On Finiteness and the Left Periphery: Focusing on Subjunctive
On Finiteness and the Left Periphery: Focusing on Subjunctive
This chapter proposes a syntactic mechanism to derive the dependency of the subjunctive. Her main idea is that the dependency of the subjunctive on the matrix predicate is the result of tense-features valuation. The features relevant for the subjunctive come as a bundle of two types of features: tt-features (which codify properties related to the morphological tense) and tev-features (related to event and Aktionsart properties). In Ambar’s view, it is through the difference in the valuation of these features that the division between the subjunctive and the indicative forms is obtained. At the same time, Ambar observes that tense valuation is not sufficient to license the subjunctive or the indicative. What is also crucial for the interpretation is the speaker’s relation with the world (veridicality). She assumes that the relation is represented in the syntactic structure through the interplay of the two speaker’s projections, EvaluativeP and AssertiveP, located in the CP-domain of the clause. EvaluativeP codifies the speaker’s attitude towards the state of affairs described in the clause, whereas AssertiveP specifies the common ground. EvaluativeP is the projection of the subjunctive, whereas AssertiveP is the projection of the indicative.
Keywords: subjunctive, tense-features valuation, indicative, veridicality
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