A Minimalist Analysis of Past Participles in Italian Syntax

Abstract

Past participles derived from unaccusative verbs in Italian exhibit morphological agreement in gender and number with the surface subject whereas this pattern of agreement is not observed with unergative verbs. The purpose of this paper is to account for the contrast between the two types of past participles by means of the mechanism of (partial) Agree in phi-features and EPP-driven movement without undermining the conceptual elegance of the phase-based system established in the framework of the Minimalist Program. While discussing these issues with a focus on what kinds of phi-features are available in each type of verbal projection, this paper argues that the status of phases can be relativized depending on the inheritance of phi-features from a phase head. It also investigates what triggers parametric variation in Romance languages by making a comparative analysis of Italian and French past participles.