Most Romance languages permit the overt realization of the grammatical subject in infinitive clauses in a considerable number of configurations. Mensching has the following goals: to systematically describe Romance infinitive constructions with specified subjects, taking into account diachronic and dialectical varieties; and then to interpret these facts within a generative framework, examining how over subjects in infinitive clauses are licensed and what determines their case and position. His findings call for a thorough ...
Read More
Most Romance languages permit the overt realization of the grammatical subject in infinitive clauses in a considerable number of configurations. Mensching has the following goals: to systematically describe Romance infinitive constructions with specified subjects, taking into account diachronic and dialectical varieties; and then to interpret these facts within a generative framework, examining how over subjects in infinitive clauses are licensed and what determines their case and position. His findings call for a thorough revision of the principles that have been assumed for analyzing the Romance languages. Mensching uses eight Romance languages in his comparisons, among them, Italian, Sardinian, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Read Less