Abstract
This paper argues that the variation in the placement of clitic pronouns in European and Brazilian Portuguese follows from the interaction of two properties in regard of which these two languages differ. One is syntactic: EP clitics are Infl-clitics and BP clitics are V-clitics. The other is morpho-phonological: EP clitics, but not BP clitics, are required to be in a non-initial position with respect to some boundary. Our analysis is illustrated by the comparison between the original version of Paulo Coelho’s novel O Alquimista, and the European adaptation of the text published in Portugal. We claim that our analysis is preferable to others for both empirical and theoretical reasons. In fact, we try to prove that it is able to explain EP clitic-placement in both tensed and infinitival clauses and to account for the variation observed in some contexts. We also bring historical data into the discussion, which we argue can be harmoniously integrated into our explanation of the synchronic facts.
Highlights
This article proposes an analysis of clitic placement in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, from a comparative perspective
As for the alternation enclisis/proclisis in entendido perfeitamente. (EP) infinitival clauses, apart from few exceptions, it has not been integrated into the discussion of clitic placement in Portuguese since it poses a challenge for any theory of clitics
All these analyses share crucial properties, which can be summarized as follows: (i) the property that provokes enclisis is not syntactic but morphological or phonological; (ii) the order V-CL is created by a late syntactic or a postsyntactic process that rearranges the order produced by the syntactic component in such a way that the phonological or morphological property involved is satisfied; (iii) the special feature that is responsible for this rearrangement, and, accounts for the difference between EP and the other Romance languages, is not on the clitic but on the category that initiates the clause (F or Σ) or on the left boundary of the Intonational Phrase; (iv) in EP, pre-verbal subjects are peripheral
Summary
This article proposes an analysis of clitic placement in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese (respectively EP and BP), from a comparative perspective. Since Infl no longer contains Agr in BP, the only alternative left is the inherent case marking/checking of the clitic by the verb; ii) a morpho-phonological property: EP clitics, but not BP clitics, are required to be in a non-initial position with respect to some boundary. This part of the analysis is based in great part on Galves and Sândalo (2004) who consider clitics as phrasal affixes that are subject to word formation rules like any other affixes. We bring historical data into the discussion, which we argue can be harmoniously integrated into our explanation of the synchronic facts
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