The Functional Structure of Infinitive Relatives in Romance

Abstract

In this article, we will show that the modal properties of infinitive relative clauses are a direct consequence of their defective functional periphery, namely that they just project a FinP in the case of prepositional relatives, but up to ForceP in wh-relatives. While this truncation analysis helps us explain the special properties of infinitive relatives, it offers new insights into the standard analysis of in situ focus as covert movement to FocP and of right-dislocation as left-dislocation plus remnant movement of TP.

Keywords

• Focus. Infinitive relatives. Left periphery. Modal adverbs. Topic. Truncation