Decomposing EPP effects in Greek enclisis

Marios Mavrogiorgos

doi:10.1163/15699846-01702004

Abstract

This paper pursues the idea, originally proposed by Landau (2007), that the Extended Projection Principle is PF related on the basis of Greek enclisis. It is argued that the complementary distribution pattern attested with Cypriot Greek finite enclisis derives from the fact that the first head H c-selecting TP has a morpho-syntactic requirement, and a related PF/prosodic requirement subject to an Economy Condition. The former derives merger of an X or XP copy at H, while the latter ensures that only one of the two copies gets spelled-out. Non-finite H triggers obligatory enclisis in both Cypriot and Standard Greek, as it contains only affixal morphemes, which is further supported by Medieval Greek non-finite enclisis. The parameterization of H along with potential implications are also discussed.

Highlights

Two or more c-commanding constituentsAn important question is what happens when there are more than one preverbal constituents present
Focusing on Medieval Greek [mg], it has both preverbal and postverbal clitics with imperatives, depending on the properties of the constituent preceding the clitic cluster
H, the first head c-selecting tp, contains an unvalued morpho-syntactic feature that agrees with a matching x or xp item. h has a contingent pf requirement imposed on it, according to which h must be spelled-out locally and only once by a non-affixal (x or xp) item. This derives the complementary distribution pattern attested in cg finite enclisis and mg imperative enclisis, as well as the lack thereof in cg and sg non-finite enclisis

Summary

Two or more c-commanding constituents

An important question is what happens when there are more than one preverbal constituents present. Consider the following pair of sentences from Asturian, a language that behaves like cg as far as finite enclisis is concerned: 13 This conclusion would be further supported, if at least some of the complementizers that trigger proclisis could be shown to allow preverbal constituents, including topics and foci. This is an issue for further research.

Assumption 4: content is separate from function and structural position

Conclusion