Optional Participial Agreement with direct Object Clitics in Catalan

Abstract

This paper examines an optional phenomenon in a Catalan dialect, Barcelonian Catalan, that seems to be quite peculiar amongst the Romance languages. This phenomenon involves optional participial agreement with third person direct object clitics. In other Romance languages, this agreement is either compulsory (Italian, French...) or impos-, sible (Spanish, Portuguese...). I show that the optionality observed in Barcelonian Catalan cannot be adequately explained by analyses proposed in the literature regar-ding clitic raising. The analysis here proposed provides evidence for clitic raising as an example of XP movement, at least as far as AgrOP. There seems to be a link between overt participial agreement, A-movement of the DP clitic and alternation of auxiliaries. This link accounts for compulsory versus impossible participial agree-ment observed in most Romance languages as well as the optionality present in Barcelonian Catalan. Key words: participial agreement, clitics, optionality. Resum. Acord opcional del participi amb clítics d'objecte directe en catala

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