Anne-Li Demonie & Karen De Clercq

In this paper we adduce morphological support for the activation of a Speech Act layer, more particular an Addressee layer, in the syntax of Latin present imperatives (see Isac 2015 and Zanuttini 2008 for similar proposals). Evidence comes from a comparison between present and future imperatives. While the regular ϕ-morphology is generally absent and substituted for a different set of endings in these paradigms, it does resurface when the subject and Addressee of the imperative do not correspond, as is the case for the third person forms of the future imperative. We argue that this suggests that the ϕ-morphology, dedicated to the lexicalisation of the subject needs to be distinguished from the Addressee morphology in Latin, and that, accordingly, they must also be distinguished in syntax. We provide an analysis, couched in Nanosyntax (Starke 2009 et seq.) for the present imperative forms of the first verb class following amāre (‘love’).

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Authors:
De Clercq, Karen (LLF, CNRS, Paris)
Demonie, Anne-Li (Masaryk University)