Complementizers

1.3.1.1. Force Phrase (ForceP)

ForceP is the highest position of the Left Periphery, connected with previous discourse in main clauses; its head is selected by a higher verb in embedded clauses.

Force° is the head that expresses the sentence type (cf. Cheng 1991), that is whether the sentence is a question or a declarative, exclamative, relative, comparative, adverbial, and so on. The name of this functional head is referred to as Force, the illocutionary force of a sentence, and the term was given in Rizzi (1997) adopting Chomsky's specification of Force term. The head of ForceP is usually filled by a complementizer, a free functional morpheme, which often resembles "demonstrative pronouns, wh-elements, certain kinds of nouns, etc." (Rizzi 1997: 285); relative operators may occupy its specifier (Rizzi 1997: 289). Evidence from Italian shows that Topics can only follow Force, corresponding to the declarative complementizer che ‘that’ in (14):

(14) Italian

a. Ho deciso che, la macchina, la comprerò quest'anno I decided that, the car, I will buy it this year'

b. *Ho deciso la macchina, che la comprerò quest'anno I decided the car, that I will buy it this year

(Rizzi & Bocci 2017: 3; 1, 2)

1.3.1.2. IntP

Evidence from Italian indicates that complementizers such as se 'if ' must be kept distinct from the highest ForceP or the lowest FinP, since se ‘if’ can precede (15a), follow (15b) or be surrounded (15c) by Topics:

(15) Italian

a. Mi domando se, la macchina, potrò comprarla quest’anno I wonder if, the car, I will buy this year

b. Mi domando, la macchina, se potrò comprarla quest’anno I wonder, the car, if I will manage to buy it this year

c. Mi domando, a mio figlio, se, la macchina, gliela compreremo quest’anno I wonder, to my son, if, the car, we will buy it to him this year

(Rizzi & Bocci 2017: 5; 9)

On the other side, IntP is rigidly ordered with respect to Focus. Complementizer se 'if ' must precede the focalized element, as in (16):

(16) Italian

a. Mi domando se LA MACCHINA gli potremmo regalare (non la moto) I wonder if THE CAR we could give to him (not the motorbike)

b. *Mi domando LA MACCHINA se gli potremmo regalare (non la moto) I wonder THE CAR if we could give to him, (not the motorbike)

(Rizzi & Bocci 2017: 5, 10)

Not only does IntP host complementizers such as 'if ', but it also harbours wh-elements like perché 'why' and “other reason adverbials in its specifier, both in main and in embedded questions'' (Rizzi & Bocci 2017). Items like perché can be directly merged in IntP (Rizzi 2001) or they may land in IntP from a lower CP position (Shlonsky & Soare 2011). Finally, “Int should not be confused with the marker of interrogative Force, which plausibly appears in the highest position of the C-system” (Force; Rizzi 2013: 206).

1.3.1.3. Finitess Phrase (FinP)

The finitess head is the lowest head of the CP and it is in direct contact with the content of the IP. Rizzi (1997: 283) claims that “the choice of the complementizer reflects certain properties of the verbal system of the clause”, such as its finite/non-finite nature. Because of its position, FinP can only be preceded by Topics or Focus.

(17) Italian

a. Ho deciso la macchina di comprarla quest’anno I decided the car of buy.INF.it this year

b. *Ho deciso di la macchina comprarla quest’anno I decided of the car buy.INF.CL3F this year

Since FinP contains “a tense specification which matches the one expressed on the lower inflectional system” (Rizzi 1997: 283), FinP is often assumed to be the landing site of the verb within the CP, in VSO languages (cf. Roberts & Roussou 2002) and in V2 languages (cf. Haegeman 1996, Roberts 2004 a.o.). Chapter 2 will discuss the latter assumption.

1.3.1.4 Co-occurrence of complementizers

The complementizers represent the pillars of the Left Periphery, and it is possible to draw a first “cartography” of complementizer positions in (18).

(18) ForceP IntP FinP

Natural languages add further evidence to such a cartography, displaying co-occurrence of complementizers.

As for the co-occurrence of the extreme complementizers, Force can co-occur with FinP, the so-called double comp constructions. The complementizers can have either the same morpho-phonological realization, as in e.g. the Northern Italian varieties (Paoli 2007) in (19), or two different realizations, as in Welsh (Roberts 2004), where Force and Finitess are expressed by two particles, as illustrated in (20). Both examples show that the complemetizers globally surround Topic and Focus positions.

(19) Ligurian

I pensan che, quella zuvena i tö ch’ i nuo suportan propium, nu i mè

SCL think that that young the your that SCLNEG her.tolerate really NEG the my ‘They think that it is your parents who cannot stand that young women, not mine’

(Paoli 2007: 1069; 12)

(20) Welsh

Dywedais i mai fel arfer y dynion a fuasai'n gwerth'ur ci.

Said I PRT as usual the men PRT would asp sell-the dog ''I said that it's as usual the men who would sell the dog''

(Roberts 2004: 16)

On the other hand, ForceP and IntP can co-occur in different languages, for instance in Spanish (21a). Saito (2012) analyses the Japanese equivalent of (21a) as involving a higher head which marks the “reported” character of the embedded clause to, and a lower interrogative head ka (21b). Japanese is the mirror image of Spanish, due to the head parameter. Akin to Japanese, evidence of co-occurence are found in the Dravidian language Malayam (21c), where a "question marker" -oo can occur with a “quotative”

complementizers -∂:

(21) a. Spanish

Maria decía / preguntaba que si queríamos más sopa.

Maria said / asked that if would.like.1P more soup 'Maria said/asked whether we wanted some more soup'

(Demonte & Fernández-Soriano 2009: 31; 16a)

b. Japanese

Taroo-wa Ziroo-ni [dare-ga kare-no ie-ni kuru ka to] tazuneta Taroo-TOP Ziroo-DAT who-NOM he-GEN house-to come PRTPRT inquired 'Lit. Taroo asked Ziroo that who is coming to his house'

(Saito 2012)

c. Malayam

John Mary wannu-(w)oo enn∂ coodiccu John Mary came -Q COMP asked ‘John asked whether Mary came.’

(Jayaseelan 2008: 47; 10b)