The canonical clitic

Abstract

Andrew Spencer and Ana Luís propose a characterization of the notion of canonical clitic based on the idea that clitics fall between canonical function words and canonical affixes. The authors first propose a set of putative canonical properties for affix and for function words. They then propose a set of criteria for clitics based on standard characterizations of clitics in the literature. They argue that there is no single set of properties which set clitics apart from affixes/function words and that the correct characterization of the canonical clitic is as an element with the form of a canonical affix but the distribution of a canonical function word. A variety of repercussions that follow from this approach are discussed, including the position of special clitics in the typology.

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