gallega discusses two general rules for the optional use of the inflected infinitive. 1. When the infinitive has a different subject from that of the main verb: É hora de marchares ‘It is time for you to leave’ 2. When the infinitive is introduced by a preposition, even if it has the same subject as the main verb: Ó chegares escribe ‘When you arrive, write!’ These rules do not provide a comprehensive description of the use of the inflected infinitive in Galician, because they do not encompass many other contexts in which this form can appear. In addition, the status of the subject of the infinitive as equal or distinct from the subject of the main verb does not significantly influence the choice of infinitival forms. In fact, the first rule incorrectly allows for the inflected form in monoclausal constructions where the subjects may be different. As predicted by my analysis, the inflected form is always possible after a preposition where it functions as a final predicate, but there seem to be different degrees of use. For example, if the prepositional
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infinitive occurs before the main verb, the inflected form is more likely to be used; if it occurs after the main verb, either the inflected or uninflected infinitive is used. Just as Diez has proposed for the Portuguese inflected infinitive, the Instituto de la Lengua Gallega suggests that the inflected form is used whenever it can be substituted by a finite verb. Although there are contexts where this statement is relevant, it does not apply to all instances of the inflected infinitive. In the following examples, the inflected infinitive cannot be substituted by a finite verb. (104) Estes degaros non poden doadamente seren ouxeto dun análisis. ‘These anxieties cannot easily be the object of an analysis’ (Grial 52, 205) (105) …coidaban poder xustificárense iniciando unha tarefa en honra de Galicia. ‘They thought about being able to justify themselves by initiating a job in honor of Galicia’ (A evolución, 39)
This parallel use of the inflected infinitive and a finite clause suggests that both are equivalent as separate clauses in which the inflected infinitive and the finite verb are final predicates of their own clauses. The rules provided by the Instituto are vague and inadequate in that they do not cover many other possible environments for the use of the inflected infinitive. They also incorrectly exclude other environments in which the inflected infinitive may occur in Galician. This account does not mention the stylistic motives behind the use of the inflected form, nor the tendency to use the inflected form with an overt subject. 3.2.5 Other Accounts Other grammars and studies of Galician discuss the inflected infinitive only briefly. García de Diego (1984:102) touches on the topic, stating that the inflected form is normally used when introduced by a preposition and less frequently used in other cases. Santamarina (1974:131) states that the use of the inflected infinitive is never obligatory but always optional in Galician. In general, it can be used after a preposition and if the inflection does not become too redundant, but Santamarina claims that the inflected form tends not to appear in other cases. 3.2.6 Gondar (1978) Gondar (1978:39, 59) asserts that the account given by Maurer (1968) for the use of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese is the clearest and most complete. For him, the differences between Portuguese and Galician with respect to the inflected infinitive are minimal. The motivations and reasons for the use of the inflected and uninflected forms are almost identical in these two languages. The largest difference is found in the actual number of occurrences of the form, which in Galician is significantly smaller, perhaps due to the influence of standard Spanish on the language. Although Maurer’s discussion
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of the infinitive is mostly prescriptive, Gondar uses it as a model for his descriptive account of the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Galician. Gondar’s description of the inflected infinitive is divided into the possible functions of this form. According to him, the most frequent use of the inflected form is in adverbial complements, especially those expressing purpose (1978:63). Maurer (1968:95–99) claims that prepositional contexts in which the (uninflected) infinitive is used most frequently in other Romance languages are those expressing purpose, and therefore it is not surprising that this would be the most frequent environment for the inflected infinitive as well. Gondar gives the following examples for Galician (1978:64, 67). (106) É o millor réxime que se pode maxinar pra iles viviren contentos e ditosos. ‘It is the best method that one can imagine for them to live happy and fortunate’ (O porco, 112) (107) Un amigo co que, contrariamente aos que teño agora, raramente falaba, xa que non eran necesarias as palabras pra nos entendermos . ‘A friend with whom, contrary to those I have now, I rarely spoke, since words were not necessary for us to understand each other’ (A orella, 69)
Gondar notes that inflected infinitives used in adverbial complements with temporal meaning are also quite frequent in Galician (1978:76). (108) Ao beilarmos eu comprobéi que ti cheirabas ao óleo. ‘On dancing I confirmed that you smelled like oil’ (O crepúsculo, 122) (109) O salirdes vós, eu alquiloll’ o piso a quen sea. ‘When you leave, I will rent the flat to whomever’ (Beade)
Gondar continues his discussion of the inflected infinitive in adverbial complements by giving examples from complements with causal meaning, concomitant meaning, concessive meaning, and conditional meaning. All of these seem to have a lower frequency of occurrence of the inflected infinitive. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in adverbial complements follows from my analysis where the inflected form is always possible after a preposition in which it functions as a final predicate (see 2.4). As we have seen previously, the inflected infinitive can occur as the subject of a sentence. Gondar states that this happens most often when the the infinitive has an overt subject or if its subject is expressed as an indirect object of the main verb. Other times the inflected form is used to clarify the subject of the infinitive (1978:93). This use is entailed by my analysis because the infinitival clause in this context is the argument of the superordinate predicate (está privado; importa), so we know it forms a separate clause in which the infinitive is the final predicate. (110) Estálles privado entraren na bodega. ‘It is forbidden for them to enter the store’ (A esmorga, 62) (111) ¿Dese xeito, non che importa saberes o que se fala? ‘In that way, doesn’t it matter to you to
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know what they are saying? (Teatro, 24)
When a verb such as parecer ‘appear’ or semellar ‘seem’ is used personally, the uninflected infinitive normally occurs with it, but when these verbs are impersonal, the inflected form is frequently used. (112) Sentín tanta fame que somellaba írenseme a furar as tripas. ‘I was so hungry that it seemed like my guts were going to explode’ (Os biosbardos, 64) (113) Os peiños semellaban non ter vida, non pesaren nada ‘The little feet appeared not to have life, not to weigh anything’ (Historias do trinta, 38)
The next function of the inflected infinitive that Gondar discusses is that of nominal attribute in copulative sentences. This use apparently is not very prevalent, not even in Portuguese, but the author mentions it as a possible environment for use of the inflected form (1978:99). This use also follows under my analysis for the same reason named above for the infinitive as subject of a sentence. (114) No outro aspecto en que fallas é en elexires mal as vítimas. ‘The other aspect in which you fail is in choosing poorly your victims’ (Voltar, 57) (115) A dor soio é o estáremos soios. ‘Loneliness is our being alone’ (Vieiro choído, 68)
Other contexts mentioned by Gondar in which the inflected infinitive may occur include in apposition (116) or as the second term in a comparison (117). In the first case, the infinitive is the final predicate of its own separate clause, as in the instances of exclamatory sentences for Portuguese (3.1.3), and in the second it occurs after a preposition, which is a frequent environment for the inflected infinitive. (116) Qué queres ti ali, impoñeres as túas ideas? Faceres a túa politiquiña particular? ‘What do you want there, to impose your ideas? To make your own particular little politics?’ (Voltar, 34) (117) Ten unha lembranza para os paxaros bonitos que saben cantar e que prefiren a morte a seren mendicantes de cibdade. ‘I have a gift for the pretty birds who know how to sing and who prefer death to being beggars of the city’ (Os dous, 136)
The next topic that Gondar covers is the occurrence of the inflected infinitive after an auxiliary verb (1978:102–110). He divides the auxiliaries into four groups: modals (querer, poder, deber, saber), semi-modals (conseguir, lograr, desexar, dubidar, pretender, teimar, ousar), auxiliaries that form part of periphrastics (haber (de), ter que, ter de, comenzar a, chegar a, rematar de, estar a, andar a), and verbs of movement that
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govern an infinitive expressing purpose (ir, vir, correr (a), voltar (a)). Prescriptive grammars reject the use of the inflected infinitive with auxiliary verbs as ungrammatical, giving as an explanation the fact that the subject of the auxiliary and the infinitive is the same and is always indicated by the verbal endings of the auxiliary. The auxiliary and infinitive are said to form together a strict union in which the auxiliary indicates modality and the infinitive expresses the main semantic content of the expression. In spite of these contentions, we have seen that the inflected infinitive can indeed occur with verbs of this class under certain conditions which prompt its use, namely in biclausal constructions in which the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause (see examples 101, 102, 104, 105). Gondar presents the reader with a long list of examples in which the inflected infinitive occurs directly after an auxiliary, but he rejects this use as ungrammatical in Galician (1978:104–7). He suggests three reasons for such a high percentage of ‘incorrect uses’ of the inflected form: the author’s desire to make the language more powerful and lively, the author’s lack of authentic linguistic intuition, or the presence of grammatical forms which influence the use of the inflected infinitive. For this last case, Gondar claims that the presence of a reflexive clitic or a predicate complement with the infinitive tends to cause the use of the inflected form in these examples. This contention coincides with my analysis of Portuguese, where we have seen that the presence of a clitic attached to the infinitive in (118) and (120) and auxiliation in (119) signals a separate clause for the infinitive (see 2.4); this entails that the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause, and can therefore be inflected. 5 (118) Non se che ocurríu nunca pensar que podías quedáreste cego, que un dia ao espertáreste notarías os ollos valeiros? ‘Didn’t it occur to you that you could remain blind, that one day on waking up you would notice your empty eyes?’ (A orella, 55) (119) Non por elo deixóu aquil feito de ter fondísidas secuencias históricas; elas han seren deducidas ao seu tempo. ‘Not because of that did that fact cease to have profound historical consequences; they have to be concluded in their own time’ (O porco, 194) (120) Cando veñan bañárense as tres fillas do dono do castillo… t i tés que collerlle a roupa á mais pequena. ‘When the three daughters of the lord of the castle come to bathe, you have to take the clothing from the youngest’ (Velle, 256)
Although Gondar claims that the above examples with the inflected infinitive are ungrammatical, he accepts the use of the inflected form with an auxiliary when the two verbs are separated by some distance. This frequently happens in a sequence of infinitives where the infinitive closest to the main verb is uninflected while those farther away are inflected. As we have seen in 2.4, a sequence of infinitives has a multiclausal structure in which each infinitive is the final predicate of its clause and can therefore occur inflected. The factor of distance influences the use of the inflected form only under conditions for its use, namely when it is the final predicate of its clause.
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5
There are three examples found in Gondar (1968:104–6) of the inflected infinitive used in monoclausal constructions, which can be verified by looking at clitic position:
(i) Os dereitos de Galicia como nación-a xuicio de Risco- habíanse derivaren todos de ún. ‘The rights of Galicia as a nation-in the opinion of Risco-had to derive all from one’ (Vicente Risco, 135) (ii) Ás vegadas somentes os feitos consumados podíanlle faceren desistir do mantimento de certas ideias. ‘Sometimes only completed feats can make him abandon the support of certain ideas’ (A evolución, 164) (iii) Xa ollaremos cómo istas crencias se van invertiren nas súas posteriores apreciacións arredor do fenómeno da emigración. ‘Now we will see how these beliefs will be reversed in their previous estimations concerning the phenomenon of emigration’ (A evolución, 94) These three instances are exceptions to my condition on the use of the inflected infinitive. (121) Os feroces sindicalistas…correran sen dúbida acochárense nos buratos do subsolo. ‘The fierce syndicalists ran without doubt to hide themselves in the holes of the subsoil’ (O porco, 108) (122) Tiñabamos que compor cantigas grorificadoras da Pauta e sermos felices na nosa comunidade familiar. ‘We had to compose songs glorifying Pauta and be happy in our familiar community’ (Elipsis, 59) (123) Escomenzaron a zoar no aire os primeiros aviós, e a bruaren naterra os motores dos automóveles. ‘The first planes started to fly in the air and the motors of cars to roar on land’ (Prosas galegas, 54)
Gondar next discusses the use of the inflected infinitive as a direct complement, particularly after declarative verbs, verbs of asking, and verbs of emotion (1978:110– 116). It seems that in Galician the use of the inflected form in this context is quite infrequent; instead the uninflected form is used almost exclusively, especially when the subject of the main verb and the infinitive are the same. When these verbs have different subjects, Galician tends to use a finite clause. Gondar suggests the influence of standard Spanish as the principal cause. The possibility of the inflected form, as shown in the following examples, is entailed from the observation made in 2.4 that the monoclausal union construction is not available to verba dicendi, which means that the inflected form is not prohibited from use in this context. (124) Visto aquelo, determiñaron iren xunta do abade pra que lles bendecira a casa. ‘Having seen that, they decided to go near the abbot so he would bless their house’ (Velle, 268) (125) O que non se pode é aceutar como ouxetivas e válidas interpretacións que denotan claramente seren productos ideoloxizados. ‘What
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one cannot do is accept as objective and valid interpretations that express clearly to be ideologicalized products’ (Conflicto lingüístico, 48)
The inflected infinitive can also function as a prepositional complement of verbs which Gondar calls indirect transitive verbs (falar de, atreverse a, consistir en, preocuparse por, etc.). According to Gondar, the inflected form occurs somewhat more frequently in this context than in that studied above, as a direct complement. Under my analysis, the inflected infinitive is always possible in this context because it is a final predicate. (126) Tratábase só-e nisto coincidian laboristas e conservadores-de crearen novos “clubs sociaes,” onde a mocedade poidera atopar diversiós. ‘It was only about-and on this laborists and conservatives agreed-their creating new “social clubs,” where the youth could find recreation’ (Vicente Risco, 124) (127) A súa rebeldía consistia en arredárense espritualmente da sociedade, en desapegárense das súas tendencias e dos seus problemas. ‘Their resistance consisted in deviating spiritually from society and in separating themselves from its tendencies and its problems’ (Grial 52:148)
Under the discussion of the inflected infinitive used as a predicative complement, Gondar includes infinitives dependent on causative verbs and verbs of perception (1978:120–1). The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in this case is extremely rare in both old and modern Galician, which instead prefers the monoclausal construction with the uninflected infinitive. In this case Galician is more conservative than Portuguese, in which the inflected form is much more frequent in modern usage. (128) Todos foron contentes, mas todos tamen tiñan a mágoa da perda do picariño, de non selos irmás mais vellos que viran írense co ele, aqueles seus ciumes de outrora. ‘All were happy, but all also had the pain of the loss of a child, of not being the older siblings that they saw leaving with him, those their jealousies of yesteryear’ (Contos da Galiza, 10:61)
The occurrence of the inflected form above demonstrates that it is possible in the biclausal construction available to causative and perception verbs in Galician. The position of the reflexive clitic attached to the infinitive írense in this example indicates that the infinitive is the final predicate of its clause. Although Gondar claims that such usage is infrequent, the inflected infinitive can also appear as the terminative complement of a direct complement, an indirect complement, or a subject if the main verb is in the passive voice. This is common with such verbs as convidar, animar, obrigar, axudar, ensinar, forzar, convencer, aconsellar, etc. (1978:121–4). These examples follow from my analysis where the inflected infinitive can
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always occur after a preposition, which in this case is a, where the infinitive functions as a final predicate. (129) Os gobernadores imperiaes obrigaron aos galegos a deixaren a proteición das murallas dos outeiros fortificados en que vivían e a estabreceren os seus fogares nos sitios chairos e abertos. ‘The imperial governors compelled the Galicians to leave the protection of the walls of the fortified knolls where they lived and to establish their homes in flat and open places’ (Prosas galegas, 134) (130) Como xa sabían falar o castelán decidiron sair a correr mundo dispostos a se faceren ricos. ‘Since they already knew how to speak Castilian they decided to leave to travel the world ready to become rich’ (Sta. Marta, 362)
In Galician as well as Portuguese, the infinitive preceded by the prepositions a or sen is equivalent to a gerund when used after certain auxiliary verbs such as estar and andar. The inflected infinitive can occur in this construction, although Gondar claims that the uninflected form is used more often in Galician (1978:124–6). (131) E xa nos recunchos de moitos povos europeos había xentes que andaban a falaren de novos nacionalismos. ‘And already in the corners of many European towns there were people who went around talking about new nationalisms’ (Vicente Risco, 21)
According to Gondar, one of the contexts in which the inflected infinitive appears most frequently in Galician is as the complement of a noun. In this case the infinitive is always preceded by a preposition, usually de but sometimes a or pra. This usage also occurs in Portuguese, and is entailed by my observation that the inflected form can always occur when it is the final predicate of its clause. (132) Chegara o tempo de froitificaren as ideas espalladas pola Revolución francesa. The time had arrived for the ideas popularized by the French Revolution to bear fruit’ (Vicente Risco, 72) (133) Entón, aos dous irmans mais vellos, entroulles a cobiza de saberen cousas novas e de teren mais do que tiñan. ‘Then, to the two oldest brothers, came the desire to know new things and to have more than they had’ (Velle, 264) (134) O erro fundamental disas interpretaciós é o de consideraren o fenómeno federalista como un resultado da desintegración nacional ‘The fundamental error of these interpretations is that of their considering the federalist phenomenon as a result of national desintegration’ (Vicente
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Risco, 99)
Less frequent is the use of the inflected infinitive as the complement of an adjective (1978:132–4). The infinitive can be introduced by de, por or other prepositions. For example, Gondar claims that only the uninflected infinitive is possible in Tough Raising constructions like son fáceis de facer ‘they are easy to do,’ eres difícil de aguantar ‘you are difficult to tolerate,’ resultaban agradábeis de ver ‘they turned out pleasant to see,’ etc. 6 For him the subject of the infinitive is indeterminate in these cases, which explains the choice of the uninflected form. However, the occurrence of the inflected form is possible as the complement of an adjective in the following control constructions. In this case, the unexpressed subject of the infinitive is the same as the argument of the adjective, which is not true in Tough Raising constructions. (135) As formas dunha língoa son capaces de se adataren a todo tipo de evoluciós. ‘The forms of a language are able to adapt to all types of changes’ (Conflicto lingüístico, 15) (136) E logo, daquela ti eres gustante en te casares conmigo. ‘And then, from that you are pleased to marry me’ (Contos da Galiza, 40:132)
Gondar points out three additional contexts in which the inflected infinitive can occur, although the use of the uninflected form is more widespread (1978:134–5). The first is in an interrogative-deliberative clause, which can be either independent or subordinate as in (137). The second example shows that the inflected infinitive can also be used in exclamative clauses in which the infinitive is independent. These two cases fall under the same category as the exclamative clauses described for Portuguese in 3.1.3 where the inflected form is possible because in this context it is the final predicate of its own separate clause. (137) Dime, Carme, por qué non voltamos todas para alá? Para qué, para qué morrermos de soños imposíbeis? ‘Tell me, Carme, why don’t we all return there? Why, why do we die of impossible dreams?’ (Voltar, 94) (138) Naneeecho, Naneeecho!, matares tí unha muller, hom!,—berraba cada vez mais o demo do tonto. ‘Nanecho, Nanecho!, you killed a woman, man!—yelled louder and louder the devil of a fool’ (Contos da Galiza, 89:197) 6
Zaring claims that the use of the inflected infinitive in Tough Raising constructions is permitted in Brazilian Portuguese, but prohibited from the same context in European Portuguese (1985:201–2).
Finally, the inflected form can also appear in relative clauses of the type non sabemos que facer ‘we don’t know what to do.’ This is entailed by my analysis because the relative clause is a separate clause in which the infinitive is a final predicate. (139) O falar require ouvidos onde cairen as verbas. ‘Speech requires ears for words to fall
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upon’ (Teatro, 156)
In conclusion, Gondar’s descriptive account of the inflected infinitive demonstrates that the use of the inflected infinitive in Galician and in Portuguese is very much parallel. The main difference between the two languages is the less frequent occurrence of the inflected form in general in Galician, perhaps due to the influence of standard Spanish on the language. Gondar also suggests that Galician may be more conservative in its use of the inflected form than Portuguese, because the latter has extended the use of the inflected infinitive to other environments such as causative verbs and verbs of perception. According to Gondar’s study, the Galician inflected infinitive appears most frequently in adverbial clauses. Some factors that Gondar claims may influence the choice of the inflected form include the presence of a reflexive clitic with the infinitive, the presence of a predicate complement accompanying the infinitive, distance between the main verb and the infinitive, the presence of an overt subject with the infinitive, and the avoidance of ambiguity. Gondar’s detailed study presents us with the many possible functions of the inflected infinitive but fails to suggest the syntactic restrictions behind its use.
3.3 Conclusion The many descriptions provided to account for the distribution of the infinitive in Portuguese and Galician present an incomplete picture of the actual uses of the inflected infinitive in these languages. Although several of these accounts recognize the importance of stylistic considerations such as clarity and emphasis in the use of the infinitive, most do not perceive the underlying syntactic restrictions on the use of the inflected infinitive. These accounts fail to make a distinction between final and non-final predicates, a contrast unable to be captured in traditional pre-theoretical terms which do not distinguish between subordinate and clause-mate predicates and do not refer to clause counting tests. In addition, the atheoretical approach used in these descriptions of listing rules, contexts, examples and counterexamples is hardly explanatory; instead, a generalization which explains why the inflected infinitive occurs in all these different contexts refers to structures which are testable in other ways. My analysis, which demonstrates that the inflected infinitive can occur only when it is the final predicate of its clause, presents a unified account of all the possible occurrences of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician and makes predictions on other phenomena which correlate with them because of their dependence on clause membership. We will see ahead in chapter six that the condition proposed in 2.2 on the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician holds as well for the other Romance varieties that have an inflected infinitive.
CHAPTER 4 Theories of the Origin of the Portuguese Inflected Infinitive The origin of the Portuguese inflected infinitive has been a popular topic studied by many Romance linguists. No other major Romance language shows a widespread use and distribution of the infinitive with verbal inflection. The inflected infinitive is a conspicuous feature of Portuguese which was considered unique to this language, but does in fact exist in other non-major Romance languages. Typical Portuguese examples, not unlike those shown earlier, are the following. (1) Tínhamos já perdido tôda a esperança de chegarmos a salvamento. ‘We had already lost all hope of reaching salvation’ (Figueiredo, Atos, XXVII, 20) (2) Sentia os olhos molharem -se de repente. ‘He felt his eyes moisten suddenly’ (Alencar, O Tronco do Ipê, 260) (3) Em tais casos é necessário esforçarmo -nos e tomar imediatamente medidas para reparar o mal. ‘In such cases it is necessary for us to make an effort and immediately take measures to repair the damage’ (Mota, Para Pequenos e Grandes, III, 28)
Early theories proposed that the inflected infinitive was a spontaneous development in Old Portuguese, finding its origin in the future subjunctive or in the infinitive with nominative subject construction, or in both. With the discovery by Foth (1876) of an inflected infinitive in Sardinian, some concentrated on proving it to be a historical development rooted in the Latin imperfect subjunctive. The existence of an inflected infinitive in Galician, Sardinian, Mirandese, Old Leonese, and Old Neapolitan (see chapter six) supports this theory of a common Latin origin. This chapter examines each of these theories concerning the origin of the inflected infinitive and demonstrates that the imperfect subjunctive theory provides the strongest and most plausible explanation for its origin.
4.1 The “Creative” Theory The oldest theory of the origin of the inflected infinitive posits the spontaneous creation of the construction within the Portuguese language. This was first proposed by Diez ([1836–44] 1973) who claims that the starting point for the inflected infinitive was the
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use of the infinitive with a nominative subject. For him the infinitive construction with a nominative subject, such as Spanish lo hice sin saberlo ninguno ‘I did it without anyone knowing,’ arose in the Romance languages from a reduction in compound sentences like lo hice sin que lo supo ninguno ‘I did it without anyone knowing.’ According to Diez, Portuguese took this transformation from a finite clause to an infinitival clause one step further by transferring the verb inflection of the conjugated verb to the infinitive, such that a construction like Portuguese basta que somos dominantes ‘it is enough that we are dominant’ became basta sermos dominantes ‘it is enough that we are dominant’ (1973: vol. 3, 230). What is unclear in his theory is the motivation and the method in which Portuguese experienced this transformation in the infinitive. Another proponent of this theory is Otto (1888) who suggests that the inflected infinitive was not the result of a transformation or simplification as in Diez’s view, but a new creation in Portuguese. A construction like Spanish lo hice sin saberlo ‘I did it without knowing it’ was always a possible one, but the addition of a different subject to the infinitival clause was new: lo hice sin saberlo el rey ‘I did it without the king knowing it’ (1888:§54). Otto contends that verbal endings were attached to the infinitive in these contexts because of the “supreme importance” of verbal flection in Portuguese, starting with -mos and -des because they were not so fused with the stem as -es and -em. The assumption that Portuguese exhibits a “supreme need” for verbal inflection, even more so than Spanish or Italian, is not substantiated and would not explain the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, Mirandese, and Galician. Michaëlis de Vasconcelos (1891) agrees with Otto’s theory, adding that the creation of the inflected infinitive was motivated by two factors: the purported need for verbal inflection in Portuguese and the existence of separable endings in the Portuguese future and conditional tenses. Future Conditional dar-lhe-ei dar-lhe-ás dar-lhe-á dar-lhe-emos dar-lhe-eis dar-lhe-ão
dar-lhe-ia dar-lhe-ias dar-lhe-ia dar-lhe-íamos dar-lhe-íeis dar-lhe-iam
It is unlikely, however, that these separable endings would have influenced the development of the inflected infinitive, because they have a different form and origin than the inflected infinitive (see 4.4) and are rare in Portuguese except in literary use. Michaëlis also believes that the phonetic similarity between the pronoun nós and the verb ending -mos, and the use of mos for nós in some dialects, influenced the development of the inflected infinitive in the following manner: an infinitival clause like depois de cantar nós ‘after we sing’ became depois de cantar mos, where mos was confused with the verb inflection, which then produced depois de cantarmos with the inflected infinitive. A problem with this claim is that, unlike the verbal inflection -mos, the pronoun nós bears stress. Michaëlis also admits the possible influence of the future subjunctive in the creation of the inflected infinitive. The Portuguese inflected infinitive,
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in her view, is a variety of the Romance (uninflected) infinitive with nominative subject (Maurer 1968:8). Maurer (1968) in his comprehensive study O infinito flexionado português gives evidence in support of the theory adopted by Diez, Otto, and Michaëlis. He agrees that the infinitive with nominative construction was the starting point for the inflected infinitive, and posits four stages in the development: the appearance of the prepositional infinitive in Vulgar Latin; the creation of an infinitival clause with a nominative subject; the analogical transfer of personal endings from finite verb forms to the infinitive in the infinitive-with-nominative constructions; the spread of the inflected infinitive to environments particular to the uninflected infinitive (1968:100–1). He agrees in general with Leite de Vasconcelos that the process occurred in this way: a sentence like ter saúde é bom ‘to have health is good’ could add a nominative subject ter eu saúde é bom ‘my having health is good,’ and since the infinitive in this case was felt to be personal, verbal endings were added to the infinitive termos nós saúde é bom ‘our having health is good.’ Maurer suggests that with the appearance of a nominative subject with the infinitive, the infinitive ceased to be impersonal, which was the true point of departure for the creation of the inflected infinitive. However, controlled infinitives in other Romance languages are equally personal in this sense (Spanish el hacerlo yo es importante ‘my doing it is important’), but have not acquired inflection as in Portuguese. The four accounts provided in this theory are all based on a spontaneous development of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese whose point of origin is posited to be the infinitive with nominative subject construction. Some have suggested that “the supreme need for verbal inflection” in Portuguese influenced the creation of the inflected infinitive in that language; however, this claim is not verified in Portuguese and would not account for the existence of an inflected infinitive in Galician, Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Mirandese, and Old Leonese. If the inflected infinitive arose from the infinitive with nominative subject construction, this theory does not explain why other major Romance languages did not develop an identical form. The occurrence of an overt subject with the infinitive in older stages of the language is the primary motivation for the creation of the inflected infinitive; Maurer claims that once the infinitive became personal, taking a nominative subject, it was natural that it also take verbal inflection like other finite verbs that agree with their subject. Wireback (1994:548–9) suggests that if this observation were true, we would find a high occurrence of overt subjects with inflected infinitives in Old Portuguese. His study of 153 sentences from Old Portuguese texts dated 1400 AD or earlier reveals that an overt subject occurs in fewer than ten percent of instances of the inflected infinitive. It seems improbable, therefore, that the occurrence of an overt nominative subject with the infinitive could have caused the inflection of the infinitive.
4.2 The Analogy Theory A second theory proposes that the inflected infinitive arose in Portuguese out of analogy with the future subjunctive (
Theories of the origin of the portuguese inflected infinitive
Future Perfect
LATIN Perfect Subjunctive
amāverō amāveris amāverit amāverimus amāveritis amāverint
amāverim amāverīs amāverit amāverīmus amāverītis amāverint
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PORTUGUESE Future Subjunctive amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem
In the weak verbs, those verbs which had a -v- perfect stem in Latin, the future subjunctive and the inflected infinitive have identical forms. Meyer-Lübke (1895) was the first to claim that since the infinitive was identical to the third person singular form of the future subjunctive (in the weak verbs), it was reanalyzed as a third person singular itself when used with a subject of the same person; and in cases where the subject of the infinitive was not third singular the infinitive adopted the verb endings from the future subjunctive: amares, amarmos, etc. (Meyer-Lübke 1895:§128). He claims that Spanish did not develop an inflected infinitive because the third person singular of the future subjunctive (amare) was not identical in form to the infinitive. Others who favor this theory include Schuchardt (1892), Sester (1928), and Harris (1978), who thought it unlikely that the inflected infinitive form amarmos could have been possible without the existence of the future subjunctive amarmos
querer quereres querer querermos quererdes quererem
Since these two have different stems, it is unlikely that the future subjunctive could be the source of the inflected infinitive (Mohl 1899:248; Silveira Bueno 1955:166). Another objection to this theory is the lack of shared syntactic environments in which both the
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future subjunctive and the inflected infinitive occur in Portuguese. The future subjunctive normally occurs after adverbials like quando ‘when’ and logo que ‘as soon as’ and after the conjunction se ‘if.’ Wireback (1994:548) points out that the inflected infinitive never occurs in these environments; the only context in which both forms occur is with depois ‘after,’ which is an infrequent context for the inflected infinitive and is not sufficient to provide an origin for this form. In addition, if we assume that the source of the Portuguese inflected infinitive is the future subjunctive, then we would expect the same source in the other Romance languages which possess an inflected infinitive. However, the lack of a future subjunctive tense in Sardinian and Old Neapolitan, two languages which have an inflected infinitive, further invalidates this theory.
4.3 The Composite Theory A third theory proposed for the origin of the inflected infinitive combines the principal elements of the first two described above, by claiming that due to the similarities between the future subjunctive and the infinitive, personal endings were introduced in the infinitive with nominative subject constructions in Portuguese. In other words, when the infinitive occurred with a nominative subject, it was felt to be personal and verb inflection was added to the infinitive on analogy with the future subjunctive. According to Martin (1972), if we extend the thought expressed in a sentence containing the future subjunctive, such as Se êle chegar a tempo, o verei ‘If he arrives on time, I will see him’ and rewrite it in a sentence using the infinitive with nominative subject construction, we get: Ele chegar a tempo é impossível ‘His arriving on time is impossible.’ This infinitive which occurs with a first or third person singular pronoun could be confused with the future subjunctive (which is identical in form for the weak verbs). This similarity of forms would produce an inflected infinitive out of analogy in the infinitive with nominative subject construction: Tu chegares a tempo é impossível ‘Your arriving on time is impossible.’ Martin claims that since this new inflected infinitive functioned as an infinitive, the strong verbs were then regularized on the basis of the infinitive stem as the analogy spread to them (1972:428–9): amar: amarmos:: querer: x=querermos. Other proponents of this theory include Leite de Vasconcelos (1900), Bourciez (1967), Moffatt (1967), and Gondar (1978). Togeby (1955) accepts the influence of both the infinitive with nominative construction and the future subjunctive, but also admits the role of the Latin imperfect subjunctive in the regularization of the inflected infinitive in the strong verbs and in the syntactic environments in which the confusion with the infinitive occurred (1955:216–7). Objections to the composite theory are the same as those for the “creative” theory and the analogy theory: the non-existence of an inflected infinitive in other Romance languages which have an infinitive with nominative subject construction; the low frequency of occurrence of an overt nominative subject with the infinitive; the difference in stems between the future subjunctive and inflected infinitive; the lack of shared syntactic environments in which both the future subjunctive and the inflected infinitive occur; and the lack of a future subjunctive tense in other Romance languages which possess an inflected infinitive.
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4.4 The Imperfect Subjunctive Theory Only one theory denies that the inflected infinitive is a spontaneous Portuguese creation and instead finds its origin in Latin. Proponents of this theory point out that the inflected infinitive is not unique to Portuguese among the Romance languages and therefore must have some common origin, which they believe is the Latin imperfect subjunctive. This theory rests on three subparts. First, the phonological developments that occurred in Early Romance had the effect that the imperfect subjunctive began to look like an infinitive with verbal endings. Latin Portuguese amārem > amārēs > amāret > amārēmus > amārētis > amārent >
amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem
Some have objected to the imperfect subjunctive theory because regular phonological development would not have produced the corresponding inflected infinitive forms in the first and second persons plural. Instead we need to posit a shift in accent facerémus>*facéremus>fazermos; facerétis>*facéretis> *fazeredes>fazerdes. However, this shift of accent from inflection to the stem is an independently attested analogical development in the conditional, imperfect indicative, pluperfect indicative, and imperfect subjunctive in Portuguese through the influence of the stress pattern in the whole singular and the third plural forms (Williams 1962:§154). The second element of the theory is the continuation of the imperfect subjunctive tense into Early Romance and its survival in Sardinian. Lastly, the environments of use in Latin of the imperfect subjunctive and of the infinitive under certain conditions influenced the development of the inflected infinitive (see chapter five). Wernekke (1885) first proposed this idea and suggests that the frequent omission of the conjunctions ut and quid before subordinate clauses containing the Latin imperfect subjunctive would have made the subjunctive look like a verbal noun. 1 The imperfect subjunctive would then be construed as an infinitive with verbal endings (Moffatt 1967:42–3; Maurer 1968:7–8). (4) Senatus decrevit, darent operam consules. ‘The senate decreed that the consuls should attend to it’ (S. C. 29, 2) (5) milites certiores facit, paulisper intermitterent proelium. ‘He tells the soldiers they must stop fighting for a little while’
Mohl, who agrees with Wernekke’s theory, also claims that the Latin imperfect subjunctive survived for some time in Old Spanish and Old French (1899:248). Maurer (1968:22–3) agrees that the imperfect subjunctive survived in the Vulgar Latin of other regions of the Romance territory, providing examples from Spain in (6) and (7) and from Merovingian documents (Vielliard 1927:235, 239):
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(6) Ideo placuit nobis iam superius nominatos et accessit uolumtas, promto animo, spontanea nostra uolumtate, ut uinderemus uobis uillare. ‘It also pleased us already above named and our will took this step, of our own will, spontaneously of our volition, that we sell to you the farm’ (955 AD) (7) Idem placuit nobis uolumtas adque conueni nulis nulis quodquegentes imperio…ut feceremus iam supradictis Digazo Petrizi kartula uindizionis. ‘Also our will pleased us and I agreed not forced by anyone’s command that we make a sale agreement to the aforementioned Digazo Petrizi’ (1044 AD) (8) nostra…peticio fuit ut… Landericus…privilegio… confirmare deberit . 2 ‘our petition was that Landericus should confirm in writing’ (654 AD) 1
Bourciez (1967:471–2) and Blasco Ferrer (1995:249–266) claim that this omission of the conjunction derived from Latin quid is quite frequent in older stages of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian and is also possible in formal registers of Modern Spanish and Modern Italian (Brovetto 1999):
(i) No creo las rosas sean tan fermosas. ‘I do not think that the roses are so beautiful’ (Santillana) (ii) Dice ti scriverà una lettera. ‘He says he will write you a letter’ (Macinghi Strozzi) (iii) Espero se solucionen pronto los problemas. ‘I hope that the problems will be resolved soon’ (Brovetto 1999) Bourciez (1967:297) also suggests that the omission of ut was frequent in popular Latin of the Iberian peninsula. (9) monastirio aedificavit…ut ibidem monachus…sub sancto ordine…conversare deberent . ‘He built a monastery so that there the monks should live in the holy order’ (696 AD) (10) Grimoaldus ac causa ante se iussit advenire ut eam deligencius inquirerit . ‘Grimoaldus ordered the case to come before him so that he could carefully investigate it’ (710 AD)
Gamillscheg ([1913] 1970) also elaborates on the imperfect subjunctive theory. He posits the survival until the thirteenth century of the imperfect subjunctive in Early Romance in a jussive function, sometimes replacing the present subjunctive when used with the meaning of obligation. The examples discovered of the imperfect subjunctive come not only from the Iberian peninsula but also from other areas of the Romance speaking
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territory, and occur in matrix clauses as well as in subordinate clauses (Maurer 1968:9– 10). (11) et ipse R. roboravit placitum ut, si non renuisset et non duxisset ipsos servos aut per se non venisset, intraret in ipsa custodia, perderet villam suam. ‘and R. himself approved the agreement that, if he did not refuse and he did not bring along his slaves or by his own will he did not come to enter into custody, he would lose his property’
Gamillscheg sees the continuation of the Latin imperfect subjunctive in Portuguese examples where the inflected infinitive occurs as a matrix verb or linked with a present subjunctive. (12) estabeleçemos que, se…os padres fezerem treyçom…, taaes filhos non aiam os beens do padre, mais todos os beens do padre condanpnado nós os avermos compridamente se outros hereeos ou propinquos nom ouverem tirados. ‘We establish that, if the parents committed treason, such children may not have the possessions of the father, but all the possessions of the condemned father we should have for a long time if other heirs or relatives will have not taken away’
Maia (1986:764–9) also finds instances of the inflected infinitive in Old Portuguese documents from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries used as the final predicate of a matrix clause with the meaning of moral obligation; in conditional clauses in which the future subjunctive appears in the protasis while 2
The vowel of the verb endings in these Merovingian documents is frequently i and not e: deberit (Maurer 1968:23).
the imperfect subjunctive appears in the apodosis; and occurring together with a subordinate clause in the present subjunctive. (13) et quando quisserdes vendemar ou segar, chamardes o ffreyre que estever en Santa Maria de Biade. ‘and when you want to gather grapes or to harvest, you should call the friar who is in Santa Maria de Biade’ (1287 AD) (14) e se nõ poder auer, per dereyto, darenlle quanto leuarẽ de Sancho Assenxo. ‘and if he cannot have it by right, they should give him as much as they can take from Sancho Assenxo’ (1281 AD) (15) se peruẽtura ouuerdes algua mingua ou necessidade que este foro queyrades uender ou sopinorar, uenderdes ou supinorardes áó
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moesteyro de Chouzam; e se do moesteyro conparar nõ quiserẽ, entom uenderdes áátal homme que seya semelauel de vos. ‘if by chance you have some want or need that this jurisdiction you want to sell or let, you should sell or let to the monastery of Chouzam; and if of the monastery they do not want to buy, then sell to such man that be comparable to you’ (1283 AD) (16) et despois que for chantada a dita herdade e der byño, que dedes da dita leyra de tras la casa e herdade sobre dita terça do bjño aa dorna, dizemo pagado a Deus de consũu, e mays nõ; e uos auerdes os dous terços por uoso lauor e collerdes o dito pan e bjño. ‘and after the said manor is planted and gives wine, you must give from said land behind the house and aforementioned manor a third of the wine to the vat, we say paid to God for use, and more no; and you should have the two thirds for your work and you should harvest the said bread and wine’ (1407)
Evidence of the survival of the Latin imperfect subjunctive also exists in Old Leonese, a dialect of Spain. In documents in this dialect, an inflected infinitive occurs in subordinate clauses together with a present subjunctive or after a preposition (Staaff 1907:91, 166; Meier 1950:119). (17) Damos uolo todo…que chantedes este poulo…et tenerdes lo todo por en toda uossa uida de anbos et dous. et dardes cada ano a nos et al nosso monesteyro… III canados de uino…et a uosso finamento de anbos ficar al monesteyro sobredito ela metade desta vinna…et a uossa uoz ou a quen uos mandardes ficar ela outra metade. ‘We give it all to you so that you plant this earth and you will keep it all for all your life of both of you. And you should give each year to us and to our monastery three measures of wine and upon the death of both of you the half of this vineyard should stay with the abovementioned monastery and the other half should remain with your authority or with whomever you declare’ (doc. C, 1283 AD) (18) por mataren al bon rey fezioron ermandat. ‘for killing the good king they made refuge’ (19) aqueste aver de suso dicho Recebimos de uos pora pagarmos debda conoscida que deuiemos, ‘that tribute above mentioned we received from you for us to pay the known debt that we owed’ (doc. LX, 1267 AD) (20) outorgo que la ayades por jurderda de
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erdade pora vender e donar e en guayar e pora ffaçerdes del toda uestra volontade. ‘I authorize that you have it through an oath of inheritance to sell and to give and to enjoy and for you to do with it whatever you wish’ (doc. XCVIII, 1280 AD)
Like Wernekke, Gamillscheg considers the starting point of the development of the inflected infinitive the frequent omission in Vulgar Latin of the conjunction ut after verbs of perception, command, and interrogation, after certain impersonal phrases, and in final clauses. If we also consider the fact that the infinitive was interchangeable with a subjunctive clause after verbs of command, then the infinitive and the imperfect subjunctive would seem to be identical in function in such constructions, especially because of the influence of the use of the imperfect subjunctive in volitional clauses (Williams 1962: §158.2). With the disappearance of final -m and -t in Vulgar Latin, the sentence mandavit (ut) facerem was identical to the infinitive construction mandavit facere; facere was felt to be an inflected form of the first or third person singular, and therefore could become inflected in the other persons and spread its use to other infinitive constructions regardless of mood or tense. Moffatt contends that the similarity of form between the infinitive and the imperfect subjunctive after verbs of command is purely accidental and would not have influenced the creation of the inflected infinitive (1967:53). For him, the fact that the imperfect subjunctive survived in Vulgar Latin texts in the Romance territory is irrelevant, because they were written by scribes who knew correct Latin. Gamillscheg takes this process one step further by claiming that the Portuguese infinitive has completely lost its impersonal characteristic and always presupposes a personal subject; therefore, modern Portuguese no longer has an infinitive but instead a personal verb form which is different from finite forms only in that it can be governed by a preposition (Maurer 1968:11). For him, a sentence like foi necessário dar-lhe um prato ‘it was necessary to give him a plate’ is personal, indicating a first or third person singular subject. This contention is unlikely because the above example has an impersonal interpretation and does not reflect a first or third person meaning. In his study of the Portuguese inflected infinitive, Rodrigues supports the theory of a Latin imperfect subjunctive origin by providing evidence of its survival with the original function in Old Portuguese until the middle of the 16th century. Rodrigues (1913:73, 76– 77) offers the following examples from texts written in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: (21) Mandava elRei, que…quamdo os navios fossem com mercadorias, e ouvessem alguuns percalços,…que taaes percalços fossem emtreques aos senhores e mareantes dos navios, que os assi gaanharem , e elles ouvessem seu dereito, como era costume. ‘The king ordered that when the ships were with merchandise, and had some profits, that such profits should be handed over to the lords and seamen of the ships, that in that way they should earn them and had their right, as was the custom’ (F.Lopes, Cronica
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delRei D. Fernando, 323) (22) Pera penhor da qual vinda queria ali leixar quatro ou cinquo homens com alguma fazenda pera que em quanto ele fosse poderem comprar algũas cousas. ‘For the guarantee of their return he wanted to leave there four or five men with some possessions so that while he went they would be able to buy some things’ (João de Barros, Década, 1.5, c. 10) (23) te que á custa de seu damno verem que os Mouros lhe dizião verdade. ‘until at the cost of their anger they would see that the Moors were telling him the truth’ (João de Barros, Década, 1.7, c. 2) (24) Determinou el rey dom Manuel…de mandar fazer hũa fortaleza na ilha de sam Lourenço,…pera que as naos da carga da especiaria indo pera a India fazerẽ ali agoada & irẽ por fora da ilha. ‘The king don Manuel decided to order made a fortress on the island of Saint Lawrence, so that the ships carrying spices going to India would make there a watering place and would go from outside the island’ (F.Lopes de Castanheda, Historia do descobrimento e conquista da India, V, 79)
This imperfect subjunctive form sometimes appeared together with the ‘new’ Romance imperfect subjunctive derived from the Latin pluperfect subjunctive, apparently both having the same function. (25) Mandou elRei em seu testamento que lhe tevessem em cada huum ano pera sempre no dito mosteiro seis capellaaens, que cantassem por el e lhe dissessem cada dia huuma missa oficiada e sahirem sobrel com cruz e augua beemta. ‘The king ordered in his will that they have for him in each year forever in the said monastery six chaplains, that would sing for him and say for him each day an official mass and go over him with a cross and holy water’ (F. Lopes, Chronica d’elRei D.Pedro I, 114–5) (26) ElRei…emviou Gomçallo Vaasquez Dazevedo, seu gramde privado, que se fosse pera elles e seer de companhia em aquella obra. ‘The king ordered Gonçallo Vasquez Dazevedo, his great protégé, to go for them and to be in company in that work’ (F. Lopes, Chronica delRei D.Fernando, 390) (27) Mandou que…fossem duas borssas, huma em Lixboa, e outra no Porto, e teerem carrego de teer estas borssas aquelles a que Elrei dava
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carrego. ‘He ordered that there be two funds, one in Lisbon, and the other in Porto, and those to whom the king gave charge would have charge of keeping those funds’ (F.Lopes, Chronica d’elRei D.Fernando, 321)
Its low frequency in this use in Old Portuguese suggests that the imperfect subjunctive may have been a stylistic or prestige variant in these documents (Osborne 1982:248). Rodrigues believes that the endings of the imperfect subjunctive were added to the infinitive to produce the inflected infinitive. In phrases like té que verem and placuit ut faceremus, the imperfect subjunctive forms became inflected infinitives by mere suppression of que/ut or by replacing it with a preposition (1913:89–90; 1932:4): (28) Ego gunsaluo rauparizi et coniungia mea monia ploris suarii plaguit nobis bone pacis et uoluntas in fazeremus uobis tedon pelagizi kartula uenditionis. ‘I Gunsalvo Rauparizi and my wife Monia Ploris Suarii, it pleased us by our will and good faith to make for you Tedon Pelagizi a sale agreement’ (1052 AD) (29) In era L a VI a superuenerunt fratres de uakariza in recardanes pro decernirent hereditatem que hic habebant. ‘In the fifty sixth era brothers of Vakariza came to Recardanes to investigate the inheritance that they had here’ (1018 AD) (30) Ego fonso et froilo plaguit nobis per bone pacis uolumtas nullis quoque gentis imperio nec suadentis artigulo sed propia nobis accessit uolumtas faceremus a uobis christoforum steuaniz et astrulfo sigut et facimus cartula firmitatis. ‘I Fonso and Froilo, it pleased us by our own will and in good faith by the command of no one and without anyone’s influence but on our own, our will took this step that we make to you Christoforum Steuaniz and Astrulfo just as we are making an agreement to sign’ (1050 AD) (31) Et intrarunt in placito testimoniale pro in tertio die darent testes sicut et fecerunt. ‘And they began the hearing in order to, on the third day, provide witnesses, and they did this’ (1004 AD)
Rodrigues also admits the possible influence of the confusion with the future subjunctive in this process, and concludes that the development of the inflected infinitive into its modern use was completed by the eleventh century. Michaëlis de Vasconcelos, who had previously supported the “creative” theory, adopts the imperfect subjunctive theory after the discovery in Sardinia of the survival of the Latin imperfect subjunctive and after the appearance of Rodrigues’s articles. According to Michaëlis (1918), the imperfect subjunctive survived in Portuguese until the middle of
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the sixteenth century, and by the twelfth century the inflected infinitive had developed completely its modern usage. She accepts that the starting point for the inflected infinitive was the use in Latin of either the infinitive or the imperfect subjunctive after verbs like mandare, the omission of ut before the subjunctive, and the phonetic development that produced a similarity between the infinitive and the imperfect subjunctive (1918:314–8). She criticizes some of the Portuguese examples that Rodrigues gives to prove the survival of the imperfect subjunctive used alongside the new Romance past subjunctive, saying that these were examples of anacoluthon and that these forms were really just an inflected infinitive. Other supporters of the imperfect subjunctive theory include Lima Coutinho (1969) and Silveira Bueno. Silveira Bueno (1955:164–5) agrees with Rodrigues’s explanation, and adds as proof of the Latin origin of the inflected infinitive examples from the sixteenth century of the imperfect subjunctive forms used in an infinitival function: (32) o que nos foy causa de guardáremos a modestia; feytas as camas, não de moles & blandos colchões, mais dos seus próprios habitos, & tunicas, & algũas esclavinas para nos cobriremos; como espantados da nossa vista sem véremos algum homem. ‘which was cause for us to retain our modesty; the beds made, not of soft and smooth cushions, but of their own habits and tunics and some trappings for us to cover ourselves; as if frightened of our sight without our seeing any man’ (Frei Pantaleão do Aveiro 1600)
Another proponent of this theory is Lausberg (1966) who believes that the Portuguese inflected infinitive is the continuation of the Latin imperfect subjunctive, especially in examples which occur after a past tense such as era pena não termos mais tempo ‘it was a shame that we did not have more time’ and não te era melhor ires para a cama ‘was it not better for you to go to bed.’ The fact that the Latin imperfect subjunctive was derived from the present stem, plus its use in constructions which dropped the conjunction (me rogavit facerem), had the effect that it looked like an inflected infinitive when cooccurring with a nominative subject, which caused it to neutralize its temporal dependence and its subjunctive meaning. Supporting the imperfect subjunctive theory, Meier suggests the following stages in the development of the inflected infinitive (1950:124–130). The first stage consists of the parallel use in Latin of a subordinate subjunctive clause, which allowed the omission of the conjunctions ut and quod, and a subordinate infinitive clause: convenit panderent; Te interfectum esse convenit. After the disappearance of -m, -t in the first and third forms of the imperfect subjunctive, these forms became identical to the infinitive which made the syntactic difference between the imperfect subjunctive and infinitive less clear in these environments. Since the inflected infinitive found in Portuguese and other Romance languages appears in contexts corresponding to the Latin accusative with infinitive, Meier considers these clauses to be the Romance continuation of the accusative with infinitive construction. In the Romance languages which adopted the accusative as the general case
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for nouns, the Portuguese afirmaram ter saído o rei corresponds exactly to the Latin dixerunt regem abiisse with the difference that o rei was felt to be the subject of the infinitive (1950:126–7). When pronominal, the subject sometimes appears in the nominative case, which Meier explains as the result of the instability of the pronominal cases in Vulgar Latin and in Romance. For example, Brazilian Portuguese shows instances of the accusative case in some inflected infinitive constructions: Ele comprou o carro para mim usar ‘He bought the car for me to use.’ According to Meier, sentences like afirmou terem saído ‘he asserted that they had left’ and dizermolo nós não vos ofenda ‘may our saying it not offend you’ were originally constructions that allowed the omission of the conjunction in Latin, and in the first and third persons singular could be construed as either subjunctive or infinitive forms after the loss of -m, -t: afirmaram ter saído ele. In this second stage, the uncertainty and confusion that arose out of the freedom of choice in Late Latin between subordinate clauses and infinitival clauses in these constructions paved the way for the creation of the inflected infinitive. For example, in (33) and (34) the conjunction ut is followed by an infinitive instead of the normally expected finite verb. (33) uolui iubente Deo, ut et ad Mesopotamiam Syriae accedere ad uisendos santos monachos. ‘By the will of God, I wished to go to Mesopotamia of Syria, to visit the holy monks’ (Peregrinatio Aetheriae 17, 1) (34) gratum fuit satis, ut etiam illuc accedere . ‘it was a great pleasure for me to go there’ (Peregrinatio Aetheriae 22, 2)
The third stage in the genesis of the inflected infinitive is the creation and spread of the prepositional infinitive in Vulgar Latin. Although the use of the infinitive after prepositions varies among the Romance languages, one can find an alternation in all the Romance languages between the new conjunctions formed from the prepositions (para que, sem que, antes que) and the prepositional infinitive (sem tremer=sem que tremas) (1950:128). Not all the Romance languages allow the occurrence of a subject with the infinitive. In Portuguese, the ambiguous interpretation of the first and third singular forms (Fi-lo para ele não se irritar ‘I did it so that he would not get annoyed’) influenced the use of the inflected infinitive in the other four forms (Fi-lo para os amigos não se irritarem ‘I did it so that the friends would not get annoyed’). The earliest examples of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese reflect a use not original to the Latin imperfect subjunctive, but show that analogy between that form and the infinitive had already occurred in Vulgar Latin. Osborne (1982) supports the imperfect subjunctive theory, and points to the following important facts involved in the development of the inflected infinitive. Because of the phonetic development of the imperfect subjunctive in Vulgar Latin, it was felt to be an inflected infinitive. Also important is the fact that the formation rules of both the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the Portuguese inflected infinitive are identical-add inflection to the base infinitive. The convergence in Latin of certain syntactic environments for the imperfect subjunctive and the infinitive took place as a result of the omission of ut and of the occurrence of the imperfect subjunctive in contexts particular to the infinitive. The semantic environments of the two had also converged, because as early as late Classical
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Latin the imperfect subjunctive had lost its past time reference to the pluperfect subjunctive and came to be used mostly with present time reference. Osborne also admits that the existence of the future subjunctive with the same inflections “may have lent a certain naturalness to these inflections [of the inflected infinitive] once they had developed” (1982:247). Wireback (1994) also supports the imperfect subjunctive theory but proposes that the origin of the inflected infinitive is found in purpose clauses rather than the previously studied volitional contexts, given the purported lack of correspondence between volitional contexts employing the imperfect subjunctive in Latin and contexts employing the inflected infinitive in Portuguese (1994:547, 550–2). In a study of 153 sentences showing inflected infinitive usage in Portuguese documents dating before 1400, Wireback found that the most frequent pattern of occurrence was in purpose constructions headed by pera (
This evidence is important since the author of the Peregrinatio is believed to be from the Iberian peninsula. Another significant factor in this theory is the use in Latin of an infinitive instead of ut plus the imperfect subjunctive in purpose clauses: (36) eximus…ludos videre. ‘we are going…to see the games’ (Plautus, Cas. 855–6)
This is not unusual due to the fact that the infinitive was often used in the accusative case as the complement of a verb and that the accusative case originated as the marker of goal (Harris 1978:40, 196–7). Since the Latin ut was often omitted before the subjunctive producing such constructions as placuit (ut) vinderemus, it is logical then that with regular phonological development the imperfect subjunctive was reanalyzed as an infinitive with verbal endings in these contexts. The fact that the infinitive could be used
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instead of ut plus the imperfect subjunctive in purpose clauses reinforces the possibility for the reanalysis of the imperfect subjunctive as an inflected infinitive. Once the imperfect subjunctive was reanalyzed as an inflected infinitive, it is natural to assume that it would be introduced in some contexts where uninflected infinitives normally occur, namely after prepositions (plaguit nobis …in fazeremus). Wireback suggests that the analytical nature of Vulgar Latin and the Romance languages could have influenced the preposition plus inflected infinitive constructions in the following way: if Romam ‘to Rome’ became ad Roma(m) and mecum became cum+mecum > Port. comigo, then fazerem ‘for them to do’ reinforced the purpose function of the inflected infinitive by the addition of pera/por → pera fazerem. Another example of this analytical nature is the development of para que ‘in order that’; ut which was the conjunction used in purpose and result clauses in Latin was replaced by quod plus the subjunctive in purpose clauses (Uidimus cartam quod iremus) and quod plus the indicative in result clauses in Romance, and quod > que was further reinforced by the addition of para in purpose constructions. The inflected infinitive occurs most often with pera/por and not with other prepositions because the inflected infinitive retains the purpose function from its Latin imperfect subjunctive origin (1994:551). From its use with pera/por the inflected infinitive would have spread to other postprepositional constructions and then to non-prepositional infinitival contexts. Some linguists (Rodrigues 1913; Michaëlis 1918; Meier 1950; Silveira Bueno 1955) have posited that the infinitives occurring in relative clauses and indirect interrogatives (for example, Port. não sei que fazer, tenho que fazer, Sp. no sé qué hacer, Ital. non so che fare) are remnants of the Latin imperfect subjunctive form: nil habebam quod facerem; nesciebam quid facerem. Examples of such constructions are plentiful in Early Romance documents: Old Sp. no saben que se far (Cid 1155), Old Fr. se il sëust Ou trouver mon seignor Gauvain (C.Lyon 3914), Rom. n-au ce mânca, Old Ital. qui è questa cena e non saria chi mangiarla (Bocc., Dec. 2, 2), Old Port. já do estio ha pouco que passar até o outono (Lus. 10, 9) (Meyer-Lübke 1900:§676, 677). The occurrence of the infinitive alongside the new Romance imperfect subjunctive in such constructions led Rodrigues to believe that the infinitive was really a remnant of the Latin imperfect subjunctive form without its corresponding verb endings: (37) O saluage d’espantado nã sabia que dissesse. E na verdade, se a rezam ou entendimento nã fora nelle tam grosseiro, bẽ achara que dizer e de que se espantase . ‘The one wild from fear did not know what to say. And in truth, if prayer and understanding were not so crude in him, he would well find what to say and of what to be afraid’ (F.de Morais, Palmeirim de Inglaterra, 189)
Related to this is the use of the infinitive in questions (que temer? que fazer?) which Rodrigues believes is directly descended from such Latin constructions as Quid ego facerem?, Cur Romam properaret? (1913:76; 87–9). An early accepted explanation for these constructions was the contamination between the infinitival construction habeo dicere and the relative clause habeo quod dicam which produced habeo quod dicere attested by the third century (Bourciez 1967:124; Hanssen
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1913:§612; Gamillscheg [1913] 1970:§229). Bourciez gives the following examples from imperial Latin: Nihil amplius habemus quod dicere (Capitol., Maxim. 29, 5); non habent unde reddere tibi (Luc. 14, 14 Itala). Meyer-Lübke explains constructions such as Ital. non ho che mangiare as the result of a cross between non ho che mangi and non ho a mangiare. Schuchardt (1892) and Hanssen (1913) give a similar explanation for Italian non so che fare as the result of non so che faccia+non so fare (questa cosa). Other explanations of this construction include ellipsis. Silva Dias suggests the following underlying structure exists: não sei que [hei de] fazer/não sabia que [havia de] fazer (1959:232). There is no evidence, however, that this is the case. Grandgent (1907:51) simply states that the infinitive could take the place of a relative or indirect interrogative clause after certain verbs in Latin: nesciendo quae petere (Venatius Fortunatus). Maurer claims that such usage was always possible in Latin (1951:31). Since the occurrence of either an infinitive clause or a subjunctive clause were both possible in this context in Latin, there is no need to posit an imperfect subjunctive origin for the corresponding Romance constructions. Moffatt finds fault with Rodrigues’s conclusion that the impersonal infinitive became personal and inflected on the model of the imperfect subjunctive, while the finite imperfect subjunctive became impersonal and uninflected (não tenho que fazer) on the model of the impersonal infinitive in these relative and indirect interrogative clauses, because “it would represent linguistically an unprecedented reversal and interchange in the roles of forms and functions” (1967:48–9). Therefore, the infinitive in these constructions is not probable evidence for a survival of the imperfect subjunctive. Additional evidence provided to support the survival of the imperfect subjunctive is the evolution of the imperative infinitive, especially accompanied by negation and referring to the second person singular (Meier 1950:120–21). According to Harris (1978:198), Old French used the infinitive as an imperative with second person singular value, occasionally with the subject pronoun expressed (eg ne t’esmaier tu mie), and Mohl (1899:248) suggests that these Old French imperative forms ne dire, ne changier could be the Latin imperfect subjunctive forms ne dicere(s), ne cambiare(s) which was confused with the infinitive. He cites the Italian forms non dimenticare, non partire and Old Romanian nu laudari, plural nu laudareţi as additional proof of an imperfect subjunctive origin for this form. Meier considers the Latin imperfect subjunctive in its volitive function to be the point of departure of this imperative infinitive, along with the influence of the Romance emphatic imperative infinitive (1950:121). However, there is no evidence that the imperfect subjunctive was in fact used as an imperative in Latin, which invalidates the above claim. An issue troubling some linguists is: if the inflected infinitive descends from the Latin imperfect subjunctive, why does it lose most of the original functions of the subjunctive to adopt the functions of an infinitive? (Hampejs 1959:182). In Latin the imperfect subjunctive begins to be replaced by the pluperfect subjunctive as the main past subjunctive form because of the temporal instability of the imperfect subjunctive and the more salient phonetic characteristics of the pluperfect subjunctive. The imperfect subjunctive had lost its past time reference to the pluperfect subjunctive almost completely by late Classical Latin; Maurer (1951:20) cites the following example from the twelfth century: placet mihi spontanea uoluntate, ut facerem… At the same time, because of its formal similarity the imperfect subjunctive was being reanalyzed as an
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infinitive, as shown by its occurrence in contexts particular to the infinitive: plaguit nobis…in fazeremus. The use of either the infinitive or a subjunctive clause after certain verbs in Latin caused these two forms to appear equal in function. This identity of function and form was the foundation for the spread of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese to environments particular to the infinitive. Martin (1972:427) holds that the inflected infinitive is a functional extension of the Ibero-Romance infinitival patterns of syntax. In Spanish the sentence Es imposible llegar todos a tiempo ‘It is impossible for all to arrive on time’ is a syntactical substitution for Es imposible que lleguemos todos a tiempo. The same relationship exists in Portuguese where the sentence É impossível chegarmos todos a tempo ‘It is impossible for all to arrive on time’ is the syntactical substitution for É impossível que cheguemos todos a tempo. Martin’s objection to the imperfect subjunctive theory is that “if we were to hold that chegarmos represents Latin plicaremus, we would be obliged to reason that llegar does also, thus burdening ourselves with the need to explain the loss of endings.” There is no need to posit a loss of endings here; the use of the inflected infinitive in such examples can be explained by the fact that in Vulgar Latin the imperfect subjunctive was reanalyzed as an infinitive and consequently extended its use in Portuguese and other languages to environments particular to the uninflected infinitive. Wireback (1994) posits that the inflected infinitive occurs most often after pera/por in Old Portuguese because it retains the original purpose function of the Latin imperfect subjunctive. The inflected infinitive had completed its development into modern usage by the twelfth century, and since the most frequent usage of the Portuguese inflected infinitive is after prepositions, and the most common and frequently used preposition in Portuguese is para, it is logical to find its most frequent occurrence to be after the preposition para. To verify that the origin of the inflected infinitive is the imperfect subjunctive in purpose clauses, one would have to study the distribution of the form in the other Romance languages which have an inflected infinitive (see chapter 6).
4.5 Conclusion Many factors point to the Latin imperfect subjunctive as the origin of the Romance inflected infinitive. The continuation of the imperfect subjunctive into Early Romance, and the existence of an inflected infinitive in Portuguese, Galician, Sardinian, Mirandese, Old Leonese, and Old Neapolitan both support a common origin. In Latin, the omission of the conjunction ut before the imperfect subjunctive, and the use of either an infinitive or a subjunctive clause after certain verbs made the infinitive and the imperfect subjunctive appear equal in function. The phonological development of the imperfect subjunctive into Romance had the effect that it looked like an infinitive with verb endings. This identity of form and function is significant in the development of the inflected infinitive. Also important is that the formation rules for the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive are identical: add inflection to the base infinitive. The loss of past time reference of the imperfect subjunctive neutralized its temporal dependence. As the imperfect subjunctive was reanalyzed as an infinitive with inflection, it extended its use to environments particular to the uninflected infinitive, giving us its modern usage.
CHAPTER 5 The Imperfect Subjunctive in Latin The previous chapter has described and evaluated the various theories proposed to explain the origin of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese. Some are based on the assumption that the inflected infinitive arose in Portuguese out of analogy with the future subjunctive forms, or with the infinitive with nominative subject construction, or both. Considering several factors such as the use of the inflected infinitive and its distribution throughout the Romance speaking territory, I support the theory which claims that the origin of the inflected infinitive is the Latin imperfect subjunctive. This chapter studies the forms and syntactic distribution of the imperfect subjunctive, and compares the uses of the imperfect subjunctive and of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician to determine in which syntactic environments they correspond. A comparison of the distribution of the two forms reveals many correspondences, especially in complement and adverbial clauses expressing purpose.
5.1 The Imperfect Subjunctive In Latin, the imperfect subjunctive in a subordinate clause was used after a past tense in the matrix clause to indicate an action that was not completed with respect to the action of the main verb, while the pluperfect subjunctive was used to indicate an action completed with respect to the main verb. Although the imperfect subjunctive was the older of the two forms, the pluperfect subjunctive began to replace the imperfect subjunctive as the main past tense form of the subjunctive by imperial times (Ernout and Thomas 1953:244). Imperfect Subjunctive amārem ‘I loved’ amārēs ‘you loved’ amāret ‘he/she loved’
amārēmus ‘we loved’ amārētis ‘you loved’ amārent ‘they loved’
Pluperfect Subjunctive amāvissem ‘I had loved’ amāvissēs ‘you had loved’ amāvisset ‘s/he had loved’
amāvissēmus ‘we had loved’ amāvissētis ‘you had loved’ amāvissent ‘they had loved’
Some attribute the decline of the imperfect subjunctive to its use in non-past contexts, especially in its most characteristic and frequent uses: optative and conditional clauses.
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The imperfect subjunctive was used in hortatory and deliberative subjunctive contexts where the present subjunctive would be expected: quid facerem? in place of quid faciam? ‘what am I to do?’ (Ernout and Thomas 1953:244; Bassols de Climent 1948:513). A tense shift began to occur by the time of Plautus in which the imperfect subjunctive was used to express unfulfilled wishes in the present and the pluperfect was used to express unfulfilled wishes in the past (Woodcock 1987:88). In conditional sentences the imperfect subjunctive had both past and non-past usages according to the improbability or impossibility of the hypothetical action: si veniret, non me videret ‘if he did in fact come, he wouldn’t have seen me’ refers to a past and implies the possibility that he did come (past improbable condition); the interpretation ‘if he came (should come), he would not see me’ refers to a present or future time and implies the impossibility for him to come (present impossible condition) (Wireback 1994:545). The imperfect tense of the optative and potential subjunctives often was used with present meaning in Latin. Bassols de Climent (1948:492) suggests that the reason for this tense shift in Latin may be that the imperfect subjunctive in optative and conditional clauses encompassed two different concepts: one modal (wish, irreality) and the other temporal (past tense reference). With time, the first surpassed the second to such an extent that the modal aspect of the imperfect subjunctive was emphasized without specific reference to time. As the imperfect subjunctive came to be used in present time contexts, the pluperfect subjunctive began to replace it as a past subjunctive of irreal conditions. Due to the temporal instability of the imperfect subjunctive, its use in improbable and impossible contexts, and the more salient phonetic characteristics of the pluperfect subjunctive, the latter replaced the former as the main past subjunctive.
5.2 A Comparison of the Imperfect Subjunctive and the Inflected Infinitive If the origin of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese, Galician, Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese is the Latin imperfect subjunctive, there must be certain phonological and syntactic parallels between the two forms. As we have already seen, regular phonological changes indicate that the inflected infinitive could have developed from the Latin imperfect subjunctive, as repeated below. Latin Portuguese Galician amārem > amārēs > amāret > amārēmus > amārētis > amārent >
amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem
amar amares amar amáremos, amarmos amáredes, amardes amaren
The phonological changes in this paradigm are completely regular except for the first and second person plural forms. The change in word stress from the personal ending back one syllable to the stem is an independently attested analogical development in many verb tenses in Portuguese and Galician; the first and second person plural endings of the conditional, imperfect indicative, pluperfect indicative, imperfect subjunctive, and the
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inflected infinitive were paroxytones and became proparoxytones through the influence of the whole singular and third plural (Williams 1962:170). After the shift in word stress, the posttonic penult e fell: amáremos > amarmos, amáredes > amardes. This development is also a regular sound change in late Vulgar Latin and early Portuguese: if the posttonic penult was e or i preceded by l, m, n, or r, syncope occurred (Williams 1962:52). This accounts for the present day forms of the inflected infinitive. A comparison must also be made of the syntactic environments available to the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive to ascertain where they coincide. 5.2.1 Purpose Clauses According to several scholars (Maurer 1968:64, 95–9; Wireback 1994:548–9; Hampejs 1959:185; Gondar 1978:63), the highest frequency of usage of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician occurs in clauses expressing purpose, or final clauses, generally introduced by Port. para, Gal. pra, O.Port. pera, por ‘in order to.’ (1) Para chegarem as fôrças a êsse ponto, haviam caminhado desde Santos 264 léguas brasileiras. ‘For the forces to arrive at that point, they had walked from Santos 264 Brazilian leagues’ (Taunay, Mem. 144)
According to Maurer, the highest frequency of use of the (uninflected) infinitive in prepositional contexts in other Romance languages also occurs in purpose clauses (1968:95–9). In a study of portions of old texts in French, Spanish, and Italian, Maurer found that the most frequent context for the infinitive, not including its use with auxiliary verbs, was in adverbial clauses expressing purpose. In Latin, the idea of purpose could be expressed in complement, adverbial, or relative clauses. Complement and adverbial clauses expressing purpose generally are introduced by ut, uti, ne while relative clauses are introduced by qui or its equivalent. In purpose clauses only the present and imperfect tenses of the subjunctive normally occur, because the verb conveying the intended goal or purpose is necessarily subsequent to the action of the matrix verb (Moreland & Fleischer 1977:51; Woodcock 1987:101, 110; Wireback 1994:550). Therefore, the imperfect subjunctive is the principal past subjunctive form in purpose and result clauses in the secondary sequence, implying that the form may have survived longer in these environments than in other contexts in which the pluperfect subjunctive easily replaced it (Wireback 1994:550). 5.2.1.1 Complement Clauses of Purpose Complement clauses expressing purpose occur with ut or ne and are typically objects of verbs of various kinds meaning wish, permit, need, ask, advise, command, determine, strive, fear, prevent, doubt, and similar notions (Bennett 1895:192–4). (2) Helvetiis persuasit ut exirent. ‘He persuaded the Helvetii to march forth’ (3) constitueram ut pridie Idus Aquini manerem. ‘I had decided to remain at Aquinum on the 12th’
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The original meaning of a sentence such as imperavit ut milites convenirent was probably ‘he commanded in order that the soldiers might assemble’ and through natural development became ‘he commanded that the soldiers should assemble’ (Greenough 1870:22–3). Therefore, the notion of purpose becomes merged in the command itself, and frequently the conjunction ut is omitted after these verbs because its original meaning of purpose has been obscured. The omission of ut is also seen in negative purpose clauses, which were originally introduced by ut ne, but more commonly occur only with ne. Greenough points out that even ne may be omitted with cave. Many of these verbs, especially necesse est, licet, and oportet, occur in the paratactic construction without the conjunction ut; the following are some instances of this use (Lane 1898:276). (4) huic mandat Remos adeat. ‘He directs him to go to the Remans’ (3, 11, 2) (5) huic imperat quas possit adeat civitates. ‘He orders him to visit such communities as he can’ (Caes. B.G. 4, 21, 8) (6) vellem scriberes. ‘I wish you were writing’ (7) postulo etiam atque etiam consideres quo progrediare. ‘I charge you think again and again what you are coming to’ (L. 3, 45, 10) (8) Senatus decrevit, darent operam consules. ‘The senate decreed that the consuls should attend to it’ (S.C. 29, 2)
Many of these same verbs, especially iubeo, veto, conor, sino, moneo, suadeo, persuadeo, and patior, which allow the omission of the conjunction ut before a purpose clause as in (11), can also regularly occur with an infinitive complement as in (9) (Woodcock 1987:102–3). (9) eos suum adventum expectare iussit. ‘He ordered them to await his arrival’ (Caes. B.G. 1, 27, 2) (10) senatus decrevit populusque iussit ut statuas Verris quaestores demoliendas locarent. ‘The senate decreed and the people ordained that the quaestors should contract for the demolition of the statues of Verres’ (Cic. Verr. 2, 161) (11) iube maneat. ‘tell her she must stay’ (Ter. Heaut. 737)
In early, late, and popular Latin, the infinitive could also be used to express purpose, but normally only after verbs implying motion (Harris 1978:196; (12) venerat aurum petere. ‘He had come to seek gold’ (Pl. Bacch. 631)
Palmer (1954:319–20) points out that the infinitive of purpose also occurs after causative verbs such as iubeo, cogo, moneo, subigo and other verbs of urging, persuading, compelling, etc. Taking these facts into consideration, the alternatives available to express purpose in Latin would have made the following sentences equivalent: iussit ut
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facerent; iussit facerent; iussit facere. As explained previously, the imperfect subjunctive, which was the principal past subjunctive used in purpose clauses, after regular phonological change came to look like an infinitive with verb inflection. This accounts for the present day distribution of the Portuguese inflected infinitive in sentences like mandou (eles) fazerem ‘he ordered them to do.’ In Portuguese and Galician, the inflected infinitive can occur in complement clauses expressing purpose after certain verbs meaning command, prohibit, permit, prevent, hinder, etc. The complement clause with the inflected infinitive can function as the object of the matrix verb or as the subject. In Latin these clauses are normally introduced by the conjunctions ut or ne, which may be omitted after many verbs; however, the complement clause in Portuguese and Galician generally is not introduced by a conjunction. 1 (13) Mandava os outros trabalharem para mim. ‘He ordered the others to work for me’ (Esperança, Servidão 391) (14) Quem nos pode proibir governarmos o mundo em sêco o nosso poucochinho? ‘Who can prohibit us from governing the dry world our very little bit?’ (Castilho, Felicidade pela Agricultura, VII, 139) (15) Seja-nos permitido citarmo-nos a nós mesmos. ‘Let it be permitted to us for us to cite ourselves’ (Castilho, Felicidade pela Agricultura, IV, 101) (16) Deixava os olhos vagarem incertos pela cena. ‘He let his eyes wander uncertain over the scene’ (Alencar, Minas de Prata, I, 91) (17) Conservava indefinidamente deslocados os homens do seu circulo natural e lógico, impedindo-lhes procurarem o equilíbrio em que por fim se haviam de achar mais a gôsto. ‘He maintained indefinitely displaced the men of his natural and logical circle, hindering them from striving for the balance that they finally had to find more to their liking’ (Taunay, Memórias, 413) (18) Visto aquelo, determiñaron iren xunta do abade pra que lles bendecira a casa. ‘Having seen that, they decided to go near theabbot so he would bless their house’ (Velle, 268) [Galician]
5.2.1.2 Adverbial Clauses of Purpose The inflected infinitive occurs most frequently in Portuguese and Galician in adverbial clauses expressing purpose, or final clauses. The original optative value of the subjunctive is clear in purpose clauses in Latin: veni ut eum videam ‘I have come to see him.’ While in Latin these purpose clauses are introduced by ut, uti, ne, in Portuguese they are introduced by the preposition para and in Galician by pra.
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1
After a few verbs in Portuguese, the complement clause of purpose may be introduced by para:
(i) Diga-lhes para trazerem o violão. ‘Tell them to bring their guitar’ (ii) Ele pediu para ficarmos. ‘He asked us to stay’ (19) Caesar equos removit ut spem fugae tolleret. ‘Caesar removed the horses that he might take away the hope of flight’ (20) ne graviori bello occurreret, ad exercitum proficiscitur. ‘He set out for the army that he might not meet with too serious a war’ (21) Romani ab aratro abduxerunt Cincinnatum, ut dictator esset. ‘The Romans took Cincinnatus from the plow that he might be dictator’ (C.Fin. 2, 4, 12) (22) O número dos companheiros de Pelágio aumentava diàriamente com os homens generosos que…deixavam êste, para salvarem a sua independência. ‘The number of Pelagio’s companions increased daily with the generous men who…left him, in order to save their independence’ (Herc. Eur. XIII, 171) (23) Un amigo co que, contrariamente aos que teño agora, raramente falaba, xa que non eran necesarias as palabras pra nos entendermos. ‘A friend with whom, contrary to those I have now, I rarely spoke, since words were not necessary for us to understand each other’ (A orella, 69)
In Portuguese (24) and Galician (25–26), the inflected infinitive clause expressing purpose can occur without the prepositions para, pra after verbs of motion, just as in popular Latin (see ex. 12). (24) Vamos, pois, ao túmulo, considerarmos -lhe o vazio, escutarmos o anúncio do anjo. ‘Let’s go, then, to the tomb, in order to reflect on his void, to hear the announcement of the angel’ (Rui, Prece de Natal, 76) (25) Os feroces sindicalistas…correran sen dúbida acochárense nos buratos do subsolo. ‘The fierce syndicalists ran without doubt to hide themselves in the holes of the subsoil’ (O porco, 108) (26) Cando veñan bañárense as tres fillas do dono do castillo…ti tés que collerlle a roupa á mais pequena. ‘When the three daughters of the lord of the castle come to bathe, you have to take the clothing from the youngest’ (Velle, 256)
5.2.1.3 Purpose Clauses as the Origin of the Inflected Infinitive
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The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in complement and adverbial clauses of purpose is quite frequent in Portuguese and Galician and supports Wireback’s contention that the inflected infinitive may have originated in purpose clauses in Portuguese. For Wireback (1994), the evidence for his claim rests on the phonological development of the imperfect subjunctive, the use of both the imperfect subjunctive in purpose clauses and the infinitive to express purpose in Latin, the omission of ut in volitional clauses, and the high frequency of the inflected infinitive in Old Portuguese in purpose clauses. In Latin, the imperfect subjunctive was the principal past subjunctive form in purpose and result clauses in the secondary sequence; therefore, he suggests that the form may have survived longer in these environments than in other contexts in which the pluperfect subjunctive easily replaced it. The infinitive could be used in Latin to express purpose not only after verbs implying motion, which Wireback mentions, but also after causative verbs such as iubeo, cogo, moneo, subigo, This observation, in addition to the fact that many verbs like iubeo allow the omission of ut before complement clauses of purpose, reveals a high correlation between the use of an infinitive to express purpose (iussit facere) and complement clauses with or without the conjunction (iussit ut facerent; iussit facerent). After regular phonological developments, these two constructions began to look like an infinitive with verb inflection. While Wireback claims that the origin of the inflected infinitive has its locus in adverbial purpose clauses, I suggest that the inflected infinitive may just as well originate in these complement clauses expressing purpose which allowed both the omission of the conjunction and the use of the purpose infinitive, and which in Portuguese allow the use of the inflected infinitive. 5.2.2 Complement Clauses As we have seen above, the inflected infinitive occurs frequently in complement clauses expressing purpose, an environment in which the Latin imperfect subjunctive is also commonly used. Other types of complement clauses include those which developed from the optative subjunctive and occur after verbs denoting wish, desire, and fear and are introduced by ut or ne. This is an additional environment in which many verbs, such as volo, nolo, malo, and cupio admit either an infinitive complement or a complement clause with the subjunctive. As in purpose clauses, the omission of the conjunction ut before these complement clauses is possible, as we saw in (11). (27) Id ut facias velim. ‘I wish you to do this’ (28) Catilinam perire volui. ‘I wished Catiline to die’ (Cic. Phil. 8, 15) (29) Mihi credas velim. ‘I wish you to believe me’
Portuguese allows the use of the inflected infinitive with temer ‘fear’ but not normally with verbs meaning wish or hope. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in this context is also infrequent in Galician. (30) Temo terem vindo cedo demais. ‘I fear they have come too early’
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Latin uses the subjunctive in indirect questions in dependent complement clauses after verbs of asking, telling, inquiring, doubting, thinking, perceiving, etc. (31) ex Socrate quaesitum est nonne Archelaum beatum putaret. ‘The question was asked of Socrates whether he did not think Archelaus happy’ (32) neque satis constabat quid agerent. ‘And it was not very clear what they had better do’ (33) Epaminondas quaesivit num salvus esset clipeus. ‘Epaminondas asked whether his shield was safe’ (34) bis bina quot essent, nesciebat. ‘He did not know how many two times two were’ (35) nesciebam quid facerem. ‘I did not know what to do’
In Portuguese and Galician the inflected infinitive may occur in similar embedded questions, especially when the subject of the infinitive is different from that of the matrix verb, although the uninflected infinitive occurs more frequently (Maurer 1968:242; Gondar 1978:134–5). (36) Não sabemos onde buscarmos pão para tanta gente. ‘We don’t know where to look for bread for so many people’ (37) Há meia hora que desembarcamos, e não sabíamos para onde dirigirmo-nos a fim de encontrar-vos. ‘We disembarked a half hour ago, and we did not know where to go to in order to find you’ (Pena, As Casas Solteiras I, V)
Complement clauses which developed from the potential subjunctive in Latin are introduced by ut and ut non and occur with certain impersonal verbs such as accidit, accedit, evenit, fit, relinquitur, restat, reliquum est, efficitur, fieri potest, fore, and sequitur, or as objects of the verbs facio, efficio, perficio. The conjunction ut may be omitted in this context. (38) efficiebat ut commeatus portari possent. ‘he made it possible for supplies to be brought’ (39) Ad senectutem accedebat ut caecus esset. ‘To age was added the fact that he was blind’ (C.Sen. 6, 16) (40) Fuit meum officium ut facerem. ‘It was my duty to do it’ (41) milites certiores facit, paulisper intermitterent proelium. ‘he tells the soldiers they must stop fighting for a little while’
The inflected infinitive in Portuguese frequently occurs in the causative construction with fazer, while the same use is less common in Galician (see 2.2, 3.2)
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(42) O presidente fez os deputados aprovarem a lei. ‘The president made the congressmen approve the law’
Both the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive occur quite frequently in complement clauses. While in Latin these clauses are normally introduced by a conjunction, which in some cases may be omitted, in Portuguese and Galician these complement clauses do not occur with a conjunction. Although the inflected infinitive occurs most frequently in clauses expressing purpose, it can also occur in the other types of complement clauses described in this section. 5.2.3 Adverbial Clauses As we have seen in 5.2.1.2, the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician is used quite frequently in adverbial clauses expressing purpose. While this is an environment common to Latin, Portuguese, and Galician, one can find both the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the Portuguese and Galician inflected infinitive in other types of adverbial clauses which express time, cause, and condition. In Latin the subjunctive can occur in temporal clauses introduced by antequam, priusquam ‘before’ to express an action that was viewed as something desired, proposed, or conceived (Harkness 1898:317–8). The imperfect subjunctive is used in these clauses (a) to denote an act that was expected and prepared for by a preceding action expressed in the main clause; and (b) to denote an act that was expected but prevented by a preceding action expressed in the main clause (D’Ooge 1921:290–1). The subjunctive with antequam and priusquam is generally designated as the subjunctive of expectation or anticipation, and is frequently used by later writers even when no (43) Caesar suos hortabatur priusquam proelium committerent. ‘Caesar used to address his men before they joined battle’ (44) Pervenit, priusquam Pompeius sentire posset. ‘He arrived before Pompey could become aware of his approach’ (C.C. 3, 67, 4) (45) Caesar Britanniae litora exploravit priusquam transeundi periculum faceret. ‘Caesar explored the shores of Britain before he made the attempt to cross’
Portuguese and Galician also allow the use of the inflected infinitive after the preposition antes de (Gal. denantes de, antes de) ‘before.’ (46) Os pagãos, antes de chegarem ao Sala, passarão por cima do meu cadáver. ‘The pagans, before arriving at Sala, will pass over my cadaver’ (Herc. Eur. XVI) (47) Compre, denantes de resumirmos os puntos básicos do programa nacionalista proposto por Risco, que teñamos moi presente unha decraración sincera e fonda. ‘It is necessary,
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before we summarize the basic points of the nationalist program proposed by Risco, that we have very present a sincere and profound declaration’ (Vicente Risco, 134)
The Latin imperfect subjunctive can occur in temporal clauses introduced by dum, donec, quoad meaning ‘until’ to express purpose or expectation and when the action is viewed as something desired, proposed, or conceived. (48) exspectavit dum reliquae naves convenirent. ‘he waited for the rest of the ships to join him’ (49) Horatius impetum sustinuit quoad ceteri pontem interrumperent. ‘Horatius sustained the attack until the rest should cut down the bridge’
In Portuguese and Galician, the inflected infinitive can also occur in this context in adverbial clauses introduced by até (Gal. até, deica, hastra, hasta) ‘until.’ (50) Tive que escorar os galhos até colhermos a fruta. ‘I had to prop up the branches until we picked the fruit’ (51) López Ferreiro escribíu tres novelas, de xeito que traballóu máis niste xénero que ningún outro escritor galego deica chegarmos a Otero Pedrayo. ‘López Ferreiro wrote three novels, so that he worked more in this genre than any other Galician writer until we come to Otero Pedrayo’ (Literatura, 420)
In Latin, causal clauses introduced by quod, quia ‘because’ and quoniam ‘since’ can take the indicative to assign a reason positively on one’s own authority or the subjunctive to assign a reason doubtfully or on another’s authority. (52) Haedui querebantur quod Harudes fines popularentur. The Haedui complained because the Harudes were laying the country waste’ (53) Aristides nonne expulsus est patria, quod iustus esset? ‘Was not Aristides banished because he was just?’ (C.Tusc. 5, 36, 105) (54) quoniam Miltiades dicere non posset, verba pro eo fecit Tisagoras. ‘since Miltiades could not speak, Tisagoras spoke for him’
The inflected infinitive can occur in adverbial clauses expressing cause introduced by por ‘because’ in Portuguese and Galician, although unlike Latin these languages do not distinguish one’s own reason and another’s reason. (55) Desistiram da empresa por não poderem acabá-la. ‘They gave up the project because they could not finish it’ (56) nós coidamos que se negóu a axudarnos por séremos rapaces. ‘We thought that he refused to
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help us because we were boys’ (Cartas, 93) [Galician]
Temporal clauses with cum in classical Latin employed different moods in the past tense to distinguish cum defining a time, which took the indicative, and cum describing a time, which took the subjunctive. The imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive occurs in these clauses to describe the circumstances that accompany or precede the action of the matrix verb. (57) cum essem otiosus domi, accepi tuas litteras. ‘When I was at home taking my ease, I received your letter’ (58) Caesari cum id nuntiatum esset, maturat proficisci. ‘When this had been announced to Caesar, he hastened to set out’
Portuguese and Galician use the inflected infinitive in similar temporal clauses introduced by ao (Gal. ao, ó) ‘when’ to express circumstances surrounding the action of the matrix verb. (59) Rugindo de cólera ao contemplarem êste espetáculo, apertavam contra o peito a cruz. ‘Roaring from wrath when they gazed upon the spectacle, they tightened the cross against the chest’ (Herc. Eur. XIII, 171) (60) Ó salirdes vós, eu alquíloll’o piso a quen sea ‘When you leave, I’ll rent the flat to whomever’ (Beade) (61) Ó levantáreste, comes algo e podes vir pa aquí, pa onde nós. ‘When you get up, you eat something and you can come here, where we are’ (Beade)
In Latin, the idea of concession could be expressed in a cum clause with the subjunctive or in a concessive clause introduced by ut, ne, or quamvis also with (62) Socrates, cum facile posset educi e custodia, noluit. ‘Socrates, though he could easily have escaped from prison, was unwilling to do so’ (C.Tusc. 1, 29, 71) (63) ut omnia contra opinionem accidant, tamen plurimum navibus possunt. ‘though everything should happen contrary to expectation, yet they are greatly superior in ships’
Portuguese and Galician employ an adverbial clause introduced by com, para (Gal. con, pra, a pesares de) to denote concession. (64) o maior esteio dos princípios da liberdade e da dignidade humana que, com serem a suprema força da Igreja…, constituem o ponto nodal de todas as questões sociais. ‘the greatest support of
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the principles of freedom and of human dignity that, although they are the supreme strength of the Church, constitute the central point of all social concerns’ (Revista I, 231) (65) As de dona Amelia atopaban ás de Rosende moi sabidas pra seren mulleres. ‘Those of dona Amelia found those of Rosende very knowledgable though they are women’ (A xente, 154)
The occurrence of the Latin imperfect subjunctive and of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician correspond in many different types of adverbial clauses, especially in clauses-expressing purpose, but also in other temporal, causal, and concessive clauses. Environments in which the Latin imperfect subjunctive occurs in adverbial contexts, but where the inflected infinitive does not include: result clauses, conditional clauses, and clauses of proviso. While adverbial clauses in Latin are introduced by conjunctive adverbs such as cum, priusquam, ut, dum, donec, quod, quia, etc., the corresponding clauses in Portuguese and Galician generally occur with prepositions like para, antes de, com, por, até.
5.2.4 Relative Clauses In Latin, relative clauses introduced by qui or the relative adverbs ubi, unde, quo take the indicative when they simply state facts, but take the subjunctive when they express purpose, result, concession, or cause. For example, in tibi litteram mittit quam legas ‘he is sending you a letter to read’ the parallel with an ut purpose clause is evident. The inflected infinitive can occur in relative clauses of this type in Portuguese and Galician, but they are generally introduced by a preposition (Zaring 1985:263). (66) habebam quo confugerem. ‘I had a place to flee to’ (67) Missi sunt delecti, qui Thermopylas occuparent. ‘Chosen men were sent to take possession of Thermopylae’ (N. 2, 3, 1) (68) Domum, ubi habitaret, legarat. ‘He had selected a house where he might dwell’ (C. Ph. 2, 25, 62) (69) Legatos Romam, qui auxiliam peterent, misere. ‘They sent ambassadors to Rome to ask aid’ (70) Achei um livro para lermos. ‘I found a book for us to read’ (71) Achei um homem para quem darmos o livro. ‘I found a man to whom to give the book’
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Another possible environment for its use is in headless relative clauses; however, it occurs relatively infrequently in these languages (Maurer 1968:242; Gondar 1978:134– 5). 2 (72) Porque se ao tempo da frota não pagarem o que devem, não terão com que se aparelharem para a safra vindoura. ‘Because if at the time of the fleet they don’t pay what they owe, they won’t have anything with which to prepare themselves for the coming harvest’ (Antonil, Cultura e Opulência, I, 12) (73) nos dias sen nubes, isas coores non atopan a xeito onde pousárense. ‘On days without clouds, these colors do not find exactly where to set down’ (Prosas galegas, 40) [Galician] (74) O falar require ouvidos onde cairen as verbas. ‘Speech requires ears for words to fall upon’ (Teatro, 156) [Galician]
The subjunctive can also be used in relative clauses to characterize indefinite or general antecedents. While Latin uses the subjunctive in relative 2
For a discussion of the origin of this construction see chapter four and Rodrigues (1913), Michaëlis (1918), Meier (1950), Silveira Bueno (1955).
clauses to modify certain adjectives such as unus, solus, dignus, idoneus, aptus, Portuguese and Galician frequently use the inflected infinitive introduced by a preposition as the complement of adjectives. The main difference here is that in Latin these clauses are introduced by qui or a relative adverb, whereas in Portuguese and Galician they are introduced by a preposition. (75) hunc Caesar idoneum iudicavit quem mitteret. ‘Caesar judged him a suitable person to send’ (C.C. 3, 10, 2) (76) hi libri sunt digni qui legantur. ‘these books are worth reading’ (77) Leonor! Tu eras digna de sêres filha de meu implacável pai! ‘Leonor! You were worthy of being the daughter of my relentless father!’ (Herc. Lendas I, 208) (78) Istes “expertos”…interpretaban ao seu xeito os métodos aptos pra acadaren a prosperidade social ‘These “experts” interpreted in their way the methods suitable to attain social prosperity’ (Vicente Risco. 82)
In contrast to its occurrence in complement and adverbial clauses, the inflected infinitive is used less frequently in relative clauses. This is a context in which the use of the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the use of the inflected infinitive do not coincide significantly.
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5.3 Conclusion A close examination of the environments available to the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician reveals an overall pattern of correspondence. While other scholars (Wernekke 1885; Rodrigues 1913; Gamillscheg 1970) who have previously studied the inflected infinitive found only one principal environment in common for the Latin and Romance forms, namely volitional clauses of the type placuit ut traderet ‘it was agreed that he would bequeath,’ the study undertaken here shows this to be far from the case. Others have rejected this context as a possible locus of origin for the inflected infinitive (Maurer 1968); however, my discussion shows that complement clauses expressing purpose exhibit a high concurrence between Latin and Romance forms. The most frequent occurrence of the inflected infinitive is found in adverbial clauses expressing purpose, an environment common to the Latin imperfect subjunctive. However, both the inflected infinitive and the imperfect subjunctive also occur frequently in complement clauses expressing purpose and in other types of adverbial constructions. The one context with low frequency of usage for the inflected infinitive is relative clauses. Therefore, while we can conclude that the greatest correspondence occurs in adverbial clauses expressing purpose, there are many other contexts common to both the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive.
5.4 Appendix of Uses An examination of the contexts available to the Latin imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician shows a high concurrence in several usages. The following are summaries of the uses of the Latin imperfect subjunctive and of the Portuguese and Galician inflected infinitive. 5.4.1 Summary of the Uses of the Latin Imperfect Subjunctive I. Complement Clauses Complement clauses which developed from the volitive or optative subjunctive occur with ut or ne after verbs meaning admonish, request, command, persuade, concede, wish, fear, decide, strive, and similar expressions and in indirect questions. (79) Helvetiis persuasit ut exirent. ‘He persuaded the Helvetii to march forth’ (80) neque satis constabat quid agerent. ‘And it was not very clear what they had better do’
II. Adverbial Clauses The imperfect subjunctive occurs in adverbial clauses which express time, condition, cause, purpose, and concession and which are introduced by various conjunctive adverbs such as ut, cum, priusquam, dum, quod, quia, si, donec. a. Purpose clauses (81) Caesar equos removit ut spem fugae tolleret.
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‘Caesar removed the horses that he might take away the hope of flight’ b. Temporal clauses introduced by antequam, priusquam (82) Pervenit, priusquam Pompeius sentire posset. ‘He arrived before Pompey could become aware of his approach’ c. Conditional clauses (83) Sapientia non expeteretur, si nihil efficeret. ‘Wisdom would not be sought if it accomplished nothing’ d. Clauses with cum describing time (84) Caesari cum id nuntiatum esset, maturat proficisci. ‘When this had been announced to Caesar, he hastened to set out’ e. Clauses with cum expressing concession (85) Socrates, cum facile posset educi e custodia, noluit. ‘Socrates, though he could easily have escaped from prison, was unwilling to do so’ f. Temporal clauses introduced by dum, donec, quoad (86) Horatius impetum sustinuit quoad ceteri pontem interrumperent. ‘Horatius sustained the attack until the rest should cut down the bridge’ g. Causal clauses with quod, quia, quoniam (87) Aristides nonne expulsus est patria, quod iustus esset? ‘Was not Aristides banished because he was just?’ h. Clauses of proviso (88) omnia postposui, dummodo praeceptis patris parerem. ‘I considered everything else of secondary importance, if only I might obey my father’s precepts’ i. Clauses of result (89) mons impendebat ut facile perpauci prohibere possent. ‘A mountain towered above, so that a very few could easily keep (them) back’
III. Relative Clauses Relative clauses introduced by qui or by a relative adverb can take the imperfect subjunctive when they denote relationships such as purpose, result, concession, and cause. (90) Legatos Romam, qui auxiliam peterent, misere. ‘They sent ambassadors to Rome to ask aid’ (91) hunc Caesar idoneum iudicavit quem mitteret. ‘Caesar judged him a suitable person to send’
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5.4.2 Summary of the Uses of the Inflected Infinitive I. Complement Clauses The inflected infinitive frequently occurs in complement clauses after causative and perception verbs, modals, verbs of motion, and verba dicendi. In this context, the complement clause is generally not introduced by a conjunction. (92) Mandava os outros trabalharem para mim. ‘He ordered the others to work for me’ (93) Temo terem vindo cedo demais. ‘I fear they have come tooearly’
II. Adverbial Clauses The most frequent environment for the use of the inflected infinitive is in adverbial clauses expressing purpose, cause, concession, and other temporal relationships. These clauses are introduced by various prepositions. a. Purpose clauses (94) Un amigo co que, contrariamente aos que teño agora, raramente falaba, xa que non eran necesarias as palabras pra nos entendermos . ‘A friend with whom, contrary to those I have now, I rarely spoke, since words were not necessary for us to understand each other’ b. Temporal clauses introduced by antes de, denantes de (95) Os pagãos, antes de chegarem ao Sala, passarão por cima do meu cadáver. ‘The pagans, before arriving at Sala, will pass over my cadaver’ c. Temporal clauses introduced by até, deica, hastra, hasta (96) Tive que escorar os galhos até colhermos a fruta ‘I had to prop up the branches until we picked the fruit’ d. Causal clauses (97) Desistiram da empresa por não poderem acabá-la. ‘They gave up the project because they could not finish it’ e. Temporal clauses introduced by ao, ó (98) Ó salirdes vós, eu alquíloll’o piso a quen sea. ‘When you leave, I’ll rent the flat to whomever’ f. Clauses expressing concession (99) As de dona Amelia atopaban ás de Rosende moi sabidas pra seren mulleres. ‘Those of dona Amelia found those of Rosende very knowledgable though they are women’
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III. Relative Clauses The inflected infinitive can occur in headless relative clauses, and as the complement of nouns or of adjectives; in the latter case the infinitive is generally introduced by a preposition. (100) nos dias sen nubes, isas coores non atopan a xeito onde pousárense . ‘On days without clouds, these colors do not find exactly where to set down’ (101) Leonor! Tu eras digna de sêres filha de meu implacável pai! ‘Leonor! You were worthy of being the daughter of my relentless father!’
CHAPTER 6 Distribution of the Inflected Infinitive in the Romance Languages The theory supported here to explain the origin of the Portuguese inflected infinitive holds that the inflected infinitive developed from the Latin imperfect subjunctive, and provides as evidence the phonological and syntactic similarities between the two paradigms, the survival of the imperfect subjunctive in Vulgar Latin and in early Romance, and the existence of an inflected infinitive in several other varieties of Romance, namely Galician, Mirandese, Old Leonese, Old Neapolitan, and Sardinian. This chapter studies the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese and examines the creation of other inflected non-finite forms-gerunds, present participles, and past participles-in Galician, Old Neapolitan, and some European Portuguese dialects.
6.1 Sardinian In the Logudorese-Nuorese dialects of modern Sardinian, the forms derived from the Latin imperfect subjunctive can occur in infinitival contexts, as in (1)– (3), as well as in finite clauses, as in (4)–(5) (examples from Jones 1992:297–8). (1) Non keljo a cantares tue, ‘I do not want you to sing’ (2) Su postinu est colatu prima de arrivaremus. ‘The postman came by before we arrived’ (3) Juanne at tuncatu su barcone pro non s’ istremparet sa janna. ‘John shut the window so that the door would not slam’ (4) Non credo ki Frantziscu áeret furatu su dinari. ‘I do not believe that Francis stole the money’ (5) Babbu at fattu cussu pro ki esseremus cuntentos. ‘Father did that so that we would be happy’
Some linguists (Pittau 1972; Jones 1992) consider those forms in (l)–(3) to be inflected infinitives and those in (4)–(5) to be imperfect subjunctives due to the different syntactic environments in which they may occur, although their forms are identical. Namely, in those clauses introduced by a preposition, the form which occurs is considered an inflected infinitive, while in clauses introduced by a complementizer, the same form is called an imperfect subjunctive.
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
LATIN
SARDINIAN
amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent
amárepo amares amaret amaremus amarezes amaren
112
The Sardinian forms show a regular phonological development from the Latin imperfect subjunctive. The first person singular ending -po in Sardinian seems to have been adopted from other frequently used verbs with the same ending: appo ‘I have,’ fippo ‘I was,’ deppo ‘I should’ (Pittau 1972:106). Whereas with Portuguese there was a need to posit a stress shift in the first and second person plural forms, the stress in these Sardinian forms continues that of the Latin paradigm: that is, the stress is on the verb ending in the first and second person plural forms, while in the other four forms the stress falls on the stem (Blasco Ferrer 1986:137). There is some variation among Sardinian dialects with regard to the stress of these forms; in some parts of Baronia there is a stress shift in the first and second plural forms on analogy with the rest of the paradigm (Blasco Ferrer 1984:29; Jones 1992:298). As discussed above, the Sardinian inflected infinitive can occur in contexts which are finite as well as in contexts that are infinitival. For instance, it occurs in subordinate finite clauses introduced by complementizers such as ki ‘that,’ ca ‘that, because,’ si ‘if,’ and mancari ‘although.’ If the subject is overtly expressed, it can precede or follow the verb. This use in finite contexts is generally limited to two verbs, áere ‘have’ and éssere ‘be,’ used as main verbs or as auxiliaries. According to Blasco Ferrer (1986:159–60) the pluperfect subjunctive, which is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of áere or éssere plus the past participle, is generally used instead of the imperfect subjunctive 1 to denote a 1
This shift is similar to what happened in the rest of the Romance languages, where the Latin pluperfect subjunctive (amavissem) replaced the Latin imperfect subjunctive (amarem) as the principal past subjunctive form. In Sardinian, however, a periphrastic was formed first (aeret amatu), which then replaced the imperfect subjunctive.
past action in the subjunctive, especially in the Logudorese dialects. This pluperfect subjunctive can also be used in hypothetical clauses in the protasis to express an improbable past action or an impossible present action. Pittau (1972:150) agrees that if the verb of the matrix clause is in a past tense, the subordinate clause normally takes the pluperfect subjunctive rather than the imperfect subjunctive. This fact would explain the exclusion of verbs other than the auxiliaries áere and éssere to this past subjunctive use in subordinate finite clauses as in the examples below. (6) reyonaiat comente chi esseret istadu unu simproto. ‘He talked as if he were an idiot’ (Italian fosse) (7) est coladu incuddae chi non l’ esseret bidu nemos. ‘He passed by there so that no one would see him’ (Italian videsse)
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(8) si non aeret próghidu cras, diamus andare a su sartu. ‘If it should not rain tomorrow, we would go to the country’ (Italian piovesse)
The inflected infinitive also occurs in infinitival clauses introduced by prepositions like pro ‘for’ and kene ‘without’ and by the particles a or de. While only áere and éssere can occur in the finite contexts described above, any verb can occur in this infinitival context. If the subject of the inflected infinitive is overtly expressed, it must follow the verb, as seen below. (9) Devo accabbare custu travallu prima de ghiraret su mere. ‘I must finish this job before the boss returns’ (10) Non keljo a bi venneres tue. ‘I do not want you to come’ (11) at segadu sos pratos pro non mandigares tue. ‘He broke the plates so that you would not eat’
Inflected infinitives never occur in causative constructions with fákere ‘make’ and lassare ‘let’ or after modal verbs or the future auxiliary áere because these constructions are always monoclausal in Sardinian (Jones 1988:344–5; 1993:280). These restrictions follow from my analysis for Portuguese (see 2.2) in which the inflected infinitive cannot be an inner predicate in a multipredicate clause, and can only occur when it is the final predicate of its clause. As stated above, the pluperfect subjunctive has generally replaced the imperfect subjunctive as the main past subjunctive in the Logudorese-Nuorese dialects studied here; a parallel change has occurred in the indicative as well (Blasco Ferrer 1986:148–9, 159– 60). Therefore, the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in this finite context is primarily restricted to the verbs áere and éssere, which function as auxiliaries in Sardinian. However, an examination of Old Sardinian texts reveals the survival of the forms derived from the imperfect subjunctive used with other verbs (Blasco Ferrer 1984:29, 109). (12) et issos reclamarunse pro kertatore ki kertaret pro’llos. ‘and they asked for an advocate to sue for them’ (Condaghe di San Pietro di Silki, 394) (13) Et si in atteru modu se facheret , tale electione non baçat. ‘And if in another manner it should be done, let such an election not count’ (Statuti della Republica Sassarese, §88) (14) si alcuna persona trattarit , o consentirit causa alcuna, pro sa quali Nos perderemus honori. ‘if some person should negotiate, or approve some cause, for which we should lose honor’ (Carta de Logu de Arborea, 14)
One can find instances of other verbs used in these finite contexts in modern Sardinian, but Jones (1993:279) claims that this appears to be limited to literary usage.
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(15) Nariana chi non b’aiat cosa chi no ischiret. ‘They said that there was nothing that he did not know’ (Sos sinnos, 50) (16) Ma no m’ammento si si sono vinnicatos…lassendelu viu pro chi donzi notte sicheret a fachere su sonnu ch’appo contatu. ‘But I do not remember whether they avenged themselves…by letting him live so that every night he would keep having the dream that I have described’ (Sos sinnos, 86)
The inflected infinitive can occur in both finite and infinitival environments, the main difference being that the former is introduced by a complementizer while the latter is introduced by a preposition. According to Jones (1988:342), the infinitive is generally used whenever possible in preference to the (periphrastic) subjunctive. The inflected infinitive can occur in finite or infinitival complement clauses after verbs denoting desire, command, emotion, disbelief, etc. (17) Non kerío ki ésseret vennitu a inoke. ‘I did not wish that he should come here’ (18) Non keljo a bi vénneres tue. ‘I do not want you to come’ (19) Non credío ki Juanne ésseret inoke. ‘I did not think that John was here’ (20) Non credo de ésseret ghiratu Juanne. ‘I do not think that John has returned’
The inflected infinitive can occur in adverbial clauses, which can be finite or infinitival, and which express purpose, concession, cause, and temporal conditions. (21) Babbu at fattu cussu pro ki esseremus cuntentos. ‘Father did that so that we would be happy’ (22) Babbu at fattu cussu pro esseremus cuntentos nois. ‘Father did that so that we would be happy’
The inflected infinitive can also occur in relative clauses, conditional clauses, and in other subordinate finite clauses for which there is no infinitival equivalent. (23) Kerío unu theraccu ki esseret ttravalláu abberu. ‘I wanted a servant who would really work’ (24) Si aerepo dinari meta, cumporaío cussa domo. ‘If only I had a lot of money, I would buy that house’ (25) Mancari ésseret vetza, fit meta bella. ‘Although she was old, she was very beautiful’
The environments available to the inflected infinitive in Sardinian and in Portuguese are nearly equivalent. In both languages this form occurs in complement clauses after verbs
Distribution of the inflected infinitive in the romance languages
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expressing desire, command, emotion and the like; in Sardinian the inflected infinitive must be introduced by a particle (a, de) while in Portuguese it is not. The inflected infinitive in these languages can appear in adverbial clauses, always introduced by a preposition, but is not common in relative clauses. In Sardinian the inflected infinitive is excluded from causative constructions, after modal verbs, and after the future auxiliary áere because these constructions are uniformly monoclausal in the language. In Portuguese, however, there are two constructions available to causative and modal verbs: a monoclausal union structure and a biclausal structure (see 2.2); therefore, the inflected infinitive may occur in this environment when it is the final predicate of its clause. In contrast to Portuguese, the conservatism of Sardinian is exhibited in the apparent survival in form and function of the imperfect subjunctive from Latin in finite contexts, while this same paradigm occurs in contexts which are infinitival as well.
6.2 Old Neapolitan Among the dialects of Italian, the Latin imperfect subjunctive has survived as both an inflected infinitive and an imperfect subjunctive in modern Sardinian, but it also survived as an inflected infinitive in Old Neapolitan. Examinations of Old Neapolitan texts and documents from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries reveal numerous examples of an inflected infinitive (Savj-Lopez 1900; Loporcaro 1986; Vincent 1996). 2 (26) lo stato nuostro, a che desideramo de volerlo torbare e de voleremone reducere de recheze in povertate? ‘our state, why do we wish to upset it and to reduce ourselves to poverty?’ (90.4–5) (27) E credo bene che in quisto mundo se potessero trovare plu pazi huomini de tutti vuy, chi per tale vecenda ve siti voluti mettere a portare si gran piso de venirevo tanto lontano da vuostri payse a darevone briga alle nostre maysone. ‘And I think well that in this world one could find crazier men than all you, who for such a reason you have wanted to set out to carry the great burden of coming so far away from your country to make trouble about it at our house’ (182.35–183.2) (28) Lo re Laumedonta…avesse negato albiergo a quilli Grieci, chi navegavano in altre parte, de non se potereno reposare. ‘The king Laumedonta had denied shelter to those Greeks, who were travelling in other parts, so that they might not rest’ (18.6–8)
The paradigm of the inflected infinitive exhibits some differences from that of the Latin imperfect subjunctive. In Old Neapolitan, the infinitive takes inflection only in the plural persons: -mo, -vo, -no. LATIN OLD NEAPOLITAN
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent
116
amar amar amar amaremo amarevo amareno
The ending -no is the general third plural ending for most tenses in this dialect and in standard Italian; the established explanation for the -o of the third plural ending is that it arose as a support vowel out of analogy to sono ‘they are’ (Fogarasi 1990:210). 3 2
The following examples are from the Libro de la destructione de Troya, taken from Vincent (1996) and Loporcaro (1986), unless otherwise indicated. 3 The form sono ‘they are’ from Latin sunt is in turn explainable by the fact that sum ‘I am’and sunt ‘they are’ had both regularly given son which, in the meaning ‘I am,’ was
The second plural ending is derived not from the Latin -tis but from the subject pronoun vos. This phenomenon is an independently attested development in Neapolitan and other Southern Italian dialects (Umbrian, Romanesco, Calabrese, Sicilian, Pugliese). In Neapolitan, the second person plural ending of some tenses (present indicative, future, imperative) developed from the Latin -tis, while the second plural ending of other tenses (conditional, imperfect indicative and subjunctive, preterite, inflected infinitive) is derived from the pronoun vos (Rohlfs 1968:§452; Loporcaro 1986:213; Bichelli 1974:178–84; Fierro 1989:131–6). The result of this innovation was the avoidance of homophony between the second person singular and plural in the preterite and in the imperfect subjunctive (< Lat. pluperfect subjunctive). LATIN NEAPOLITAN Preterite amaste amaste > amastevo > amasteve Imperfect Subjunctive sing. amāvissēs amasse pl. amāvissētis amasse > amassevo > amasseve sing. amāvistī pl. amāvistis
After -vo became the second person plural verb ending in these two tenses, its use gradually spread to other tenses as well as to the inflected infinitive. The use of the inflected infinitive in Old Neapolitan is very similar to its use in Portuguese, occurring optionally in contexts where it is the final predicate of its clause. When the subject is overtly expressed, it may precede or follow the infinitive (Vincent 1996:396–7). The inflected infinitive can occur in complement clauses after verbs denoting desire, command, disbelief, and after impersonal verbs; in these cases, the inflected infinitive is generally introduced by a particle a, de. (29) Non credevano de may lo vedereno plu. ‘They did not think they would ever see him again’ (66.33) (30) se non ve partite legya cosa serrà a
Distribution of the inflected infinitive in the romance languages
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perderevo le persune. ‘If you do not leave, it will be an easy thing to lose your lives’ (6.21–4) extended to sono with an -o modelled on regular first person endings. Once the alternation son/sono was established in the first person, this alternation extended to the third person plural as well son/sono, and the result was the use of sono as the form for both persons in modern Italian. (31) i poviri malati sensa agiuto o conseglio di medici i quali sensa alchuna carità domandano esserono paghate. ‘the poor sick without help or advice of doctors who without any charity demand to be paid’ (Cronaca di Partenope, 11.13–5) (32) tenemo secondo la santa fè cattolica essereno stati non homicidi li occidituri. ‘We hold according to the holy Catholic faith that the killers were not murdered’ (Del Tuppo; see Rohlfs 1969: §709)
The inflected infinitive also occurs in adverbial clauses, especially those expressing purpose, just as in the other Romance languages which possess an (33) aprestavanosse per volereno descendere in terra. ‘they got ready to disembark’ (123.6) (34) se sforzano…per se potereno ben defendere da nuy. ‘they strive to be able to defend themselves well from us’ (44.4–5)
The inflected infinitive in Old Neapolitan is also used in comparative clauses, and as the complement of nouns and adjectives. (35) quilli che voleano nante morire che farenosse portare presuni. ‘those who preferred to die rather than be taken prisoner’ (103.5) (36) e datone materia de vattaglyaremo insembla con colpa loro. ‘and having given us cause to wage war together with their misdeed’ (43.25– 26) (37) le nave siano preste a moverenose. ‘let the ships be ready to move’ (46.2)
As in Portuguese, there are two different constructions available to the perception verb vedere ‘see’ in Old Neapolitan: a monoclausal union structure from which the inflected infinitive is excluded, and a biclausal 2-control construction where the inflected infinitive may occur. Examples of both types are found in the texts examined. (38) vederrite li vuostri figly inde lo vuostro conspiecto esserno tutti taglyati. ‘you will see your sons all cut down before your own eyes’ (106.28–9) (39) vederriteve trayre da li vuostri vientre con grande abominatione liparti vuostri e
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demembrare senza nulla pietate. ‘you will see brought from your belly with great abomination your bowels and yourself be dismembered without any pity’ (106.32–4)
The inflected infinitive can occur in the biclausal 2-control construction available to vedere, as shown in (38). As we have seen before in 2.2, auxiliation occurs only in the final P-sector(s) of a clause; therefore, the presence of auxiliation in the embedded infinitival clause signals a separate clause in which the infinitive esserno is the final predicate. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in this example follows from the condition that it must be the final predicate of its clause. In contrast, the inflected infinitive cannot occur in the monoclausal union construction available to perception verbs, as shown in (39). The position of the clitic ve corresponding to the object of demembrare attached to the superordinate verb vederrite indicates that vederrite is the final predicate of the clause where the clitic originates, which in turn indicates that the whole construction is monoclausal. Since the infinitive is a non-final predicate in this case, it cannot occur inflected. According to Vincent (1996:397–401), the use of the inflected infinitive is prohibited after modal verbs like potere ‘can,’ dovere ‘must,’ volere ‘want,’ and after the causative verb fare ‘make.’ However, he uncovers several examples in which the inflected infinitive does occur after these modal verbs. 4 (40) Erano ancora in quella citate, zoèy de sopre a le plaze, ordenate e facte multi e diversi portichy, sotto de li quale poteano largamente andare la gente per tiempo plovioso, e recostarenosse in quilli luochy covierti senza poterenosse bagnare né infondere dall’acqua plovea. ‘There were ordered and made in that city, that is above the plazas, porticos many and diverse, under which people could walk during rainy weather, and to take shelter in those covered places without getting wet or flooding in the rain’ (79.19–23) (41) fecero assapere a lo re Priamo cha se voleano universalmente partire da Troya et andarenosende arreto inver de quillo puorto de Thenedon. ‘they made king Priamo know that they universally wished to leave Troy and go back towards that port of Thenedon’ (255.34–6) (42) che qui durareno/ non ponno, se non muta il ciel consilio… Et mira i cani che non ponno abagiareno . ‘that here they cannot remain, if heaven does not change its mind…and look at the dogs that cannot bark’ (Pietro Jacopo de Jennaro, Egloghe, I.56–60)
These counterexamples would suggest that, as in Portuguese, there are two structures available to modal verbs in Old Neapolitan: a monoclausal union
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4
Vincent (1996:400) also mentions an example in which the past participle in a perfect tense is inflected, even though the structure is clearly monoclausal: dove se haveriano conducto et postonose in securo. (see Loporcaro 1986:178)
construction and a biclausal construction, illustrated in the above examples. The inflected infinitive is prohibited from the former, but can occur in the latter because it is the final predicate of its clause, as in Portuguese (see 2.2). Taking this observation into consideration, then Vincent’s restrictions on the distribution of the inflected infinitive can be condensed into the following, in terms of my analysis: the inflected infinitive occurs optionally when it is the final predicate of its clause. Comparing the environments available to the inflected infinitive in Old Neapolitan and Portuguese, we can conclude that its distribution is quite similar in these languages.
6.3 Old Leonese and Mirandese An inflected infinitive has also been found in two Spanish dialects: Old Leonese, a dialect of Northern Spain, and Mirandese, which is a dialect closely related to Leonese but located in Miranda, Portugal. Because the literature on these two dialects is limited, information regarding the use of the inflected infinitive is not as detailed as the accounts presented for its distribution in the other Romance varieties discussed. The inflected infinitive in Mirandese has the following forms, similar to both Portuguese and Galician (Leite de Vasconcelos 1900:373–4). LATIN MIRANDESE amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent
amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarẽ
As with Portuguese, we need to posit a stress shift in the first and second plural forms from the verb ending back to the stem. This is an independently attested development based on analogy with the rest of the paradigm in other tenses in Spanish and Portuguese. Examples of the use of the inflected infinitive in this dialect include the following: (43) Ora stabã alhi postas seis talhas de piedra, p’ra serbirẽ a las purificaciones. ‘There were placed there six carvings of stone, in order to attend to the purifications’ (Monteiro, Evangelhos, in Reporter n. 1521) (44) a fĩ de tenerẽ de que lo acusarẽ . ‘in order that they have something to accuse him of (Monteiro, Evangelhos, Revista de educação e ensino, IX, 255) (45) el sujeitarẽ -se-bos los spritos nũ ye lo de que bós bos debeis alegrar. ‘the spirits’ submitting themselves to you is not something about which you should rejoice’ (Revista de
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educação e ensino, IX, 505)
The forms of the inflected infinitive in Mirandese are nearly identical to those in Portuguese. Its occurrence in these examples in a purpose clause in (43), in a relative clause in (44), and as the subject of a superordinate clause in (45) also parallels the use of the inflected infinitive in other Romance languages. The inflected infinitive also appears in Old Leonese in thirteenth century texts from Sahagún and the monastery of San Andrés de Espinareda (Staaff 1907:91, 153–4, 166, 287–8; Meier 1950:119). The forms of the inflected infinitive are similar to those for Galician, for which we need to posit a stress shift in the first and second person plural forms. LATIN OLD LEONESE amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent
amar amares amar amarmos amardes amaren
The inflected infinitive form in this dialect occurs not only in contexts particular to an infinitive, such as after prepositions, but also in finite clauses as the main verb and in subordinate finite clauses linked to a present subjunctive. (46) Damos uolo todo…que chantedes este poulo…et tenerdes lo todo por en toda uossa uida de anbos et dous. et dardes cada ano a nos et al nosso monesteyro… III canados de uino…et a uosso finamento de anbos ficar al monesteyro sobredito ela metade desta vinna…et a uossa uoz ou a quen uos mandardes ficar ela outra metade. ‘We give it all to you so that you plant this earth and you will keep it all for all your life of both of you. And you should give each year to us and to our monastery three measures of wine and upon the death of both of you the half of this vineyard should stay with the abovementioned monastery and the other half should remain with your authority or with whomever you declare’ (doc. C, 1283 AD) (47) por mataren al bon rey fezioron ermandat. ‘for killing the good king they made refuge’ (48) aqueste aver de suso dicho Recebimos de uos pora pagarmos debda conoscida que deuiemos. ‘that tribute abovementioned we received from you for us to pay the known debt that we owed’ (doc. LX, 1267 AD) (49) outorgo que la ayades por jurderda de erdade pora vender e donar e en guayar e pora ffaçerdes del toda uestra volontade. ‘I authorize
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that you have it through an oath of inheritance to sell and to give and to enjoy and for you to do with it whatever you wish’ (doc. XCVIII, 1280 AD) (50) Et facerdes seruicio al abbade de Sant Andres como asenor por estos foros sobre dictos desta carta, ‘And you should do service to the abbot of Saint Andrew as the lord of these jurisdictions abovementioned in this letter’ (doc. XCI, 1256 AD) (51) et sse nos non quisermos comprala venderdes aquen uos quiserdes. ‘and if we do not want to buy it you sell to whomever you want’ (doc. C, 1283 AD)
In examples (47)–(49), the inflected infinitive occurs after a preposition in adverbial clauses expressing cause and purpose, contexts common for this form in the other Romance languages examined. In the other examples above, the inflected infinitive occurs in environments particular to a finite verb. This form is used analogously to a present subjunctive in a subordinate finite clause in (46), while in (50) and (51) the inflected infinitive occurs as the main verb of an independent clause. This acceptable use in both finite and infinitival contexts corresponds to its distribution in older stages of Portuguese and in modern Sardinian, and suggests an intermediate stage of development in which the form derived from the Latin imperfect subjunctive retains some of its original functions while, as a reanalyzed infinitive with inflection, its use is extended to infinitival contexts. This reanalysis of an infinitive form able to take verbal inflection spread to other non-finite forms in Galician, Old Neapolitan, and Portuguese dialects where we find the existence of inflected gerunds and inflected present and past participles.
6.4 Inflected Gerunds and Participles The Romance forms which developed from the Latin imperfect subjunctive came to be reanalyzed as an infinitive with verbal inflection, and as such began to occur in environments specific to the infinitive. This reanalysis of a non-finite form able to take verb inflection extended to other forms as well. In Galician, Old Neapolitan, and some European Portuguese dialects, instances are found of gerunds and, less frequently, present and past participles with person inflection. Galician allows the inflection of both the infinitive and the gerund in written and spoken language. After the discovery of an inflected gerund in the work of Galician writer Castelao, Carballo Calero (1975b) decided to investigate the use of this form in the language of Rianxo, Castelao’s birthplace. (52) Voltándomos ô cimeterio falamos da terra. ‘On our returning to the cemetery we talked about the earth’ (Castelao, Un ollo de vidro, 22) (53) Víndomos da rapeta, pescóunos a lanchita.
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‘On our coming from casting, the motor boat fetched us’
According to his study, the inflected gerund occurs frequently among the older generation but seems to be dying out in the speech of younger people. In Galician, the gerund may take inflection in the first and second person plural only (Carballo Calero 1975:31; Longa 1994:39–41). eu cantando ti cantando el cantando
nós cantándomos vós cantándodes eles cantando
If a lexical subject appears with the gerund, it must follow the verb as in (55). (54) Cantándodes asi, gañaréde-lo premio. ‘With you singing that way, you will win the prize’ (55) Téndomos nós paciencia pasará todo. ‘With us having patience everything will pass’
This reanalysis of an inflected non-finite form spread more extensively in Old Neapolitan where we find instances of inflected gerunds, present participles, and more rarely past participles. While in Galician the gerund occurs with first and second person plural inflection, in Old Neapolitan the gerund and present and past participles take inflection primarily in the third person plural -no; the gerund can also occur with the first person plural -mo (Vincent 1996:390; Loporcaro 1986:196, 204–5). The following inflected gerunds often occur with reflexive clitics. (56) fuorono facte le cave avendono curso socto terra al mare. ‘the holes were made having a route under the earth to the sea’ (Cronaca di Partenope, 8.7–8) (57) la durecza de la cruda morte…non devemo timere, essendomo in tale abito adusati. ‘the difficulty of cruel death we should not fear, we being accustomed to such a habit’ (De Majo, De Majestate, 24) (58) li quali ambassaturi, venendono denante ad Achilles…et assettandonosse . ‘which ambassadors, coming before Achilles and sitting down’ (Libro de la destructione de Troya, 106.21–3)
Inflection can also occur with present participles and occasionally with past participles in these Old Neapolitan texts. (59) dalla abitacion di li scolari habitantino ad un luogho vicino a lo dicto segio. ‘from the residence of the scholars living at a place near the aforementioned place’ (Cronaca di Partenope, 6.6–7) (60) in questa cità di Napoli erano duo mariti e
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mugliere timentino Dio. ‘in this city of Naples there were two husbands and wives fearing God’ (Cronaca di Partenope, 17.7–9) (61) E datonosse insembla salute como convenne, tutti se assettaro insembla coll’altri. ‘And their having given each other greetings as is proper, everyone sat down together with the others’ (Libro de la destructione de Troya, 120.4–5)
The frequency of occurrence of inflection on these non-finite forms in Old Neapolitan demonstrates that the reanalysis that took place to create the inflected infinitive was entrenched enough to extend to other non-finite forms as well. Instances of an inflected gerund have been discovered in some dialects of European Portuguese, where this form most frequently adopts the inflection of the second person singular -s and first person plural -mos forms. In the dialect of the Algarve, if the gerund has as its subject tu, it can take the second person singular verb ending: em tu comendos ‘you eating,’ em tu estandos ‘you being’ (Nunes 1902:51). In popular speech and the language of the middle class of Alentejo, the gerund is sometimes preceded by em and can adopt the verb inflection of the second person if the subject is tu (Rezende F.Matias 1984:200). (62) em comendos a sopa, dô-t’o bolo. ‘after you eat the soup, I’ll give you the cake’
In the region of Ervedosa do Douro, the gerund can take the first person plural ending mos when it refers to that subject (Soares de Azevedo 1928–9:159). (63) Nũ sei cumo tanto devâmos, ganhando-mos tanto dinheiro. ‘I do not know how, earning so much money, we owe so much’ (64) Nũ saindo-mos de casa, morrâmos à fome. ‘If we do not leave the house, we will die of hunger’ (65) Ί stando-mos co êle, le pedirâmos contas. ‘When we are with him, we will ask him for bills’
The widespread existence of an inflected gerund, present participle, and past participle indicates that, after the forms derived from the Latin imperfect were reanalyzed as an infinitive form with verbal inflection, this reanalysis was extended to other non-finite forms which then began to adopt inflection in certain person forms. This sequence of reanalysis is evident because the use of inflection with other non-finite forms (gerunds, participles) occurs only in the Romance languages which also have an inflected infinitive. The following is a summary of the forms of the inflected gerund, present participle, and past participle examined in this chapter as compared to the forms of the inflected infinitive in the same languages. GALICIAN Inflected Infinitive Inflected Gerund
The inflected infinitive in romance languages
amar amares amar amáremos, amarmos amáredes, amardes amaren
124
amándomos amándodes
OLD NEAPOLITAN Inflected Gerund Present Past Infinitive Participle Participle amar amar amar amaremo amarevo amareno
amandomo amandono amantino
PORTUGUESE DIALECTS Inflected Infinitive amar amares amar amarmos amardes amarem
amadono
Inflected Gerund amandos amandomos
6.5 Conclusion It has been proposed by others that the inflected infinitive is an innovation unique to the Portuguese language and that it must have arisen there out of analogy with other Portuguese verb tenses or structures. Several facts concerning the Romance languages invalidate these claims. First, the diffuse distribution of an inflected infinitive in various languages throughout the Romance territory would point to an common origin for the form. The existence of an inflected infinitive in such different languages as Portuguese, Galician, Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese would indicate a common Latin source, because not all these languages possess the analogical antecedents which were purported to influence the creation of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese (i.e., the future subjunctive). The use of the forms derived from the Latin imperfect subjunctive in both infinitival and finite contexts in Sardinian suggests an intermediate stage of development in which the imperfect subjunctive was being reanalyzed as an infinitive with inflection. This situation sheds light on the probable development of the inflected infinitive in the other Romance varieties for which there is little evidence of its evolution. In addition, the existence of an inflected gerund, present participle, and past
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participle demonstrates how the reanalysis of an infinitive with inflection spread to other non-finite forms in some of these same languages.
CHAPTER 7 Conclusion In this study, I have examined two prominent issues regarding the inflected infinitive in the Romance languages: its syntactic distribution and its origin and development. The occurrence of the inflected infinitive in diverse syntactic environments has made a description of its use rather difficult, prompting some to claim that there are no dependable rules governing the use of the inflected infinitive. However, my analysis of the syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive under the framework of Relational Grammar has led me to quite a different conclusion. In chapter two, after studying the structure and distribution of the inflected infinitive and related syntactic phenomena, I proposed one general condition on its use: the inflected infinitive must be the final predicate of its clause. This entails that the inflected infinitive will be prohibited from monoclausal constructions in which it is a non-final predicate, and that it will be acceptable in biclausal constructions where it functions as the final predicate of its clause. This condition restricting its use correctly predicts the precise range of environments where the inflected infinitive will be acceptable and others where it will be excluded. In contrast to previous accounts which attempted to describe the distribution of the inflected infinitive with long lists of rules and examples, my analysis offers a unified account consisting of one concise condition on its use which predicts all possible occurrences of the inflected infinitive. In chapter three, I examined previous accounts given for the occurrence of the inflected infinitive in Portuguese and Galician, comparing the rules of each to my proposed condition. It was shown that these previous accounts offered rules that were vague and contradictory and that they failed to accurately predict the occurrence of the infinitive in these languages. Only my analysis presents a unified account which correctly and accurately describes the distribution of this form. The second section of this dissertation is a historical study of the inflected infinitive in the Romance languages. Many early theories of its origin saw the inflected infinitive as a spontaneous development in Portuguese that arose out of analogy with other paradigms or structures in that language. However, the existence of an inflected infinitive in Romance languages other than Portuguese points to common Latin origin for the form. I support the theory that holds that the Romance inflected infinitive developed from the Latin imperfect subjunctive. In chapter four, I described each of the theories of the origin of the inflected infinitive, discussing the factors which point to the Latin imperfect subjunctive as its origin. While other scholars who support this theory have discussed the possible developments of the inflected infinitive from Latin to Portuguese, none has provided an explicit comparison of the syntactic environments common to both the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive. In chapter five, I studied the forms and syntactic distribution of the imperfect subjunctive and of the inflected infinitive to determine in
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which contexts they correspond. My results revealed an overall pattern of correspondence between the two paradigms, especially in clauses expressing purpose, which provides further support for the imperfect subjunctive theory. In addition to the phonological and syntactic similarities between the imperfect subjunctive and the inflected infinitive, additional evidence which supports the imperfect subjunctive theory is the existence of an inflected infinitive in other languages across the Romance territory. In chapter six, I examined the distribution of the inflected infinitive in Sardinian, Old Neapolitan, Old Leonese, and Mirandese, in which it shows a syntactic distribution similar to that of Portuguese. Sardinian shows an interesting use of the inflected infinitive, where it can occur in both finite and infinitival contexts. This distribution indicates a possible intermediate stage of development in which the imperfect subjunctive was being reanalyzed as an infinitive with inflection. This case is important for the imperfect subjunctive theory, because there is little documented evidence of the evolution of the inflected infinitive in the other Romance languages. The existence of inflected gerunds and participles in Galician, Old Neapolitan, and European Portuguese dialects demonstrates that speakers must in fact have reanalyzed the imperfect subjunctive as an infinitive with verbal inflection, creating the conditions for this pattern to spread to other non-finite forms. Since Sardinian shows a unique distribution of the inflected infinitive in which it can occur in both finite and infinitival contexts, future research into the origin of the inflected infinitive might include a closer study of the syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive from the earliest Sardinian texts. A detailed examination of these texts could provide us with the evidence of the evolution of this form which is lacking in the other Romance languages. More specifically, such a study could demonstrate exactly in what manner and in which contexts the imperfect subjunctive came to be reanalyzed as an infinitive with inflection. While other studies of the origin of the inflected infinitive have consisted of describing the possible developments from Latin to Portuguese which produced this form, another interesting area of research might include an investigation of the changes in the syntactic distribution of the inflected infinitive from early Portuguese to modern Portuguese. This study might reveal in which contexts the imperfect subjunctive was originally reanalyzed as an inflected infinitive, and could show us how the use of the inflected infinitive developed over the centuries. For example, some have suggested that the occurrence of the inflected infinitive after causative and perception verbs is a more recent development in Portuguese, which is possible considering the infrequent use of the form in this context in the other Romance languages studied here. Such a study might provide us with important information on the evolution of the inflected infinitive from Latin into the Romance languages.
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.
Index Abreu, M. and C.Rameh, 63 adverbial clauses, 33, 118 Almeida, N., 49 analogy theory, 90 auxiliation, 12, 13, 16, 18, 29, 30, 131, 137 Bassols de Climent, M, 110 biclausal 2-control, 23–24, 26–29, 136 biclausal, 13–19, 26–29, 138 Blake, B., 48 Blasco Ferrer, E., 94, 130 Bourciez, E., 92, 94, 105 Carballo Calero, R., 71, 141 causal clauses, 120 causative verbs, 15, 16, 22, 34, 113, 131, 137 Chaves, G., 65 clause counting tests clitic position, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 34 negation, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 34 predicate clefting, 15 clitic climbing, 20 clitic doubling, 22 closure principle, 13 compactness principle, 13, 16 complement clauses, 116 composite theory, 92 concessive clauses, 121 “creative” theory, 88 Cunha C. and L.Cintra, 66 Davies, W. & C.Rosen, 11–13, 15 Diez, F., 40, 41, 50, 75, 88 ellipsis, 49–50 enclitic, 20 exclamative clauses, 31 final clauses. See purpose clauses Foth, K., 87 future subjunctive, 87, 90–92
Index
Galician, 67, 111, 141, 143 Gamillscheg, E., 95 García de Diego, V., 75 gerund, 33 Gondar, F., 68, 69, 71, 74, 76–84, 92 Government and Binding Theory, 17 grammatical relations, 10, 11 Grandgent, C., 105 Hanssen, F., 105 Harris, M., 91, 106 imperfect subjunctive forms, 93, 109 imperfect subjunctive theory, 93 impersonal verbs, 33 infinitive controlled, 89 imperative, 52, 106 prepositional, 112 with nominative subject constructin, 87, 88, 92 inflected gerunds, 140 inflected infinitive condition on its use, 17 Galician, 111, 143 Mirandese, 138 Old Leonese, 139 Old Neapolitan, 134 Portuguese, 3, 93, 111 predictions on its use, 29 Sardinian, 130 inflected participles, 140 Instituto de la Lengua Gallega, 74 interrogative clauses, 31 intransitive, 12, 15, 22 Italian, 12, 13, 15, 22, 105, 106 Jones, M., 130, 132 King, L., 17 Lausberg, H., 101 Leite de Vasconcelos, J., 89, 92, 138 Lima, R., 60–63, 66 Longa, V.M., 17 Loporcaro, M., 134 Lugris Freire, M., 69 Maia, C., 95 Martin, J., 92, 106
137
Index
138
Maurer, T.H., 38, 47, 48, 50, 52–57, 76, 89, 105, 112 Meier, H., 101, 106, 139 Meyer-Lübke, W., 91, 105 Michaëlis de Vasconcelos, C., 88, 100 Mirandese, 138 modal verbs, 13, 20, 131, 137 Moffatt, L., 92, 105 Mohl, F., 94, 106 monoclausal, 12–19, 34, 131, 138 non-finite forms, 141 Nunes, J., 143 Old French, 94, 106 Old Leonese, 96, 139 Old Neapolitan, 133, 142 Old Portuguese, 95, 98, 101 Old Sardinian, 132 Old Spanish, 94 Osborne, B., 99, 102 Otto, R., 88 passive, 12, 16, 29 perception verbs. See causative verbs perfect stem, 91 perfect subjunctive, 91 periphrastic, 12, 15 Pittau, M., 130 pluperfect subjunctive, 99, 109, 110, 130 present stem, 91 proclitic, 20 purpose clauses, 103, 111 adverbial, 114 as the origin of the inflected infinitive, 116 complement, 112 raising, 28 Raposo, E., 9, 18, 19, 22 reanalysis, 91, 104, 141 reflexivization, 16, 29, 30, 51 Relational Grammar, 9–16 relational network, 10 relational valence, 11 relative clauses, 122 Rizzi, L., 15 Rodrigues, J., 98 Romanian, 15 Rosen, C., 10–13, 15 Rosen, C., 48
Index
Saco y Arce, J., 67 Said Ali, M., 38, 39, 41–46 Santamarina, A., 75 Sardinian, 129 Savj-Lopez, P., 134 Schuchardt, H., 91, 105 serialization, 12, 13, 16 Sester, F., 91 Silva Dias, A., 46–49, 105 Silvera Bueno, F., 100 Soares Barbosa, J., 37–40 Staff, E., 139 temporal clauses, 118–120 thematic role, 11 Thomas, E.W., 42, 57–60 Togeby, K., 92 Tough Raising, 83 transitive, 11, 15, 22, 34 union causative, 15, 16, 22, 34, 136 modal, 13, 14, 20, 21, 25, 32, 34 ut, 93, 97, 112, 114 verba dicendi , 32 verbs of motion, 113 strong, 92 weak, 90 Vincent, N., 17, 134 Wernekke, H., 93 Williams, E., 93, 97 Wireback, K., 90, 91, 103, 104, 107 Zaring, L., 17, 83 Zauner, A., 91
139