Abstracts
Abstract
In this paper I propose that the existence of morphological paradigms in the domain of the verbal inflection is subject to a morphosyntactic constraint: paradigms are based on an asymmetrical relation between tense and agreement features. The syntactic dependence of agreement features on the Tense node is carried out at the morphological level in the following way: verbal forms that have a syntactic tense representation will be assigned a paradigm in a post syntactic morphological module; verbal forms that do not have a syntactic tense representation will not be assigned a morphological paradigm (as is the case of the so-called non-personal moods like the gerund) or will have a “parasitic paradigm” (as, for example, the subjunctive and the imperative in Romance languages). In other words, tense features legitimate paradigmatic structure. Examples from Romance languages as well as from unrelated languages as Hungarian and Albanian seem to support this hypothesis.
Résumé
Dans cet article, j’avance l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’existence des paradigmes morphologiques verbaux subit une contrainte morphosyntaxique: à la base de ces paradigmes, il y a une relation asymétrique entre les traits de temps et les traits d’accord. La dépendance syntaxique des traits d’accord par rapport au noeud temporel se traduit au niveau morphologique de la manière suivante: seulement les formes verbales qui ont une représentation temporelle au niveau syntaxique acquièrent un paradigme morphologique. Les formes verbales sans représentation temporelle au niveau syntaxique n’ont pas de paradigme (le cas des modes impersonnels comme le gérondif) ou acquièrent un paradigme «parasite» (le cas du subjonctif ou de l’impératif dans les langues romanes). Des exemples des langues romanes ainsi que de langues comme le hongrois ou l’albanais semblent appuyer cette hypothèse.
Appendices
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