The use of gerunds and infinitives in perceptive constructions

Abstract

In this article I compare the use of gerunds with perceptive verbs in Spanish and in Gardenese, a Rhaeto-Romance variety spoken in Northern Italy: perceptive gerunds are used as secondary predicates in Spanish but as defective TP-complements in Gardenese. Following Rizzi’s (2014) account of parametric variation, I propose that the differences are due to the interplay of three parameters: (i) a [+progressive] feature on Gardenese perception verbs, (ii) the pure lexical status of perception verbs in Gardenese, and (iii) a [+Agreement] feature on Spanish gerunds. The discussion of the parameters involved leads to more general considerations, such as a new proposal for the structure of perceptive ECMs in Romance, the confirmation of Folli and Harley’s (2007) analysis of Romance causative constructions, and the necessity of both the [+Agreement] and the [+Tense] feature in order to allow nominative non-finite subjects. The comparison with other Romance varieties confirms the role played by this parametric variation in perceptive constructions.

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