LSRL XXIX

Paola Benincà and Cecilia Poletto
University of Padua 
beninca@maldura.unipd.it   poletto@maldura.unipd.it

From the loss of V2 to the rise of subject clitics: a view on minimal diachronic change

-Haiman (1974) generalization : the Romance languages that were V2 have developed subject clitics

- Northern Italian dialects are in between French and Italian

A. The claim

a) subject clitics are expletive heads for the X°s to which the inflected verb does not move anymore

b) subject clitics are needed for maintaining the pro drop property

c) the “Northern Italian” pro drop system is different from the standard Italian and Spanish ones

B. The split inside Old Romance

Asymmetric V2 and pro drop languages

French
(1)	a	Si errerent_ tant en tele maniere qu’il vindrent en la praerie de Wincestre (Artu 16,66)		So wandered (they) much in such a way that they came in the prairie of 			Winchester
	b	mes toutevoies s’en reconforterent _ au plus biau qu’il porent (Artu 2, 8)
		but nevertheless (they) consoled themselves as best that they could

Northern Italian

(2) 	a	E così ne provò _ de più cari ch’elli avea Schaffini (1954):74:90,r,30)
		And so tested (he) some of the dearest that he had         Benincà (1996):12)
	b	e seria _ stado plu biado s’elo avesse possedù lo reçimento de la soa mente
		and would  _ have-been more happy if he had possessed the ...of his mind
	c	Or te mostrerai _  Dominidè que tu lo veras Serm Sub I 116
		Now to you (I) will show God that you him will see

Benincà (1983): pro drop is licensed by the inflected V in C°

Symmetric V2 and pro drop languages

Spanish

(3) 		et desque _ llegaron assu padre a Cananea
		and when (they) arrived at the father’s home in Cananea

Southern Italian

(4)	a	et li Romani fece incontenente quelo ke _ li dixe   Le Miracole de Roma, 25
 		and the Romans made immediately what that (they) them told
	b	 et incontenente _fo aperto lo celo  Le miracole de Roma 65
		and immediately (it) was open the sky

B. The development of French and Northern Italian 

The Renaissance Period

Middle French 

Pro drop distribution (cf. Roberts (1993))
		-first and second person plural pro are possible in all contexts
 		-any pro is possible in main clauses when V is in  C°
 		-any pro is possible in +wh embedded clauses and embedded V2
		-in non wh non V2 embedded contexts only first and second person 			plural pro are possible

-first and second person plural Agr can license and identify pro under any condition
 
- for the other persons C° is still the pro licenser
C° can license pro 	-when it contains the inflected V (V2)
		 	-when it is marked [+ wh]

V1 cases are intepreted (contra Roberts (1993)) as V in C

Renaissance Northern Italian 

Renaissance Veneto: Poletto (1995) (same in Milanese and Bergamasco)

The system is very similar to Middle French with a difference in the first person singular

-first singular and first and second person plural Agr can license and identify pro under any condition

(5)	a	Ve suplico... 			(Calmo, 72)
		(I) you pray, 
	b	Havemo buo notitia che...	(Calmo, 129)...
		(We) have had news that...
	c	Dirè a Ser Zuan che ...	(Ruz. 107)
		(You+pl.) will-say to Sir Z. that...

-for the other persons C°  must be the pro licenser
C° can license pro 	-when it contains the inflected V (V2)
		 	-when it is marked [+ wh]

(6)	a	El m’ha lagò le cavale... 	(Ruz 78)
		He to-me has left the horses..  
	b	El me par... 			(Calmo 111)
		It to-me seems
	c	un passo i no farè		(Ruz. 74)
		A step I not will-do
	d	Te no vissi mà 		(Ruz 91)
		You not saw never

(7)	a	e sì _ andò in là (Ruz 78)
		and so (he) went on

(8)	a	si _ no resta altro
		if (it) not remains anything else
	b	com fa l’orsa quando _ se guz gi ongi 	(Ruz. 105)
		as does the bear when (she) herself sharpens her claws
	c	che tuta la zente co  _li vede, se ghe inchina 	(Calmo 75)
		that all the people when (she) them sees, bows 
	d	si _ farae megio...				(Ruz 102)
		whether (they) would-do better

(9)	a	...che l sarave cossa giusta	(Calmo 111)
		...that it would-be thing right

Renaissance Bolognese and Polesano

Novella del Re di Cipro 

(10)	a	A digh dunca
		I say then
	b	T m insegn
		You me teach
	c	Al vegnia
		He came
	d	La s lamintava
		She complained
	e	A v pusì mo pinsar vu
		You can so imagine
	f	che i j diseven ...
		That they to-him said
	g	cha possa imparar
		that+I can learn
	h	cha intend ...
		that+I understand
	i	l’intraviegn
		it happened

A subject pronoun is always present: no cases of pro drop
Subject pronouns on the complementizer
Always a subject pronoun: 
-a is in C° (?)
-third person pronouns are weak pronouns, not heads as their modern counterpart

(11)	a	Una zentildona de Guanscogna andò pelegrinando....
		A lady from Guascogna went in a pilgrimage
	b	La non truvava luogh
		She not found place...
	c	la i andò dinanz e si i diss
		She went in front of-him and so to him said

Therefore: the inflected verb never licenses pro, neither in C° nor in Agr°
-it identifies pro in first sg. and (first) and second pl., as the subject clitic in invariable

1. Modern French 

French is not a pro drop language

Subject Clitics are weak pronouns (see Cardinaletti and Starke (1997))

N.B. no systematic morphological change from Middle to modern French in the agreement paradigm
Hence: loss of pro drop is not connected to a morphological process

modern Bolognese and Polesano

two types of subject clitics: some in C°, some in I°

tests to distinguish the two types:

-position with respect to preverbal negation

(12)	a	A no vegno		Loreo
		SCL not come 
		‘I do not come’
	b	No la vien
		not SCL comes 
		‘She does not come’

-repetition in coordinated structures

(13)	a	A canto co ti  e balo co lu		Loreo
		SCL sing with you and dance with him
		‘I sing with you and dance with him’
(14)	a	*La magna patate e beve vin		Venice
		SCL eats potatoes and drinks coffee
		‘She eats potatoes and drinks coffee’
	b	*Ti magni patate e bevi vin
		SCL eat potatoes and drink wine
		‘You eat potatoes and drink coffee’

-obligatory clustering with the complementizer

(15)	a	Ara ch’a vegno 	Loreo (Veneto)
		look that+SCL come 
		‘Look, I am coming’
	b	*Ara che a vegno
	c	No so sa vegno
		not know if+SCL  come 
		‘I do not know whether I will come’
	d	*No so se a vegno
(16)	a	Ara che el vien	Loreo (Veneto)
		look that+SCL comes 
		‘Look, he is coming’
	b	Ara ch’el vien

the subject clitic licenses pro for all persons:

(17)	a	a magno 	modern Polesano
		I eat
	b	a te magni
		you eat
	c	el magna
		he eats
	d	a magnemo
		we eat
	e	a magnè
		you eat
	f 	i magna
		they eat
	g	a piove
		it rains
	h	a pare
		it seems

(18)	a	a magn 	Bolognese
	b	t magnet
	c	al magna 
	d	a magnen
	e	a magnè
	f	i magnan 
	g	al piov
	h	al per

-C° clitics only licenses pro, but do not identify it;
-Agr° clitics license and identify pro;
-Both C° and Agr are occupied by a subject clitic which renders the head able to license pro;
-C° can still contain a strong feature;
-First person singular, first person plural and second person plural are identified by the inflected verb in Agr;

3. Modern Padovano

The subject clitic or the inflected verb licenses pro depending on the person

(19)	a	magno
	b	te magni
	c	el magna
	d	magnemo
	e	magnè
	f	i magna
	g	piove
	h	 pare

(20) 	a	a piove!
		It is raining!
	b	a magno sì!
		Sure, I eat!

-The inflected verb in Agr licenses pro for first person singular, first person plural and second person plural;
-Second and third person are identified by the subject clitic;
-C° clitics are discourse markers;
-C° is not involved inpro licensing or identifying;

General Consequences

-the pro drop property is not directly related to morphology: (contra Jaeggli and Safir (1989), Roberts (1993). 

-Loss of pro drop occurs without any morphological change:
-Padovano and Polesano have exactly the same morphology but different pro drop conditions
-first singular and plural and second plural distinctive morphology can 
1. do nothing at all (French)
2. licence pro (Paduan)
3. identify pro but not license it (Bolognese and Polesano)

-a head can be marked as strong by move or merge: subject clitics are a merge strategy that substitutes a move strategy