Təné periphrases in Eastern Abruzzese: syntax and interpretation.

Abstract

In this work I present and analyse four periphrases built on təné, an Abruzzese verb that comes from Latin tĕnēre. All data are taken from Fossacesiano, a variety belonging to the Eastern Abruzzese group. The most relevant points of the analysis, concern the psych construction involving təné and past participles, and the imperfective periphrasis built on təné plus infinitives. The peculiarity of the psych construction lies in the fact that it expresses a wish and need regarding the event expressed by the past participle, without, however, featuring verbs of need or wish. Following Giorgi&Pianesi (1997) I will show that this interpretation comes from the consequent state expressed by the past participle. The structural analysis of the periphrasis, will concern the dative argument, and the syntax of the past participle that shows two relevant characteristics, namely it is not able to take a direct object, and it shown number agreement with the dative argument. I will claim that these two features correlate one another. For what the imperfective periphrasis is concerned, the analysis is focussed on the particle preceding the infinitive verb, that is traditionally analysed as a preposition. In this thesis it will be treated as the head of a TP that values tense feature as [-tense]. Finally, comparative observations will be discussed and conclusions will follow.