Variation and change in the Romance faire-par causative
Michelle Sheehan, Sonia Cyrino
January 2016
 

This chapter considers the extent to which the faire-par causative (FP) is available in Italian, French, Catalan, and varieties of Spanish and Portuguese. While French and Italian (like some Spanish varieties) permit FP with an optional by-phrase, Catalan permits FP only where the by-phrase is supressed. Although some Spanish and Portuguese varieties display something superficially resembling the Catalan FP, closer consideration reveals the construction in question to have quite distinct properties. Taking Portuguese as a case study, we trace the diachronic development of FP, proposing that the obligatory suppression of the by-phrase combined with the possibility of ECM/inflected causative complements permitted reanalysis, leading to the loss of FP in some Portuguese (and Spanish) varieties.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/002856
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory
keywords: causatives, romance, variation, faire-par, syntax
Downloaded:1112 times

 

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