The root infinitive stage in a null subject language: Romance in the Balkans

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to determine which early non-finite verbal form is the Root Infinitive analogue in Romanian, an Inflection-licensed null subject language. In particular, we investigate whether the RI-analogue is the imperative, as predicted by Salustri and Hyams’s (2003) hypothesis, or whether it is a language specific underspecified form, overused during the early stages of acquisition, as predicted by Wexler et al. (2004).

Keywords

• root infinitive
• null subject language
• imperative
• bare subjunctive