Download PERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS 1. Introduction

PERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
Sanda Rîpeanu Reinheimer, Liliane Tasmowski, Andra Vasilescu, Ion Giurgea
1. Introduction
2. Grammatical Features and Paradigm
2.1. The feature composition of personal pronouns
2.2. The forms
3. Syntactic differences between strong and clitic forms
4. Strong Pronouns
5. The Grammatical Functions of Clitic Pronouns
5.1 Common Grammatical Functions of Clitic and Strong Pronouns
5.2. Grammatical functions restricted to clitics
5.3. The Clitic Doubling of Strong Pronouns
5.4. Pronominal clitics vs. Inflection
5.5. Overt and null subject pronouns
6. The Structure of Clitic Clusters
6.1. Linear orders inside the verbal cluster
6.2. Constraints on the verbal host
6.3. Pronominal Clitic Clusters
6.3.1. The Order of Co-occurring Dative and Accusative Clitics
6.3.2. Ethical Datives Co-occurring with Other Pronominal Clitics
7. Clitic Allomorphs
7.1. The Forms
7.2. The Selection of Allomorphs
7.3. The Clitic o
7.4. Verb allomorphs
8. The Semantics of Personal Pronouns (Ion Giurgea)
8.1. Co-reference
8.2.The bound variable interpretation
8.3. The interpretation of Gender
8.4. Pronouns of laziness
8.5. Genderless pronouns
8.6. Pragmatic uses
(Andra Vasilescu)
1.
Introduction
Personal pronouns form a closed class of elements that send to referents via grammatical
features (person, number, gender). 1st and 2nd person singular pronouns (eu ‘I’ and tu ‘you’)
function as deictic elements that can be defined as respectively referring to the speaker and
hearer. The 1st person plural noi ‘we’ designates the speaker’s group (which may also include
the hearer – what is called the inclusive reading – or not – the exclusive reading), and 2nd
person plural voi ‘you’ designates a group including the hearer and excluding the speaker.
Third person singular and plural pronouns (el/ea ‘he/she’, ei/ele ‘they m./f.’) can
function either as anaphoric elements (taking reference from another DP in the text, which
will be referred to as the antecedent) or as deictic elements.
Reflexive pronouns are formally distinguished from personal pronouns only in the 3rd
person.
1
2. Grammatical Features and Paradigm
2.1. The feature composition of personal pronouns
Person features are complex features, which can be decomposed into ±Participant, ±Speaker
and ±group. The ±Participant feature identifies the referent of the pro-form as participating or
not to the dialogue. Among the pronouns marked as [+Participant] we may further distinguish
between those pronouns that refer to the Speaker (or the group of the Speaker), which are
marked here as [+Speaker] and those that refer to the Hearer (or his group), excluding the
speaker, marked here as [-Speaker]. Each of the two classes of pronouns thus separated,
namely [+Participant,+Speaker] and [+Participant,-Speaker], can be further distinguished by
the Number feature, which in this case is interpreted as [Group] – hence we label it [Group].
By combining these features we obtain Persons 1 and 2 singular, characterized as
[+Participant,+Speaker,-group] and [+Participant,-Speaker,-group], respectively. The +group
counterparts of these pronouns correspond to Persons 1 and 2 plural.
Number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine, see Table 1) oppositions
characterize 3rd person pronouns only.
The following diagram summarizes the feature composition of the Romanian personal
pronouns:
The personal pronoun
[+Participant]
[+Speaker]
(Person 1)
[-Participant](Person 3)
[-Speaker]
(Person 2)
[-group] [+group] [-group] [+group]
(sg.)
(pl.)
(sg.)
(pl.)
eu
noi
tu
voi
[singular]
[masc] [fem]
el
ea
[plural]
[masc] [fem]
ei
ele
The 3rd person pronominal forms have masculine/feminine gender features, which correspond
either to the gender features of their nominal antecedent, or to the sex (male/female) of their
referent.
The 3rd person is also the only person to have special reflexive forms. These forms do
not show any gender or number opposition, so we analyze them as [+anaph +3rd]. For the
other persons the forms of the personal pronouns may also function as reflexive (indicating
co-reference inside a minimal domain and as voice markers for inchoatives and middles). We
consider therefore that +Participant pronouns are unmarked for the anaph feature.
The class of so-called ‘neuter’ nouns trigger masculine agreement in the singular, and feminine
agreement in the plural; accordingly, pronouns with a “neuter” nominal antecedent are masculine in the singular
and feminine in the plural:
(i)
a. Am pus creionuli
pe masă. Nu-li
găsesc acum
2
Have.1SG put pencil-the.MSG on table. Not CL.3MSG.ACC find.1SG now
‘I put the pencil on the table. I cannot find it now’
b. Am pus creioanelei
pe masă. Nu lei,
găsesc acum
have.1SG put pencils-the.FPL on table. Not CL.3FPL.ACC find.1SG now
‘I put the pencils on the table. I cannot find them now’
Romanian does not have a special form for reference to the content of a proposition/a state of
affairs. Sometimes the feminine accusative weak pronoun o is used with this meaning (see (118)-(121)), but the
most common forms that fulfill this function belong to the demonstrative paradigm (asta, aia, see Chapter 3):
(i)
a. Am
spus -o!
have.1SG said-CL.3FSG.ACC
‘I said it’
b. O s
-o
fac cu siguranŃă
will SUBJ-CL.3FSG.ACC do with surety
‘I’ll surely do it’
No personal pronoun (clitic or strong) can stand for a predicate in Romanian (compare French, where le can
function as an AdjP substitute):
(ii)
sunt fericită/ *o sunt
am happy/* CL.3FSG.ACC am
I am happy/*I am it (cf. Fr. Je suis heureuse/Je le suis)
The reflexive clitic appears not only as a pronoun wtih a reflexive interpretation, but also as a
non-pronominal marker of a verbal form that has various interpretations, e.g., inchoative, middle, passive. These
non-pronominal uses of SE will be examined in the second Volume.
2.2. The forms
Romanian personal pronouns have two series of forms – strong/non-clitic forms and weak/
clitic forms – which differ regarding their phonologic, morphologic, syntactic and semanticpragmatic behaviour. Romanian personal pronouns are presented in the table below: 1
1sg
2sg
1pl
2pl
3
sg
M.
F.
M.
F
3 Reflexive
3pl
STRONG FORMS
N
Ac
eu
mine
tu
tine
noi
noi
voi
voi
D
mie
Ńie
nouă
vouă
G
-
CLITIC FORMS
A
(G)D
m(ă)
[î]mi
te
[î]Ńi
ne
ne, ni
v(ă)
v(ă), vi
el
lui
lui
[î]l
el
ea
ei
ele
ea
ei
ei
o
ei
lor
lor
[î]i
ele
lor
lor
le
sine
sie, sieşi
se
Table 1. The forms of personal and reflexive pronouns
The alternative forms of clitics indicated by
discussed in section 7.
The forms of personal pronouns of persons
exception of clitic forms, in the singular (which are
These morphological gaps are filled by possessive
[î]i
[î]i
le, li
le, li
[î]şi
brackets are allomorphs, which will be
1 and 2 lack Genitive forms, with the
for the most part archaic, see 3 below).
adjectives. On the alternation between
1
For the use of certain Nominative pronouns as Vocatives, see Chapter *+*. Reflexive pronouns, which are
included in Table 1 for completeness, will be presented in Section *+* of this chapter.
3
possessive adjectives (for Persons 1, 2) and genitive-marked possessive pronouns (for Person
3 sg. and pl.), see Chapter 5, section 5.
As can be seen from Table 1, the paradigm of pronouns has some instances of syncretism for
both strong and clitic forms: (i) the genitive forms of 3rd pers. sg. and pl. are homonymous with the dative forms
of 3rd pers. sg. and pl., on a par with the genitive and dative forms of nouns ; (ii) the 3rd plural dative and genitive
have identical feminine and masculine forms. In the paradigm of strong pronouns, 3rd person pronouns have
identical strong forms for the nominative and the accusative. In the clitic paradigm, there are some instances of
homonymy: (î)i is both 3rd person singular dative and 3rd person plural masculine accusative; le is 3rd person
plural feminine accusative and also an allomorph of the 3rd plural dative; ne, vă are 1st/2nd person plural
accusative and allomorphs of the 1st/2nd plural person dative.
There are no nominative clitics. Rich agreement suffixes on the finite verb play the
role of weak/clitic forms for nominative pronouns, see section 5.5.
3. Syntactic differences between strong and clitic forms
Strong pronouns can appear in all positions where DPs can appear, namely as subjects,
complements of verbs, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, nouns or interjections:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
a venit Gheorghe/el
has come Gheorghe/he
‘Gheorghe/He came’
a. lam
văzut pe Gheorghe/pe el
CL.3MSG.ACC have.1SG seen DOM Gheorghe/DOM him
‘I saw Gheorghe/him’
b. iam
dat lui Gheorghe/lui
CL.3SG.DAT have.1SG given DAT Gheorghe/him.DAT
‘I gave to Gheorghe/him’
c. acordate studenŃilor/
lor
awarded students-the.DAT/them.DAT
‘awarded to the students/to them’
d. de adus
copiilor/
lor
of bring.SUP kids-the.DAT/them.DAT
‘to bring to the kids/to them’
a. a venit cu soŃia/
cu mine
has come with wife-the /with me
‘he came with his wife/with me’
b. mulŃumită ei
thanks
her.DAT
‘thanks to her’
c. în faŃa ei
in face-the her.GEN
‘in front of her’
a. trăsăturile specifice limbii
române/ ei
traits-the specific language-the.DAT Romanian/3FSG.DAT
‘the traits specific to the Romanian language/to it’
b. asemenea invitaŃilor/
nouă
similar
guests-the.DAT/us.DAT
‘similar to the guests/to us’
casa
tatălui/
lui
house-the father-the.GEN/his.GEN
‘the father’s/his house’
bravo câştigătorilor/ lor
bravo winners-the.DAT/them.DAT
‘bravo to the winners/to them.’
4
Like DPs, strong pronouns can appear as the only overt material of an utterance, for instance
in elliptical answers to questions:
(7)
a. Cine a citit cartea? - Profesoara/ Ea
who has read book-the teacher-the/she.NOM
‘Who read the book? – The teacher/She did’
b. Cui
iai
dat cartea ? –
Profesoarei/
Ei
whom.DAT CL.3SG.DAT have.2SG given book-the
teacher-the.FSG.DAT/ her.DAT
‘To whom did you give the book? To the teacher/To her.’
Like DPs, they can be left dislocated :
(8)
Băiatului/
lui, nu vreau
să -i
scriu
boy-the.DAT/him.DAT not want.1SG SUBJ-CL.3SG.ACC write.1SG
‘As for the boy/him, I don’t want to write him.’
Clitic pronouns can appear in none of the syntactic environments listed above. The
distinctive property of clitics is that they do not occupy a free-standing syntactic position, but
instead they must attach to another element, generally the inflected verb (but also to nouns
and adjectives marked with the definite article). The resulting constituent is not phrasal (in
other words, the verb and the clitic do not form a VP) but instead has the status of a Head (X°
element), which occupies a V-position.
The fact that clitics are not free-standing elements is supported by the following observations:
(i) Clitics do not have a word accent. Note however that the word accent must be
distinguished from contrastive stress, which is used with the purpose of correcting a previous
assertion. The syllabic allomorphs of clitics can receive a contrastive accent of correction,
which is also found on unstressed syllables inside a word (see (9)b):
(9)
a. Am zis ÎMI place, nu ÎI place
‘I said I like, not HE likes’
b. Am zis intenSIOnal, nu intenłIOnal
‘I said intensional, not intentional’
(ii) Clitics have a fixed position with respect to the host, from which they cannot be separated
except, in well defined circonstances, by other clitics (see sections 6-7 for the order inside
clitic clusters and the distinction between syntactic and phonetic hosts):
(10)
mă
(*deja) vede
me.CL.ACC already sees
‘he already sees me’
(iii) They cannot be coordinated or modified:
(11)
a. *ne
şi vă vede
us.CL.ACC and you.CL.ACC sees
b. a luat (*doar) -o
has taken only CL.3FSG.ACC
c. îl (*,
care mia zis că vine,) aştept
him.CL.ACC who me.CL.DAT-has said that comes wait.1
d. *numai ÎL
iubeşte
5
only
him.CL.ACC loves
(iv) They cannot form a complete utterance on their own (in elliptical answers):
(12)
Pe
cine a
văzut? /– *Îl
seen
him.CL.ACC
‘Whom did he see?/ – Him.’
DOM whom has
Strong pronouns differ from clitics insofar as they are free-standing forms, which occupy a
syntactic position that is independent from the position of the verb, hence the various
possibilities illustrated in examples (1)-(8) at the beginning of this section. They can carry a
word accent, can be coordinated and modified, can form a complete utterance:
(13)
a. Ne
spune mie
şi Ńie
us.CL.DAT tells
me.DAT and you.DAT
‘He is telling me and you’
b. Ne spune doar nouă
us.CL.DAT says only us.DAT
‘He is telling only us’
c. El, care nu crede
he.NOM who not believes
‘He, who doesn’t believe’
d. Cui
îi
scrii?
Ei.
whom.DAT CL.3SG.DAT write.2SG her.DAT
‘To whom are you writing? To her.’
In short, clitics never occupy the same syntactic position as strong forms: they are X0
elements (heads) that attach to another X0 element, while strong pronouns are free-standing
constituents which have the distribution of DPs.
In Romanian, clitics are canonically hosted by the inflected verb. Marginally (mostly
archaic; the symbol ‘!’ notates the marked character of this type of clitic), they may also
attach to nouns or adjectives bearing the definite article and to genitive-taking prepositions.
When hosted by nouns or prepositions, the clitic is Genitive (see (14)a and (14)b,
respectively, and chapter 5). The only case where the clitic is still used in present-day
language is with the adjective propriu ‘own’ (see (14)c):
(14)
a. împotriva vieŃii/
! împotriva-i
against
life-the.GEN/against-CL.3FSG.GEN
b. sufletul omului
/! sufletu-mi
soul-the man-the.GEN/soul-the-CL.1SG.GEN
c. propria-mi
mamă
own-the-CL.1SG.GEN mother
Some interjections allow Accusative clitics:
(15)
a. iată-l
lo - CL.3SG.ACC
‘There he is’
b. uite-l
look -CL.3SG.ACC
‘There he is.’
6
4. Strong Pronouns
In the preceding section we have shown that strong personal pronouns – as opposed to
pronominal clitics – have the distribution of DPs. In this section we will show that they
nevertheless resemble clitics and differ from DPs insofar as they are minimal elements, which
contain only features such as Person, Number and Gender, but have no internal structure; in
other words, they contain no sub-constituents.
Because strong pronouns have no internal structure, they cannot be preceded by any
determiner, nor by any of the elements that inside DPs occupy the position between
determiners and nouns:
(16)
a. acest copil/*acest el
this child/* this
he
b. doi copii/*doi ei
two children/*two them
These impossibilities indicate that determiners, as well as prenominal elements, are of
necessity DP-internal, and as such they are incompatible with personal pronouns, which
cannot combine with any DP-internal constituents.
The only elements that can precede personal pronouns are those that precede
determiners, e.g., focal particles and intensifiers :
(17)
focal particles (chiar, doar, şi, tot, nici) :
a. chiar el/băiatul cel mare al vecinului/Ion
even
he/boy-the the old ART neighbour-the.GEN/John
‘even he/even the neighbour’s elder son/even John’
b. doar el/acest băiat/Ion
‘only he/this boy/John
c. şi el/bietul copil/Ion
also he/poor-the child/John
‘he too/the poor child/John too’
(18)
intensifiers (însuşi):
însuşi el/ băiatul cel mare al vecinului/Ion
himself he/boy-the the old ART neighbour-the.GEN/John
‘he himself/the neighbour’s elder son himself/John himself’
Postnominal constituents can be either DP-internal or DP-external. The examples below show
that the former are incompatible with personal pronouns :
(19)
2
a. bǎiatul meu vs. *el meu
boy-the my
*he my
‘my son’ vs * ‘my he’
b. bǎiatul vecinului
vs. *el vecinului
boy-the neighbour-the.GEN
he neighbour-the.GEN
‘the neighbour’s son’ vs * ‘the neighbour’s he’
c. bǎiatul brunet vs. *el brunet
boy-the brown
he brown
‘the brown (haired) boy’ vs * ‘the brown (haired) he’
d. bǎiatul de pe bancǎ vs. *el de pe bancǎ
boy-the of2 on bench
he of on bench
‘the boy on the bench vs *he on the bench’
For this use of de in Romanian see chapter 7 (Adnominal Prepositional Phrases).
7
Note that the meanings of these impossible configurations can be expressed by using special
elements that are called ‘(genitival/adjectival) articles’ in the Romanian grammatical tradition:
(20)
a. al
meu
ART.MSG my
‘mine’
b. al
vecinului
ART.MSG neighbour-the.MSG.GEN
‘the neighbour’s’
c. cel
brunet
the.MSG brown
‘the brown one’
d. cel de pe bancă
the.MSG of on bench
‘the one on the bench’
As explained in detail in Chapter 3, section 1.3, these forms can be analyzed as fused D+N
heads or as Ds followed by a null N. Either way, such elements are not pro-DPs, but instead
involve an N-constituent, which explains why they may combine with DP-internal arguments
or modifiers.
Singular 1st and 2nd person pronouns and 3rd person pronouns are also incompatible
with a class of modifiers which are allowed by proper nouns without a determiner: restrictive
relative clauses, cel+adjective/PP, al+genitive, de-PPs. Interestingly, these modifiers may
appear with plural 1st and 2nd person pronouns:
(21)
a. voi ai
lui Vadim
you ART.MPL GEN Vadim
‘you, Vadim’s supporters/people’
b. Gheorghe al
Mariei
Gheorghe ART.MSG Mary.GEN
‘Gheorghe, Maria’s husband/son’
c. *ei ai
lui Vadim
they ART.MPL GEN Vadim
d.*el al Mariei
he ART.MSG Maria.GEN
e. *eu al Ioanei
I ART.MSG Johanna.GEN
(22)
a. Gheorghe de la mare
Gheorghe of at sea
‘Gheorghe from the seaside’
b. *el de la mare
‘he of at sea’
a. noi care am
fost acolo
we who have.1PL been there
‘we who were there’
b. Gheorghe care lucrează în fabrică
Gheorghe who works in factory
‘The Gheorghe who works in the factory’
c. *el care a fost acolo/care lucrează în fabrică
he
who has been there/who works in factory
d. *eu care am fost acolo
I who have been there
(23)
8
(24)
a. noi cei deştepŃi
we the.MPL smart
‘we the smart ones’
b. * el cel deştept
he
the.MSG smart
The 2nd person singular pronoun may take a de-PP only when used as a vocative:
(i)
a. Tu de-acolo, ieşi la tablă!
you of-there go to blackboard
‘You over there, go to the blackboard’
b. *Te
prefer pe tine
de-acolo.
you.CL.ACC prefer DOM you.ACC of-there
‘I prefer you over there.’
The fact that these modifiers can combine with the plural 1st and 2nd person pronouns, and
also with proper nouns without a determiner, which do not allow postnominal adjectives (see
chapter 11 – Proper Nouns), suggests that they belong to a higher layer of modification, being
perhaps DP-adjuncts, and the reason why they are incompatible with certain pronouns is
probably that they express restrictive modification. This hypothesis leads us to the conclusion
that singular 1st and 2nd person pronouns cannot allow restrictive modification of any sort.
This follows directly from their meaning – the speaker and the addressee are unique, no
predicate can be used to pick a sub-set or an individual from a larger set. Compare plural 1st
and 2nd person pronouns, which denote groups: here the restrictive modifier specifies the
composition of the group containing the speaker/addressee.
For 3rd person pronouns, the explanation is less straightforward: note that the forms cel
and al illustrated in (20) may be used to convey what supposedly would be the meaning of the
impossible structure Pronoun + Modifier:
(25)
a. cel
care a fost acolo lucrează în fabrică
the.MSG who has been there works in factory
‘the one who was there works in a factory’
b. (cei/ăia)
ai
lui Vadim
the.MPL/those ART.MPL GEN Vadim
‘the ones/those of Vadim’s’
If forms such as al and cel indeed dominate a N-constituent as stated above, they present a
configuration that allows restrictive modification. Compare personal pronouns, which are proDP constituents, and as such cannot be used with NP-level modification. Let’s assume that
restrictive modification must be expressed by NP-level modification wherever possible. Since
for the 3rd person, NP-level modification is allowed due to the existence of forms of the type
cel and al, DP-adjunction to personal pronouns is excluded. DP-adjuncts may function as
restrictive modifiers only in those contexts in which NP-internal modification is impossible:
with plural 1st and 2nd person pronouns and with proper nouns without a determiner (see
examples 21-24).
9
The only elements with which all strong pronouns are compatible are truly DPexternal elements (non-restrictive)3:
- intensifiers (însuşi, singur, unul):
(26)
a. băiatul cel mare al vecinului/
Ion /el însuşi
boy-the the old ART neighbour-the.GEN /John /he himself
‘the neighbour’s elder son /John /he himself’
b. Ion/el singur ştie
ce gândeşte
John/he alone knows what thinks
‘Only John/he knows what’s on his mind’
c. Ion/el unul4
John/he one-the
‘As for him/John.’
- non-restrictive relative clauses:
(27)
băiatul cel mare al vecinului/
Ion/el, care a făcut atâta pentru noi
boy-the the old ART neighbour-the.GEN /John/he, who has done many for us
‘the neighbour’s elder son/John/he, who did so much for us’
- appositive DPs (for pronouns of Person 4-5):
(28)
noi/voi femeile
iubim /iubiŃi
natura
we/you women-the love.1PL/love.2PL nature-the
‘we/you women love nature’
That the example in (28) is built with an appositive DP is indicated by the fact that the definite
article is obligatory. Compare languages such as English, French or Italian, which allow a
bare noun, e.g., we linguists, nous linguistes, noi Italiani.
Note that pronouns cannot function as appositions:
(29)
*Femeile noi iubim natura
women-the we love nature-the
Pronouns can also be modified by postposed cardinals and the universals toŃi, tot ‘all,
the whole’ and amândoi ‘both’:
(30)
a. au plecat ei doi
have left they two
‘these two left’
3
Adjectives following the pronoun or proper name in the examples below are not modifiers of the DP, but
predicates of a small-clause (whose subject probably is a PRO co-indexed with the pronoun; see Second
Volume, the chapter on Small Clauses):
(i)
aici este Maria/ea mireasă
here is Mary/she bride
‘this is Mary/she, as a bride’
(ii)
aici este Ion/el mic
here is John/he little.MSG
‘this is John/he, as a little boy’
4
The emphatic particle unul generally combines with 1st person singular, although 2nd and 3rd person singular
pronouns are not excluded: eu unul/tu unul/el unul (I one-the/you.SG one-the/he one-the – as for me/as for you/as
for him).
10
b. au plecat ei toŃi
have left they all
‘they all left’
With DPs, this kind of modification is excluded with cardinals, and exceptional with
universals (in the normal order, the universal appears before the determiner and the cardinal in
between the determiner and the noun):
(31)
a. * au plecat oamenii deştepŃi doi
have left men-the smart two
a’. au plecat cei doi oameni deştepŃi
have left the two people smart
‘the two smart people left’
b. ? au plecat fetele mele toate
have left daughters-the my all
‘my daughters all left’
b’. au plecat toate fetele mele
have left all daughters-the my
‘all my daughters left’
5. The Grammatical Functions of Clitic Pronouns
5.1 Common Grammatical Functions of Clitic and Strong Pronouns
Although they never occupy the same position as DPs and strong pronouns (see above), clitics
can realize the same grammatical functions as DPs and strong pronominal forms: the direct
and indirect objects of verbs and verbal interjections, the dative complement of adjectives, the
adnominal genitive and the genitive complement of prepositions (see 3 above on the
restrictions on the use of genitive clitics):
(32)
(33)
(34)
(35)
(36)
(37)
Iubesc viaŃa/O
iubesc
love life-the/CL.3FSG.ACC love
‘I love life/I love it’
Acord încredere guvernului/
Îi
acord încredere
give trust
government-the.DAT/CL.3MSG.DAT give trust
‘I trust the government’
Iată marea/Iat -o
look sea-the/ look-CL.3FSG.ACC
‘Here is the sea/‘here it is’
copil drag/copilul îmi
este drag
child dear/child-the me.CL.DAT is dear
‘dear child’/the child is dear to me’
sufletul omului/
sufletu -mi
soul-the man-the.GEN/soul-the me.CL.GEN
‘the man’s soul’/‘my soul’
în jurul copacului/ în juru -i
around tree-the.GEN/around CL.3MSG.GEN
‘around the tree/around it’
To this we may add the function of dative adjuncts (benefactor or possessor). Note however
that in this case a DP must be doubled by a clitic:
(38)
I-
am
spart un vas unei prietene/ Iam
spart un vas
a dish a.DAT friend(FEM)/ CL.3SG.DAT have.1SG broken a dish
‘I broke a dish to a friend/I broke one of her dishes’
CL.3SGF.DAT have.1SG broken
11
The clitic may realize these functions only when the verb, noun or adjective qualifies as an
appropriate host, and it does conflict with another clitic belonging to the same clitic cluster
(see 6.3). The conditions which a verb must fulfill in order to be able to host clitics will be
presented in 6.2 below. As for nouns and adjectives, the condition is that they bear the suffixal
definite article.
5.2. Grammatical functions restricted to clitics
Clitic forms have some specific functions, which are not found with DPs or strong pronouns.
In some of these cases, strong pronouns cannot appear by themselves, and they cannot be
clitic-doubled either:
(i)
“Ethical Dative” (with persons 1-2 singular), showing speaker’s or hearer’s emotional
involvement (no English equivalent):
(39)
a. Pe unde -mi
umbli ?
Over where-me.CL.DAT wander
Where are you wondering?
b. Şi Ńi
-l
luă
o dată de grumaz!
And CL.2SG.DAT him.CL.ACC grabbed once by neck!
‘And all of a sudden, he grabbed him by his neck!’
(ii)
Reflexive markers, for inherent reflexive verbs, inchoatives and reflexive passives and
impersonals (only the 3rd persons have special reflexive forms, see section 2 above; for
persons 1-2 and 4-5, the pronominal forms are also used as reflexives):
(40)
(iii)
(41)
a. Ne jucăm
/*Ne
jucăm pe noi
(inherent reflexive)
CL.1PL.ACC play.1PL CL.1PL.ACC play.1PL DOM us
‘We are playing’
b. Omul s-a
îngrăşat /*Omul s-a
îngrăşat pe sine
(inchoative SE)
man-the REFL.CL.ACC-has fatten man-the REFL.CL.ACC-has fatten DOM himself
‘The man got fat’
c. S-au
adus prizonierii
(passive SE)
REFL.CL.ACC-have brought prisoners-the
‘The prisoners were brought’
d. Se
doarme bine aici
(impersonal SE)
REFL.CL.ACC sleeps well here
‘One can sleep well here’
In some idiomatic constructions:
a. a luat-o
la sănătoasa
has taken-CL.3FSG.ACC at healthy-the.FEM
‘He beat it’
b. şi dă-i
şi luptă
and give.IMPER-CL.3SG.DAT and fight.IMPER
‘He kept fighting’
5.3. The Clitic Doubling of Strong Pronouns
Accusative and Dative clitics may co-occur with a DP or a strong pronoun realizing the same
function. This phenomenon, which is currently referred to as ‘clitic doubling’, shows different
properties depending on whether the doubled element is a DP containing a noun (see the
chapter dedicated to Clitic doubling in the second volume) or a strong pronoun. Here we will
12
concentrate on the doubling of strong pronouns, which is obligatory, provided that the
environment offers a host for the clitic (for configurations which do not provide such a host,
see section 6.2.).
(42)
a. (Le-)
am
dat cadouri multora/ copiilor
them.CL.DAT have.1SG given presents many.DAT/children.DAT
‘I gave presents to many people/the children’
b. *(Le-)
am
dat cadouri lor
them.CL.DAT have.1SG given presents them.DAT
‘I gave presents to them’
c. *(Le-)
am
dat cadouri lui
şi Monicăi
Them.CL.DAT have.1SG given presents him.DAT and Monica.DAT
‘I gave presents to him and Monica.’
In all those contexts in which the clitic is possible, a strong pronoun can be used provided that
it is doubled by the clitic. Note that clitic-doubling occurs only in the verbal domain. Compare
strong Genitive pronouns, which cannot be doubled by Genitive clitics:
(43)
a. * împotriva-i
lui
against
-CL.3MSG.GEN he.GEN
b. * inima-i
lui
heart-the-CL.3MSG.GEN he.GEN
Some of the conditions which trigger the use of a strong form alongside the clitic are
formal: a strong form has to be used in order to allow modification, contrastive stress,
coordination, topicalization, all of which cannot be realized by the clitic, see 3.1. above.
(44)
a. îl
vreau
pe EL
CL.3MSG.ACC want.1SG DOM him
‘I want HIM’
b. Pe el
îl
ştiu
de mult
DOM him CL.3MSG.ACC know.1SG for long
‘I have known him for a long time’
c. îl CUNOSC
pe el
(postverbal topic)
CL.3MSG.ACC know.1SG DOM him
‘I KNOW him’
d. îi
aştept pe el şi pe Maria
CL.3MPL.ACC wait.1SG DOM him and DOM Maria
‘I wait for him and Mary’
e. îl
cred
numai pe el
CL.3MSG.ACC believe.1SG only DOM him
‘I believe only him’
Besides these constraints, strong forms may appear for purely semantic reasons: when the
pronoun is deictically used, or when it has a contrastive meaning (the referent is contrasted
with other referents) without carrying contrastive stress:
(45)
a. întreabă-l
pe el
ask.IMPER-him.CL.ACC DOM him
‘ask him over there’ (with a gesture)
(deictic)
b. întreabă-l
pe el, dacă pe mine
nu mă
crezi (contrastive meaning)
ask.IMPER-him.CL.ACC DOM him if DOM me.ACC not me.CL.ACC believe.2SG
‘ask him, if you don’t believe me’
13
In all these cases, strong forms normally refer to humans. Exceptionally, when a strong form
must be used because of modification or coordination, it can refer to a non-human entity:
(46)
Nu sunt tulburătoare aceste analogii ? Nu vă
vine să lăsaŃi totul
baltă pentru
not are thrilling these analogies not you.CL.DAT comes SUBJ let.2PL everything puddle for
a le
studia doar pe ele?
(Ex. Internet)
to CL.3FPL.ACC study.INF only DOM them(F)
‘Aren’t these analogies thrilling? Don’t you feel like dropping everything in order to study
only them?’
5.4. Pronominal clitics vs. Inflection
Several facts support the hypothesis that Romanian clitics are inflectional elements:
(i) they are functional categories that incorporate grammatical features (person, number,
gender, case) (see 1. above). This is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition: see strong
pronouns, which cannot be said to be inflectional elements, although they are mere bundles of
features;
(ii) their position with respect to the verb is fixed, rule governed (see 5. above); they
appear in a cluster of X0 elements containing verbal inflectional elements, occupying a
position where no DP can appear; in this they resemble inflectional heads (for instance, clitic
auxiliaries);
(iii) clitics share the syntactic behaviour of inflectional elements: like inflectional
morphemes, clitics are repeated on each host, even in coordination:5
(47) a. le
cumpăr şi ??(le)
citesc
cu plăcere
them.CL.ACC buy.1SG and them.CL.ACC read.1SG with pleasure
‘I buy them and read them with pleasure’
b. văzându-i
şi auzindu -i
/*văzându-i
şi
see.GER-them.CL.ACC and hear.GER-them.CL.ACC/see.GER-them.CL.3MPL.ACC and
auzind /*văzând şi auzindu -i
hear.GER/see.GER and hear.GER-them.CL.ACC
‘seeing them and hearing them/seeing them and hearing/seeing and hearing them’.
(iv) The clitic doubling of direct/indirect objects (see 5.3.-5.4. above) is parallel to verb –
subject agreement (See Chapter *+* on Agreement).
Nevertheless, there are several differences between inflectional elements and clitics:
(i) Generally, all members of a lexical category take the specific inflectional morphemes
of the class (almost all nouns take singular – plural morphemes; all verbs take tense – mood –
person – number morphemes) while clitics occur under specific syntactic and discourse
circumstances. Although direct and indirect object clitic doubling can be compared to verbsubject agreement, verb-subject agreement is general, while object doubling is lexically,
semantically, morphologically and syntactically restricted.
(ii) A given inflectional morpheme has a fixed position relative to the verb (see note 29
for very few exceptions), i.e., a particular morpheme is either a suffix (e.g., person or tense
5
Exceptions are possible when two (or more) semantically related verbs are coordinated, and treated as a
complex action. In this case only the first pre-verbal clitic is obligatory, while others can be deleted ; deletion is
not possibile with post-verbal clitics (which are more tightly connected to the verb, i.e., no element can be
inserted between the verb and the clitic – see 5.1.) :
(i)
le
citesc şi (le)
recitesc
tot timpul
CL.3FPL.ACC read.1SG and (CL.3FPL.ACC) re-read.1SG all time-the
‘I’m reading them all the time, again and again’
(ii)
*citind
şi recitindu -le
tot timpul
*read.GER and re-read.GER-CL.3FPL.ACC all time-the
14
inflectional morphemes on verbs) or a prefix (e.g., derivational morphemes such as re-, des-,
etc.). This is not the case with clitics: as is clear from Table 2 in the following section, the two
positions labeled Clitic Pronoun 1 and Clitic Pronoun 2 can be occupied by the same clitic(s),
depending on the morphosyntactic (and phonological, for the clitic o) properties of the other
elements that attach to the verb.
(iii) Inflectional elements cannot be separated from the verb, while some clitic
adverbials can intervene between a pre-posed clitic and its verbal host (see 5.1.).
5.5. Overt and null subject pronouns
The syntactic and semantic conditions that regulate the use of strong DO and IO forms are
similar to those that govern the use of pronominal subjects (which in Romanian have only
strong, non-clitic forms).
Romanian is a pro-drop language: nominative pronominal subjects that are
anaphorically or deictically retrievable may be dropped. This possibility is correlated with the
fact that the verbal inflection carries the person and number (but not gender) features of the
subject: lucrez (lit. work.1SG, “I work”); lucrezi (lit. work.2SG, “you work”); lucrează (lit.
work.3SG/PL, “he/she/it works, they work”)6; lucrăm (lit. work.1PL, “we work”); lucraŃi
(lit.work.2PL “you work”). If we analyze subject-drop as an instance of pro (null subject)
licensed by rich inflection, we can consider the null subject as a kind of weak form akin to
clitics. We can also consider that the rich inflection is the correspondent of a clitic form.
Either way, the alternation between null/implicit subjects and overt pronominal subjects
resembles the alternation between object clitics and strong object pronouns. It should however
be observed that the use of overt subjects is less restricted than the use of strong objects, a
situation which is probably related to the fact that the verbal inflection does not mark gender
(see (49)).
Like strong pronouns in objects positions, overt subjects must be used in order to
allow coordination, modification, topicalization, contrastive stress, and for deixis and
contrastive meaning (when the referent is contrasted with other entities without being a
contrastive focus, see ex. (48)f-g):
(48)
a. El şi tatăl
lui vin
mâine
he and father-the his come.3PL tomorrow
‘He and his father come tomorrow’
b. Numai/chiar şi eu vin
only/even
I come.1
‘Only I will come/Even I will come’
c. eu VIN
‘I COME’
d. EU vin
‘I come’
e. El o să vină
‘he, over there, will come’ (deictic, with a gesture)
f. Are dreptate, cred eu
Has
right, think.1SG I
‘He is right, I think’
g. Ion mi-a
spus că Maria nu vine mîine.
Eu cred că va veni.
Ion ME.CL.DAT-has told that Maria not comes tomorrow I believe that will.3SG come
‘Ion told me that Maria would not come tomorrow. I think she will come.’
6
The pronominal subject is dropped even if the verbal forms do not show any gender or number distinctions:
(el/ea, ei/ele) lucrează.
15
The overt realization of subject pronouns is also meant to avoid gender ambiguities (since
inflection does not show gender distinctions):
(49)
Băiatul şi fata se Ńineau de mână. Ea întoarce capul.
boy-the and girl-the REFL hold.IMPERF of hand she turns head-the
‘The boy and the girl were holding their hands. She turned her head.’
Overt subjects may also be used when the entity they refer to is not (yet) a discourse theme:
(50)
Vom vorbi astăzi despre Enescu. El a fost un mare compozitor.
will.1PL speak today about Enescu he has been a great composer
‘Today we will talk about Enescu. He was a great composer.’
In this case, Romanian allows pronominal subjects to refer to non-human referents:
(51)
a. Când eşti bătrân, surâzi
când te gândeşti la viaŃă şi la tot
ce îŃi
when are.2SG old smile.2SG when REFL think.2SG to life and to everything what you.CL.DAT
oferă ea.
offers she
‘When you are old, you smile thinking about life and everything it has to offer you.’
b. Mă uitam
la fotografia aceea îngălbenită,deşi ea nu îmi mai spunea nimic acum.
REFL look.IMPERF.1SG at photo-the that yellow although she not me.DAT more told nothing now
‘I was looking at that yellow photo, although it was not telling me anything anymore.’
By being used as a subject, the entity which is not a discourse theme may become one (in
which case we speak of topic shifting), but this is not necessary (see for instace (51)a).
Pronominal subjects may also appear in imperatives:
(52)
a. Vreau să citesc
un roman, alege
-mi
tu unul frumos.
Want.1SG SUBJ read.1SG a novel choose.IMPER-me.CL.DAT you one nice
‘I want to read a novel, please choose a nice one for me!’
b. Acum tu du-te
şi te
culcă,
eu rămân.
now
you go.IMPER- REFL and REFL sleep.IMPER I stay
‘Now go and sleep, I will stay.’
Overt subject pronouns of Persons 3 and 6 may double definite subject DPs, sharing the
gender and number features of the subject DP. There are two types of this sort of doubling:
(i) verb – doubling nominative pronoun – DP subject. The pronoun is unstressed and it
immediately follows the verb.
(53)
a. Vine eli tatai, n- ai
grijă !
Comes he father, not have.IMPER worry!
‘I’m warning you, dad will come soon!’
b. Bate eli Ivani la poartă cât [ce] poate (…), dar au
prins eij acum draciij la
Knocks he Ivan at gate how can.3SG but have.3PL caught they now devils-the at
minte (Creangă)
mind
‘Ivan knocks at the gate as hard as he can, but the devils have learned the trick.’
This construction is used to convey illocutionary forces such as threat, warning, promise,
advice, concession, or to show the narrator’s involvement in the story or the surprise when
confronted with an unexpected flow of events.
16
(ii)With the focal particle şi: DP subject – verb – şi – doubling nominative pronoun:
(54)
a. StudenŃiii au
şi eii drepturile lor!
Students-the have.3PL also they rights-the their
‘Students too have their own rights!’
şi eij pe unde pot.
b. Copiiij se joacă
Children-the REFL play.3PL also they on where can.3PL
‘Children play where they can find a place to.’
6. The Structure of Clitic Clusters
6.1. Linear orders inside the verbal cluster
Let us now examine the complex constituent formed by a verb and one or more clitics, which
will be referred to as the ‘verbal cluster’ below. Let us repeat that this constituent is not
phrasal (in other words, the verb and the clitic do not form a VP) but instead has the status of
a Head (X° element), which occupies a V-position.
Besides pronominal clitics, the verbal cluster may also contain other clitics: (i)
adverbial clitics (şi, tot, cam, mai, prea); (ii) mood and tense clitics: am, ai, a, am, aŃi, au
(past tense), voi, vei, va, vom, veŃi, vor (future), aş, ai, ar, am, aŃi, ar (conditional), oi, oi, o,
om, oŃi, or (presumptive), uninflected fi (fi is an invariable perfect auxiliary that is generally
followed by a past participle and enters the periphrastic forms of perfect subjunctives, perfect
conditionals, perfect infinitivals and perfect presumptives; in presumptives, fi can also be
followed by a gerund, yielding a continuous present interpretation); (iii) the moodcomplementizer particles să and a7 for the subjunctive and the infinitive, respectively; (iv) the
negative adverbial clitic nu (note however that nu, unlike the other elements mentioned here
can also appear as a free-standing element and bear stress, e.g., -Ai înŃeles? -Nu! “Did you
understand?” “No!”).
The following table describes the relative order of clitic elements within the verbal
cluster. The table illustrates the combinations of the 3sg. clitics îl (masc.) (representative for
all other clitics) and o (fem.) (the position of which is special in certain auxiliary
configurations) with the verb cânta ‘sing’ in the 1st person (except for the imperative) and the
clitic adverb mai “again, still, (any) more, (any) longer” :
7
In the table the abbreviations stand for: PRES- present; PC – perfect compound; IMP – imperfect; SP – simple
perfect; PQP – “Plus que parfait”; FUT – future; PF – perfect; SBJ – subjunctive; COND – conditional; IMPER.
– imperative; INF. – infinitive; PART. – participle; SUP. – supine; GER. – gerund, PRS – “presumptive”: a
mood used for epistemic possibility.
17
MOOD
MORPHEME
NEGA
TION
CLITIC
PRONOUN1
TENSE/MOOD
AUXILIARY
ADV
fiPF
V
CLITIC
PRONOUN2
EXAMPLES
∅
∅
∅
∅
∅
∅
∅
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
-
voiFUT
voiFUT
oiPRS
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
fi
-
cântPRES
cântamIMPF
cântaiPS
cântasemPLQPF
cânta
cântat
cânta
!o
∅
(NEG)
oiPRS
(ADV)
fi
cântat/-înd
!o
∅
(NEG)
aşCOND
(ADV)
cânta
!o
∅
(NEG)
aşCOND
(ADV)
cântat
!o
∅
(NEG)
amPC
(ADV)
cântat
!o
A
Să
A
Să
-
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
(NEG)
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
[−
−o]
clitic pron.
[except for o]
clitic pron.
[except for o]
clitic pron.
[except for o]
clitic pron.
[except for o]
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic pron.
clitic
clitic
clitic
-
cântatINF
cântatSBJ
cântaINF
cântSBJ
cântaIMPER
cântaŃiIMPER
cântaŃiIMPER
cântândGER
-
(nu)-(î)l (mai) cânt
(nu)- (î)l(mai) cântam
(nu)- (î)l (mai) cântai
(nu)-(î)l (mai) cântasem
(nu -(î)l voi (mai) cânta
(nu)-(î)l voi (mai) fi cântat
(nu) l-oi (mai) cânta
(n-) oi (mai) cânta-o
(nu) l-oi (mai) fi cântat
(n-) oi (mai) fi cântat-o
(nu) l-aş (mai) cânta
(n-) aş (mai) cânta-o
(nu) l-aş (mai) fi cântat
(n-) aş (mai) fi cântat-o
(nu) l-am (mai) cântat
(n-) am (mai) cântat-o
a (nu)-l (mai) fi cântat
să (nu)-l (mai) fi cântat
a (nu)-l (mai) cânta
să (nu)-l (mai) cântaŃi
nu-l (mai) cânta
nu-l (mai) cântaŃi
(mai) cântaŃi-l
(nemai)cântându-l
NEG
NEG
NEG
-
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
(ADV)
fi
fi
fi
-
(ADV)
-
clitic
pron.
clitic
pron.
Table 2.The structure of verbal clusters
This Table shows that the order of clitic elements inside the verbal cluster is not random, but
instead resembles the order of free-standing functional constituents such as
Comp(lementizers), Mood V.
Regarding pronominal clitics, Table 2 shows that they may appear in two positions,
labelled CLITIC PRONOUN 1 and CLITIC PRONOUN 2. The first of these positions, which is
occupied by most Romanian clitics (including reflexive clitics), is the 3rd slot of the verbal
cluster, which is separated from the (lexical) verb by adverbial clitics and auxiliary clitics.
st
CLITIC PRONOUN2, which is the 1 slot to the right of the verb, is the position where clitics
appear in more restricted contexts: (i) for all clitics, this is their position in affirmative
imperatives and gerunds; (ii) for the feminine accusative singular clitic o, this is its position in
those clusters that contain an auxiliary beginning with a vowel: am văzut-o, aş vedea-o, *o am
văzut, *o aş vedea. The postverbal position of the clitic o must at least partially be due to
some phonetic constraint which prohibits the adjacency of two vowels: *o oi, *o aş, *o am.
Note however that this phonetic prohibition is not absolute, since sequences of this type are
allowed (viz. obligatory) whenever the verb following the clitic is not an auxiliary: o am cu
mine ‘[I] her have with me’ (see below 7.2.-7.3.). Because of its very special properties (and
its dependence on phonetic factors), the postverbal position of o has been marked by ! in the
table. If the verb is preceded by the future auxiliary voi, the clitic o stays preferentially before
voi (o voi vedea ‘..’) but it may optionally follow the main verb (? voi vedea-o ‘..’).
Apart from the regular să subjunctive, for the 3rd person, spoken Romanian allows a less frequently used
subjunctive, “the subjunctive without să”. The function of this subjunctive form is close to the function of
the English 3rd person imperative (let him…, let it…, let them) or to the English subjunctive (may you…).
In this morpho-syntactic context, the pronominal clitic is in the postverbal position, which is clearly
correlated with the absence of să.
18
(i)
a. arză-l
focul
burn.3SG.SUBJ -him.CL fire-the
‘let fire burn him’
b. zică-le
tell.3SG.SUBJ -them.CL.DAT
‘let him tell them’
The indicative past and optative auxiliaries (am, ai, a, etc. and aş, ai, ar, etc.) and the future auxiliary
(voi, vei, va, etc.) can display auxiliary –verb inversion, in which case the clitic pronoun occupies the
position between the verb and the auxiliary, keeping its position relative to the auxiliary.
a. l-aş cânta > cânta-l-aş – ‘I would sing it’;
b. v-am dat > datu-v-am – ‘I have given you.’
(ii)
These structures are archaic. Rarely, with a few verbs, reflexive clitic – verb inversion is possible with
simple tenses also: mi se pare > pare-(mi-)se (“it seems (to me)”); se zice > zice-se ( “they say”). The
inversion emphasizes the dubitative meaning of the structure.
Apart from the verbal forms in Table 2, two more future forms are available in
Romanian, called periphrastic future forms: (i) am (1SG), ai (2SG), are (3SG)8+ subjunctive;
(ii) o (uninflected) + subjunctive:
(55)
am
să lucrez/ ai
să lucrezi/ are să lucreze
have.1SG SUBJ work.1SG/have.2SG SUBJ work.2SG/ has SUBJ work.3SG.SUBJ
‘I’ll work/you’ll work/he’ll work’
(56) o să lucrez
/o să lucrezi /o să
lucreze
/ o să lucrăm/
will SUBJ work.1SG/will SUBJ work.2SG/ will SUBJ work.3SG.SUBJ/will SUBJ work.1PL/
o să lucraŃi
/o să
lucreze
will SUBJ work.2PL/will SUBJ work.3PL.SUBJ
‘I’ll work/you’ll work/he’ll work/we’ll work/you’ll work/they’ll work.’
In these structures, the auxiliary belongs to the same verbal cluster as the subjunctive, as
shown by several syntactic tests, which indicate a strong internal cohesion (comparable to that
of periphrastic forms built with an infinitival or a past participle) and the lack of autonomy of
the subjunctive that enters into the structure: a lexical subject cannot intervene between the
auxiliary and the subjunctive (*are Maria să vină ‘has Mary SUBJ come.3SG.SUBJ’, *o Maria
să vină ‘FUT Mary SUBJ come.3SG.SUBJ’); the insertion of a negative clitic in front of the
subjunctive is blocked (*Maria are să nu vină ‘Mary has SUBJ not come.3SG.SUBJ’, *Maria o
să nu vină ‘Mary FUT SUBJ not come.3SG.SUBJ’); in this construction the negation must
precede the auxiliary.
The positions of pronominal and non-pronominal clitics in periphrastic future
structures nevertheless show that the syntactic host of clitics is the lexical verb (in the
subjunctive) rather than the auxiliary:
(NEG)
(NEG)
am/ai/are
o
să
să
clitic
clitic
(ADV)
(ADV)
Vfin
Vfin
(nu) am să-l (mai) cânt
(nu) o să-l (mai) cânt
Table 3. The structure of verbal clusters within periphrastic future forms
6.2. Constraints on the verbal host
In the verbal domain, clitics may attach to (i) a finite verb, (ii) a finite auxiliary, (iii) a nonfinite verb introduced by the infinitival particle a or (iv) a verb bearing the gerund inflection
8
The paradigm of this periphrastic future form is incomplete, being available only for persons 1, 2, 3sg.
19
-nd. Verbs which do not satisfy these conditions, e.g., participles or supines, cannot host
clitics. In all these contexts, only a strong pronominal form can be used:
(57)
a. cărŃile date nouă
books-the given us.DAT
‘the books given to us’
a’. *cărŃile date-ne/
nedate
book-the given-us.CL.DAT/us.CL.DAT-given
b. de trimis lor
toate informaŃiile
of sent.SUP them.DAT all informations-the
‘to send them all the pieces of information’
b’.*de trimis-îi
toate informaŃiile /* de-i
trimis toate informaŃiile
of sent.SUP -him.CL.DAT all informations-the/of-him.CL.DAT sent all informations-the
The attachment of clitics to infinitivals lacking the particle a is subject to syntactic
constraints. We must indeed distinguish between infinitivals that are complements of the
modal a putea ‘can, may’ (58)a and infinitival embedded interrogatives (58)b-c. The former
do not allow clitics, whereas the latter allow them:
(58)
a. *Pot îl
vedea.
can.1SG CL.3MSG.ACC see.INF
b. N-am
cu cine -l
lăsa
not-have.1SG with whom-CL.3MSG.ACC leave.INF
“There’s nobody I can leave it with”
c. N-am
cui
i
-l
da
not-have.1SG whom.DAT CL.3MSG.DAT- CL.3MSG.ACC give.INF
“There’s nobody I can give it to”
The difference between participles, supines and infinitival VP-complements embedded under
a putea on the one hand, and a-infinitivals, gerunds and infinitival interrogatives on the other
hand indicate that cliticization is not sensitive to the morphological distinction between finite
and non-finite moods, but rather to some syntactic distinction that is only loosely correlated
with (non-)finiteness. (see Chapter *+* in volume 2).
There are two contexts which allow for a clitic to be hosted by a verb or verbal
complex that is higher than the non-finite verb or adjective of which the clitic is an argument:
the verb a putea ‘can’ combining with a bare infinitive, i.e., not preceded by the particle a9
(see (59)a) and copular verbs. In this latter case, the clitic may be the argument of a participle
(see (59)b), or of an adjective (see (59)c-d). Due to the nature of copular constructions, only
dative clitics appear in this context (adjectives and passive participles do not take accusative
complements):
(59)
a. îl
pot (deja) vedea
CL.3SGM.ACC can.1SG already see.INF
‘I can already see him’
b. mia fost încredinŃată din greşeală
me.CL.DAT-has been entrusted by mistake
‘She has been entrusted to me by mistake’
c. îi
este dragă /îi
este superioară
9
The verb a putea can also be built with the subjunctive (as all other raising and control verbs in Romanian, see
Chapter *+* in volume 2). In this case, the clitic attaches to the subjunctive:
(i) nu pot să -l
văd
not can.1 SUBJ-him.CL.ACC see.1
20
CL.3SG.DAT is dear.FSG/CL.3SG.DAT is superior.MSG
‘She is dear to him/her /She is superior to him/her’
d.ia devenit indispensabilă
CL.3SG.DAT-has become indispensable.FSG
‘It became indispensable to him/her.’
Pronominal clitics also attach to auxiliaries other than the passive fi ‘be’ (see the elements that
appear in Table 2 under Tense/Mood Auxiliary). But these auxiliaries are themselves clitics,
belonging to the same verbal cluster as the lexical verb (from which they can be separated
only by other clitic elements).
Coordinated verbal clusters need special mention. In principle, clitics must be repeated
before each of the conjuncts (see (47) above). However, for certain pairs of verbs with related
meanings, if the clitic cluster contains an auxiliary, it is possible (although somewhat
marginal) to drop the whole cluster before the second conjunct:
(60)
a.iam
văzut şi auzit
CL.3PL.ACC-have.1SG seen and heard
‘I saw and heard them’
b. înainte de a-l
citi
şi înŃelege
before of to-CL.3MSG.ACC read.INF and understand.INF
‘before reading and understanding it’
It is completely impossible to drop only part of the clitic cluster:
(61)
a. l-am
citit şi*(-l)
voi
înŃelege
CL.3MSG.ACC-have.1SG read and CL.3MSG.ACC will.1SG understand
‘I read it and I will understand it’
b. i-am
văzut şi *(i-)
am
auzit
CL.3PL.ACC-have.1SG seen and CL.3PL.ACC have.1SG heard
6.3. Pronominal Clitic Clusters
6.3.1. The Order of Co-occurring Dative and Accusative Clitics
Regardless of their position relative to the verb (pre- or post-posed), clitic pronouns form a
syntactic unit inside which the order of clitics is fixed, and no insertion is allowed. The
unmarked order of clitics is Dative pronominal (or reflexive) clitic + Accusative pronominal
(or reflexive) clitic.
(62)
a. mi
-l
dă
me.CL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC gives
‘(S)he is giving it to me’
b. i
lam
adus
CL.3SG.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC have.1SG brought
‘I brought it to him’
c. ni
le
prezintă
us.CL.DAT CL.3FPL.ACC introduces
‘(S)he is introducing them to us’
d.şi
la
luat
CL.REFL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC has.3SG taken
‘(S)he took it for himself’
e.li
se
pare
them.CL.DAT CL.REFL. ACC seem
‘It seems to them.’
21
Clusters made up of two clitics marked with the same morphological case (two datives or two
accusatives) are excluded. In the special case of ditransitive verbs, only the [+human] NP can
be substituted by a clitic, not the [-human] NP:
(63)
a. Ion îl
învaŃă pe Petre o poezie
John CL.3MSG.ACC teaches DOM Peter a poem
‘John is teaching Peter a poem’
b. Ion îl
învaŃă o poezie
John CL.3MSG.ACC teaches a poem
‘John is teaching him a poem’
c. *Ion o
învaŃă pe Petre
John CL.3FSG.ACC teaches DOM Peter
d. *Ion o
îl
învaŃă /*Ion l
-o
învaŃă
John CL.3FSG.ACC CL.3MSG.ACC teaches/John CL.3MSG.ACC-CL.3FSG.ACC teaches
6.3.2. Ethical Datives Co-occurring with Other Pronominal Clitics
Ethical Dative clitics (see 5.2. above) are an exception to the rule above: they can co-occur
with indirect object dative clitics, and are placed in front of the indirect object dative; two
ethical datives (ethical dative person 1 and ethical dative person 2) can co-occur within the
same clitic cluster, in the following order: Ethical Dative(1stsg) > Ethical Dative(2ndsg) >
Dative clitic (indirect object) :
(64)
a. Mi
-i
aduce împăratului merele
me.CL.DAT CL.3SG.DAT brings emperor-the apples-the
b. łi
-i
aduce împăratului
merele
you.CL.DAT CL.3SG.DAT brings emperor-the.DAT apples-the
c. Mi
Ńi
-i
aduce împăratului merele
me.CL.DAT you.CL.DAT CL.3SG.DAT brings emperor-the.DAT apples-the
‘He brings the apples to the king.’
Ethical dative(s) can co-occur with direct object accusative clitics as well, in the following
order: Ethical Dative (1stsg) > Ethical Dative (2ndsg) > Accusative clitic (direct object):
(65)
a. Mi
-l
aruncă vrăjitoarea peste şapte codri!
me.CL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC threw.3SG witch-the over seven woods
b. łi
-l
aruncă
vrăjitoarea peste şapte codri!
you.CL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC threw.3SG witch-the over seven woods
c. Mi
Ńi
-l
aruncă
vrăjitoarea peste şapte codri!
me.CL.DAT you.CL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC threw.3SG witch-the over seven woods
‘The witch threw it over seven woods.’
In clitic clusters containing an ethical dative, direct object accusative clitics are in
complementary distribution with indirect object dative clitics, i.e., a clitic cluster containing
ethical dative clitics, indirect object dative clitics and direct object accusative clitics is not
allowed.
6.3.3. Person Constraints
The following person constraints occur in Dative – Accusative clitic clusters:
(i) Two clitics marked for the same person except the 3rd or two reflexive clitics cannot
co-occur in the same clitic cluster:
22
(66)
a. *mi
mă
arată
me.CL.DAT me.CL.ACC shows
b. *Ńi
vă
arată
CL.2SG.DAT CL.2PL.ACC shows
c. *ni
mă
arată
we.CL.DAT me.CL.ACC shows
d. *vi
te
arată
CL.2PL.DAT CL.2SG.ACC shows
e. *şi
se
arată
CL.REFL.DAT CL.REFL.ACC shows
(ii) Accusative clitics for persons 1sg., 1pl., 2pl. cannot co-occur with referential dative
clitics:
(67)
a.*Ńi
mă
recomandă
CL.2SG.DAT me.CL.ACC recommends
b. *Ńi
ne
recomandă
CL.2SG.DAT us.CL.ACC recommends
c. *mi
vă
recomandă
me.CL.DAT CL.2PL.ACC recommends
d. *i
vă
recomandă
CL.3SG.DAT CL.2PL.ACC recommends
To avoid such clusters, datives show up as strong pronouns, placed after the verb:
(68)
a. vă
recomandă mie
CL.2PL.ACC recommends me.DAT
‘(s)he recommends you to me’
b.mă
recomandă Ńie
me.CL.ACC recommends you(SG).DAT
‘(s)he recommends me to you’
c. ne
recomandă
Ńie
us.CL.ACC recommends you(SG).DAT
‘(s)he recommends us to you’
d.vă
recomandă lui/
ei
CL.2PL.ACC reccommends him.DAT/her.DAT
‘(s)he recommends us to him/her’
Accusative referential clitics for persons 2sg. and 3 can co-occur with referential dative clitics
provided that they do not violate rule (i):
(69)
a. mi
te
prezintă
me.CL.DAT CL.2SG.ACC introduces
‘he is recommending me to you’
b. ni
te
recomandă
us.CL.DAT CL.2SG.ACC recommends
‘he is recommending you to us’
The table below presents all possible Dative - Accusative clitic clusters:
23
Acc
Dat
mi
Ńi
ne/ni
v(ă)/vi
i
le/li
şi
mă
te
ne
vă
l
o
i
le
se
-
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
Table 4. Dative – accusative clitic clusters
7. Clitic Allomorphs
7.1. The Forms
Sandhi phenomena affect pronominal clitics in specific morpho-phonologic contexts
producing a large number of clitic allomorphs. The selection of allomorphs is determined by
three factors: a) the phonetic context in which the clitic occurs (specifically, the final sound of
the preceding word and the initial sound of the next word); b) the position of the clitic relative
to other elements of the verbal cluster (other clitics, auxiliaries, the lexical verb); c) the
register (formal/informal, colloquial).
Clitic allomorphs are presented in the table bellow:
DATIVE
SYLLABIC
Inside
Outside Clitic
Clitic
Clusters
Clusters
1sg.
2sg.
1pl.
2pl.
3sg. M
3sg. F
3pl. M
3pl. F
Reflexive
mi [mi]
Ńi [tsi]
ni [ni]
vi [vi]
i [i]
i [i]
li [li]
li [li]
şi [shi]
îmi [îmi]
îŃi [îtsi]
ne [ne]
vă [və]
îi [îj]
îi [îj]
le [le]
le [le]
îşi [îshi]
ASYLLABIC
PrePostnuclear
nuclear
mi [m}]
Ńi [ts}]
ne [né]
v [v]
i [}]
i [}]
le [lé]
le [lé]
şi [sh}]
mi [mi]
Ńi [tsi]
i [}]
i [}]
şi [shi]
ACCUSATIVE
SYLLABIC ASYLLABIC
PrePostnuclear
nuclear
mă [mə]
te [te]
ne [ne]
vă [və]
îl [îl]
o [o]
îi [î}]
le [le]
se [se]
m [m]
te [té]
ne [né]
v [v]
l [l]
i [}]
le [lé]
s [s]
l [l]
i [}]
Table 5. Pronominal clitic allomorphs10
The table reads as follows:
1. Clitic allomorphs can be syllabic (i.e., they form a syllable all by themselves) or
asyllabic (they need a phonetic host in order to form a syllable). We will call the use of an
asyllabic form phonetic cliticisation, and the word which provides the syllabic nucleus
phonetic host.
10
The phonetic notations in the table read as follows:
1. [i] = asyllabic post-consonantal i (cf. noun plural endings and verb inflections for the 2nd person)
2. [é] = semi-vowel corresponding to e, that forms two frequent Romanian diphthongs [éa] and [éo].
3. [}] = semi-vowel corresponding to i.
4. [∂] = central, mid-open vowel
5. [î] = central, closed vowel
24
2. Dative syllabic allomorphs have two distinct phonological structures, depending on the
context in which they occur, i.e. inside or outside clitic clusters (the term “clitic cluster” is
used to refer to a sequence of several pronominal clitics): outside clitic clusters, singular
forms and the 3rd person reflexive take an initial epenthetic î- that becomes the vocalic nucleus
of the syllable. Inside clitic clusters, all syllabic forms end in the vowel i (which replaces the
vowels e and ă of the (syllabic) 1st and 2nd plural). Epenthetic î- also occurs with Accusative
clitics for the masculine 3rd Person (both numbers).
3. Asyllabic allomorphs form a syllable with the initial/final vowel of the phonetic host;
the vowel of the phonetic host is the nucleus of the newly formed syllable. Taking into
account the position of the clitic relative to its phonetic host, asyllabic clitic allomorphs are:
(i) prenuclear (they precede the phonetic host) and (ii) postnuclear (they follow the phonetic
host).
4. Prenuclear allomorphs are either (i) consonants (e.g. m-, v-, l-) forming a syllable with
the initial vowel of the host or (ii) biphonemic sequences with a final segment forming a
diphthong with the vowel of the host (e.g. m}-, né-).
5. Postnuclear allomorphs are either (i) consonants or semi-consonantal segments (e.g. -l,
-}) or (ii) biphonemic sequences with a final asyllabic vocalic segment (e.g. -mi).
Asyllabic allomorphs are signaled by a hyphen:
(70)
a. Mia spus/ma vǎzut/ia spus /la
vǎzut/
me.CL.DAT has told/me.CL.ACC has seen/CL.3SGDAT has told/ CL.3MSG.ACC has seen/
nea spus/nea văzut
us.CL.DAT-has told/us.CL.ACC-has seen
‘she told me/he saw me/ he told him/her/ he saw him/he told us/he saw us’
b. a-l
aduce /a -i
da
/ a-şi
aminti
to-CL.3MSG.ACC bring.INF/to-CL.3SG.DAT give.INF/to-REFL.DAT remember.INF
‘to bring it/to give him/to remember’
The hyphen also marks postverbal clitics, no matter if they are asyllabic or not:
(71)
a. ia
-mă
take.IMPER.2SG-me.CL.ACC
‘take me’
b. ia
-l
take.IMPER.2SG-CL.3MSG.ACC
‘take it’
In this case the hyphen signals the cohesion between the verb and the clitic which can give
rise to some changes in the phonologic shape of the verb (see 6.4. above).
7.2. The Selection of Allomorphs
Depending on the position inside the verbal cluster, the selection of an asyllabic allomorph
may be obligatory or optional.
Obligatory selection of a prenuclear asyllabic allomorph (phonetic cliticisation) occurs in the
following situations:
(i) If the clitic precedes an auxiliary verb that starts with a vowel (in this case, the auxiliary is
the phonetic host):
(72)
a. Mia spus/ma vǎzut/ia spus /la vǎzut/
me.CL.DAT has told/me.CL.ACC has seen/CL.3SGDAT has told/ CL.3MSG.ACC has seen/
nea spus/nea văzut
us.CL.DAT-has told/us.CL.ACC-has seen
25
‘he told me/he saw me/he told him/her/ he saw him/he told us/he saw us’
b. mi
la dat/ vi
lea adus
me.CL.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC-has given/you.CL.DAT CL.3FPL.ACC-has brought
‘he gave it to me/he brought them to you’
(ii) If the clitic is a dative followed by the accusative clitic o:
(73)
a. mi
-o
spune /i
-o
spune/ne
-o
spune
me.CL.DAT-CL.3FSG.ACC tells/him.CL.DAT-CL.3FSG.ACC tells/us.CL.DAT-CL.3SGF.ACC tells
‘he tells it to me/he tells it to him/her /he tells it to us’
spune -mi
-o
/spune-i
-o
/spune-ne
-o
tell-me.CL.DAT-CL.3FSG.ACC/tell-him.CL.DAT-CL.3FSG.ACC/tell -us.CL.DAT- CL.3FSG.ACC
‘tell it to me/tell it to him/her/ tell it to us’
Obligatory selection of a postnuclear asyllabic allomorph occurs in the following situations:
(iii) The clitic follows the lexical verb and is not inside a clitic cluster; in this case, the verb is
the phonetic host:
(74)
ia-l
/ia-Ńi [iatsi]
/dă-i [də}]
take.IMPER-CL.3MSG.ACC take- CL.2SG.DAT give-CL.3SG.DAT
(iv) The clitic is accusative and follows a dative clitic. In this case, if the clitic does not fall
under rule (i) (does not precede an auxiliary starting in a vowel, cf. (72)b), the phonetic host is
the dative clitic :
(75)
a. mi-l dă
me.CL.DAT-CL.3MSG.ACC gives
‘(s)he gives it to me’
b. dă-mi-l
give.IMPER-me.CL.DAT- CL.3MSG.ACC
‘give it to me’
If the conditions listed above are not fulfilled, phonetic cliticisation is optional: an asyllabic
allomorph may be used if the clitic precedes or follows a vowel belonging to another word
(this word serves then as phonetic host):
(v) Prenuclear allomorphs (with the exception of the 3rd person masculine singular l) may be
used when the clitic precedes a lexical verb starting in a vowel (in which case the phonetic
host is the verb):
(76)
îi aduce/i-aduce
CL.3SG.DAT brings
‘(s)he brings him/her’
The use of the asyllabic allomorph l of 3rd person masculine singular is marginal, confined to
substandard varieties:
(77)
! laude/?? larde /?? lare
CL.3MSG.ACC hears/CL.3MSG.ACC burns/CL.3MSG.ACC has
‘(s)he hears it’/‘(s)he burns it’/‘(s)he has it’
(vi) Postnuclear allomorphs may appear after: non-pronominal clitics (the negation nu, the
subjunctive morpheme să, the infinitive morpheme a) and other words with a vocalic ending
(nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions) immediately preceding the clitic:
26
(78)
a. nu îmi
place/ nu-mi place
not me.CL.DAT likes
‘I don’t like’
b. sǎ îi
dau / sǎ-i dau
SUBJ CL.3SG.DAT give.1SG
‘to give him’
c. a îl
vedea / a-l vedea
to him.CL.ACC see.INF
‘to see him’
c. fata îi
dă o carte
/ fata-i dă o carte
girl-the CL.3SG.DAT gives a book
‘the girl gives him/her a book’
d. care îŃi
place/ care-Ńi place
‘which CL.2SG.DAT like’
‘the one you like’
e. aşa îşi
spune/ aşa-şi spune
‘so CL.REFL.DAT tells’
‘that’s the way he calls himself’
The use of the asyllabic allomorph is specific to the spoken language.The asyllabic allomorph
may also attach to the ending -u of masculine definite singular, which is written -ul but in
which the consonant -l is usually not pronounced:
(79)
omul
îl
iartă / omu’l iartă
man-the CL.3MSG.ACC forgives
‘the man forgives him’
(vii) When the conditions for optional cliticization are met both to the left and to the right of
the clitic (vowel adjacency condition), left cliticization is preferred:
(80)
nu îi
aduce /nu-i aduce/nu i-aduce
not CL.3SG.DAT brings
‘(s)he doesn’t bring him/her’
(viii) Clitics followed by another pronominal clitic cannot undergo optional phonetic
cliticisation:
(81)
a. nu i
la
dat /*nu-i l-a dat
not CL.3SG.DAT CL.3MSG.ACC-has given
‘(s)he didn’t give to him’
b. să mi
se
spună
/*să-mi se spună
SUBJ me.CL.DAT REFL.ACC tell.3SG.SUBJ
‘to have been told’
Besides the selection of asyllabic allomorphs, which is always dependent on the phonetic
environment, there is, as can be seen in Table 5, an instance of allomorphy which is only
dependent on the syntactic environment:
(ix) In clitic clusters, when followed by clitics other than accusative o, special syllabic dative
allomorphs ending in -i occur:
(82) a. mi
se
spune
me.CL.DAT CL.REFL.ACC tells
27
‘I am told’
b. ni
te
prezintǎ
us.CL.DAT CL.2SG.ACC introduces
‘They introduce you to us’
c. i
le
cere
CL.3SG.DAT CL.3FPL.ACC asks
‘(s)he is asking him/her for them’
d. spunându-mi-se
tell.GER-me.CL.DAT-CL.REFL.ACC
‘having been told’
e. prezentându-ni-te
introduce.GER-us.CL.DAT- CL.2SG.ACC
‘introducing you to us’
f. cere
-i
-le
ask.IMPER.2SG.-CL.3SG.DAT-CL.3FPL.ACC
‘ask him/her for them’
The following generalizations emerge from the aforementioned rules: (i) the selection of a
specific allomorph is obligatory in enclisis (for postverbal clitics), when the clitic is followed
by another pronominal or auxiliary clitic or when it is preceded by another pronominal clitic;
(ii) dative clitics have special forms in clitic clusters, and their shape is not affected by the
preceding phonetic environment.
The various allomorphs in Table 5 can be derived from a simpler list of underlying forms if
we make the following assumptions: (i) clitic forms may be underlyingly assylabic or
syllabic; (ii) epenthetic î- is added to asyllabic forms when the environment does not provide
a phonetic host; (iii) a linking vowel -i- is added between two pronominal clitics if the second
one begins with a consonant; this vowel replaces the vowel of the underlying form of the first
clitic; (iv) syllabic forms may become asyllabic by apocope or diphthong formation only
before another vowel. Based on (ii), it can be established that singular and 3rd reflexive dative
clitics are underlyingly asyllabic (mi, Ńi, }, şi), as well as the 3rd masculine accusative (both
numbers) (l and }). Note that these are the only clitics which have postnuclear asyllabic
allomorphs. The fact that the other clitics do not have postnuclear asyllabic allomorphs is
explained by (iv), which restricts the formation of an asyllabic allomorph by apocope or
diphthong formation to the prevocalic context. Assumption (iii) explains the dative
allomorphs in -i-.
The underlying forms of the clitics according to this analysis are presented in the table below:
28
1sg.
2sg.
1pl.
2pl.
3sg. M
3sg. F
3pl. M
3pl. F
DATIVE
ACCUSATIVE
mi
tsi
ne
və
}
}
le
le
mə
te
ne
və
l
o
}
le
Table 6. Underlying clitic forms
To sum up, the fact that the very same forms which have allomorphs beginning with î- also
have postnuclear asyllabic allomorphs gives strong support to the idea that some clitics are
underlyingly asyllabic and others are underlyingly syllabic.
7.3. The Clitic o
O (3rd person singular, feminine, accusative) has a special status, compared to all the other
pronominal clitics: it is always the vocalic centre of the syllable it forms alone or in
combination with other phonetic segments; it has no allomorphs; it triggers phonetic changes
at the end of the forms on which it cliticizes.
Phonetic changes obligatorily occur if o is post-verbal and the verb ends in a vowel. This
vowel is either apocopated or turned into a semivowel:
(83)
a. cântă +
o → cânt-o ‘sing it’
sing.IMPER.2SG
b. şterge + o → şterge-o [éo] ‘beat it’
wipe.IMPER.2SG
c. treceŃi + o → treceŃi-o [}o] ‘pass it’
pass-IMPER.2PL
If o is preverbal, it may trigger the deletion or transformation into a semivowel of a preceding
vowel of a different word:
(84) a. să o
SUBJ CL.3FSG.ACC
iau
/s-o iau
take.1SG
‘to take it’
b. nu o
ştiu /n-o ştiu
not CL.3FSG.ACC know.1SG
‘I don’t know it’
c. pe care o
vrei/
pe care-o vrei
DOM which CL.3FSG.ACC want.2SG
‘the one you want’
7.4. Verb allomorphs
Beside the combination with the clitic o illustrated in the previous section (see (91) above),
verbal forms may undergo other changes in combination with postverbal clitics. These
changes are specific to certain paradigmatic forms:
(i) The asyllabic i for the plural imperative becomes asyllabic:
(85)
a. daŃi [datsi]
29
give.IMPER.2PL
‘Give!’
b. daŃi
-l [dátsil]
give.IMPER.2PL-CL.3MSG.ACC
‘Give it!’
c. daŃi
-ne [dátsine]
give.IMPER.2PL-us.CL.DAT
‘Give us!’
(ii) The gerund receives a syllabic -u- before clitics that start with a consonant or with a
semivowel:
(86)
a. văzând [vəzînd]
see.GER
b. văzîndu -i [vəzîndu}]
see.GER-them.CL.ACC
‘seeing them’
c. văzându -mă [vəzîndumə]
see.GER-me.CL.ACC
‘seeing me’
(iii) 3drd conjugation imperatives ending in -i change this vowel into -e:
(87)
a.treci
pass.IMPER.2SG
‘pass’
b. trece-l
pass.IMPER.2SG.-CL.3MSG.ACC
‘pass it’
8. The interpretation of personal and reflexive pronouns
(Ion Giurgea)
In this section we discuss the interpretation of personal and reflexive pronouns,
concentrating on the types of relations between pronouns and their antecedents.
As mentioned in the Introduction, pronouns are either deictic or anaphoric. Participant
pronouns are deictic, sending to their referents via the Person feature (for the interpretation of
this feature, see sections 1 and 2). 3rd person pronouns may be anaphoric – taking reference by
establishing an anaphoric relation with another DP in the text –, deictic – taking reference
from an entity present in the communication situation – or evocative – referring to an entity
present in the common background of the speaker and the hearer. The evocative use may be
considered an instance of remote deixis.
8.1. Co-reference
Pronouns may take reference from an expression present in the text, called the antecedent.
Co-reference with an antecedent (called referential anaphora) is found not only with personal
pronouns, but with other definite phrases (demonstratives, definite DPs, pronominal adverbs).
The relation between personal pronouns and their antecedents differs from the anaphoric
relation found with the other definite DPs in several respects, which concern locality:
(i) Personal pronouns may be c-commanded by their antecedent, other DPs cannot do so:
(88)
a. Ioni crede că proi va
lua un premiu/că îli
vor
numi director
Ion believes that will.3SG win a prize that him.CL.AC will.3PL appoint manager
‘Ion believes he will win a prize/ they will appoint him manager’
30
b. * Ioni/*Eli crede că Ioni va lua un premiu/că pe Ioni îl
vor
numi director
Ion/ he believes that Ion will win a prize/ that DOM Ion him.CL.AC will.3PL appoint manager
‘Ion believes Ion will win a prize/ they will appoint Ion manager’
vor numi
c. *Ioni/*Eli crede că acestai va lua un premiu/că pe acestai îl
Ion/ he believes that this-one will win a prize/that DOM this-one him.CL.AC will.3PL appoint
director
manager
‘Ion believes this one will win a prize/ they will appoint this one manager.’
When the relation is local – the co-referring forms are in the same governing domain, or they
are co-arguments – special forms are used for the 3rd person, the so-called reflexive pronouns
(see section 2 above). The special reflexive forms are obligatory for clitics; as strong forms,
besides the special reflexive forms, personal (non-reflexive) pronouns may also be used, often
reinforced with the element însuşi, însăşi etc., forming what is called the ‘emphatic pronoun’:
(89)
a. Ioni sei/*
îli
iubeşte pe sinei/pe
eli
însuşi
Ion CL.REFL.ACC/him.CL.AC loves DOM himself /DOM him.ACC self
iubeşte numai pe eli
b. Ioni sei
Ion CL.REFL.ACC loves only DOM him.ACC
c. Mariai îşii/*
îii
dedică o poezie (chiar eii)
Maria CL.REFL.DAT/her.CL.DAT dedicate a poem (even her. DAT)
The special reflexive forms (including the strong ones) are also obligatory when the
antecedent is an arbitrary null pronoun/arbitrary implicit argument of a nominal:
(90)
dragostea de sine
love-the of himself
(ii) Personal pronouns may precede the antecedent provided that they are in the same sentence
with it and not c-commanded by it11:
(91)
a. Când liam văzut, Mirceai purta o pălărie largă
when him.CL.ACC-have.1 seen Mircea wore a hat large
‘When I saw him, Mircea was wearing a large hat’
b. *Când lam văzut pe acestai, Mirceai purta o pălărie largă
when
him.CL.ACC-have.1 seen DOM this-one Mircea wore a hat
large
Note that in such contexts the pronoun must have the weak (viz. null) form (whenever a weak
form is available); compare (92)b, where a strong form must be used because weak forms
cannot appear after prepositions:
(92)
a. Când proi/*eli e în secretariat, decanuli stă tot timpul în picioare
when
he is in secretariate dean-the stays all time-the on foot
‘When he’s in the secretariate, the dean always stands’
b. Când mam
întalnit cu el, Ion era beat
when REFL-have.1SG meet with him Ion was drunk
‘When I met him, John was drunk’
11
If the term ‘antecedent’ is understood as literally meaning ‘preceding’, the co-referring DP would rather be
called ‘subsequent’. However, the current use of calling the ‘anaphoric source’ ‘antecedent’ is well-founded: the
pronoun can be interpreted only after the ‘antecedent’ has been interpreted, so we may speak of some sort of
anteriority as far as interpretation is concerned.
31
8.2 The bound variable interpretation
The antecedent of the pronoun may be quantificational, in which case the translates as a
variable bound by that quantifier. This is traditionally represented via co-indexing, although
the relation is clearly different from co-reference, since in this case the pronoun is not
referential (it does not pick out a certain entity in the world):
(93)
a. [Nici un copil]i nu a venit cu tatăl
luii
no
child not has come with father-the his
‘No child came with his father’
¬∃x (child(x) ^ x came with x’s father)
b. Am vorbit despre [fiecare copil]i cu părinŃii luii
have spoken about every child with parents-the his
‘I talked about every child with his parents’
Other DPs may also function as bound variables, provided that their antecedent does not ccommand them at surface structure (which is ruled out by the constraint described in (i) in the
previous sub-section). In the logical representation, the operator must c-command the
variable, but this representation may be obtained by covert raising:
(94)
Mihai a vorbit
cu [fiecare băiat]i despre părinŃii băiatuluii/acestuiai
Mihai has spoken with every boy about parents-the boy-the.GEN/this-one.GEN
‘Mihai talked to every boy about the boy’s parents/this one’s parents.’
The bound variable reading is found not only with quantificational antecedents, but
also with referential antecedents. Consider the following:
(95)
Ioni nu mai vorbeşte cu sora
luii şi nici Victor.
Ion not more speaks with sister-the his and neither Victor
‘Ion doesn’t speak with his sister any longer and neither does Victor’
This sentence has two interpretations, one in which Victor doesn’t speak any longer with
Ion’s sister (called the strict reading) and one in which he doesn’t speak to his own sister (the
sloppy reading).
The strict reading can be explained by assuming that at Logical Form the ellipsis site is
filled by copying the missing material:
(96)
Ioni nu mai vorbeşte cu sora
luii şi nici
Victor nu mai vorbeşte cu sora
luii
Ion not more speaks with sister-the his and neither Victor not more speaks with sister-the his
‘Ion doesn’t speak with his sister any longer and Victor too doesn’t speak with his sister any
longer.’
But the sloppy interpretation cannot be read off this representation, because the index
on the second lui is the same as the index on Ion. To derive the sloppy reading, we have to
interpret the ellided predicate as “not speak with one’s (own) sister”, which is written as in
(97), where the pronoun lui is interpreted as a bound variable:
(97)
λx ( ¬ (speak-with (x, x’s sister)))
The sloppy reading may now be represented as in (98):
(98)
Ion λx ( ¬ (speak-with (x, x’s sister))) and Victor λx (¬ (speak-with (x, x’s sister)))
32
The possibility of these two readings – strict and sloppy – also appears when the antecedent is
modified by focal particles such as only and even. Sentences containing these particles have as
a part of their meaning (either as an entailment or as a presupposition) a proposition which
contains a quantifier in the position of the DP to which the particle is attached. In this
proposition, a pronoun co-indexed with the DP may be co-referential to this DP (the strict
reading) or may be analyzed as a variable bound by the quantifier which replaces the DP (the
sloppy reading):
(99)
Numai Mariai speră că Liviu oi
iubeşte
only Maria hopes that Liviu her.CL.ACC loves
‘Only Maria hopes that Liviu loves her’
(i) Interpretation corresponding to the strict reading:
‘Maria hopes that Liviu loves her and and all the other women (except for Maria) don’t hope
Liviu loves Maria’
… & ∀x (x in a contextually defined group) (¬(x hopes Liviu loves Maria))
Representation of the sentence:
(ONLY Maria) λx (x hopes Liviu loves Maria)
(ii) Interpretation corresponding to the sloppy reading:
‘All the other women (except for Maria) don’t hope Liviu loves them’
… & ∀x (x in a contextually defined group) (¬(x hopes Liviu loves x))
Representation of the sentence:
(ONLY Maria) λx (x hopes Liviu loves x)
(sloppy reading)
The bound variable reading is not limited to 3rd person pronouns. Sentence (100),
containing a 2nd person pronoun, has a strict reading, in which the others don’t think that God
sees the addressee, and a sloppy reading, in which the others don’t think that God sees
themselves:
(100)
Numai tu crezi că Dumnezeu te
only you believe that God
you.CL.ACC
priveşte
looks
This shows that even for participant pronouns, the Person feature does not necessarily
contribute direct reference. When the antecedent is modified by a focal particle, a participant
pronoun, e.g., 2nd person, may translate as a variable that gets bound by the quantifier that
replaces the antecedent in the LF representation.
There is evidence that the bound variable reading for participant pronouns requires an
agreement relation between the antecedent and the pronoun. The evidence comes from
relative sentences modifying the antecedent. In sentences of the type in (101), the bound
variable reading is only possible if the verb inside the relative clause agrees with the
participant pronoun antecedent (via subject-predicate agreement and pivot-relative pronoun
agreement):
(101)
a. pro1sg Sunt singurul care am
grijă de copilul meu Bound variable reading possible
am only-the which have.1SG care of child-the my
‘I’m the only one who care(s) about my/his children’
b. pro1sg Sunt singurul care are grijă de copilul
meu *Bound variable reading
am only-the which has care of child-the
my
‘I’m the only one who cares about my children.’
To conclude, the Participant feature is not referentially interpreted when an Agree relation is
established between the co-indexed DPs.
33
8.3 The interpretation of Gender
The gender feature of pronouns may either reflect properties of the referent (masculine for
male human beings, feminine for female human beings) or of the noun by which the
antecedent was introduced in the discourse or which denotes the category to which a salient
referent not previously mentioned can be subsumed (in the case of deixis).
Let’s first examin deixis. When referring to animate entities (humans or animals with
distinguishable sex), gender directly reflects a property of the referent (sex) ((102)a). But for
inanimates and animals with non-distinguishable sex, gender is not directly interpretable in
Romanian. In this case, the gender of the pronoun is the gender of the noun which would have
been used to refer to that entity if a non-pronominal DP had been chosen:
(102)
a. (pointing to a man): Mi
se
pare că îl
cunosc
me.CL.DAT REFL seems that him.CL.ACC know.1SG
‘It seems to me that I know him’
b. (pointing to a pear, Rom. pară , feminine):
Mănânc
-o !
eat.IMPER.2SG CL.3FSG.ACC
‘Eat it’
= Mănâncă
para !
eat.IMPER.2SG pear-the(F)
‘Eat the pear!’
Romanian nouns have three gender classes: masculine, feminine and a third class usually
called ‘neuter’, which triggers masculine agreement in the singular and feminine agreement in
the plural. For referents which fall under a concept expressed by a neuter noun, the pronouns
used are also masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural:
(103)
a. (pointing to an apple, Rom. măr ‘neuter’ – hence, masculine in the singular)
Mănâncă
-l !
eat.IMPER.2SG CL.3MSG.ACC
b. (pointing to some apples, Rom. măr ‘neuter’ – hence, feminine in the plural)
Mănâncă
-le !
eat.IMPER.2SG CL.3FPL.ACC
The absence of special neuter pronominal forms supports the idea that Romanian has only two
values of the category Gender, Masculine and Feminine, and that a three-fold distinction is
only found in nominal classes, which should be distinguished from Gender (see Introduction).
In the contexts where pronouns distinguish strong and weak forms, strong forms are
interpreted as animate, except for nominative overt subjects (see sections 5.3.-5.5. above). In
the case of deixis, the condition is stronger: all strong forms, including subjects and objects of
prepositions, must refer to humans:
(104) (pointing to a desk, Romanian birou ‘neuter’, i.e. masculine in the singular):
a. # Scriu pe el
write.1SG on 3MSG.ACC
‘I’m writing on it’ (‘on that desk’)
b. (# El) a
fost cumpărat anul trecut
3MSG.NOM has been bought year-the last
‘It has been bought last year’
For anaphoric pronouns (pronouns with an antecedent present in the discourse) gender
34
behaves likewise. But there is a further situation to consider besides those examined before:
some nouns, although referring to humans, have a grammatical gender conflicting with the
natural gender – for instance ordonanŃă ‘orderly’, feminine, but normally applied to males. In
this case the pronoun may have either the natural gender or the grammatical gender of the
antecedent (see (106)). It has been observed that across languages when the distance between
the antecedent and the pronoun increases, natural gender is preferred.
(105)
(106)
Am
adus sticlai.
Am
pus -oi
pe masă.
have.1SG brought bottle(F)-the have.1SG put-CL.3FSG.ACC on table
‘I brought the bottle. I put it on the table’
a. OrdonanŃai a băut cu fraŃii
eii/ luii
orderly-the has drunk with brothers-the her/his
au intrat ceilalŃi
b. Întâi a intrat ordonanŃai. După eai/eli
first has entered orderly-the after him/her have entered the-others
‘First, the orderly entered. After him the others entered’
Note that in the bound variable reading, grammatical gender is prefered or even obligatory:
(107)
a. Nici o ordonanŃăi n- a vorbit cu rudele
??luii/eii
no
orderly not -has spoken with relatives-the his/her
No orderly spoke with his relatives’
b. Numai ordonanŃai a vorbit cu fratele
luii ?? sloppy reading
only
orderly-the has spoken with brother-the his
‘Only the orderly talked to his brother’.
luii ?? sloppy reading
c. Numai ordonanŃai a vorbit cu fratele
only
orderly-the has spoken with brother-the her
This suggests that natural gender forces a referential reading.
The use of grammatical gender in pronouns shows that their interpretation involves not
only indices and reference to entities, but also a relation to a nominal expression (a nominal
concept). This is a type of anaphoric relation different from co-reference and bound variable
reading. This relation, which is also found in nominal ellipsis and pro-N (see chapter 3,
section 1.3), may be called nominal anaphora. It is an instance of identity-of-sense anaphora,
also encountered in verbal ellipsis and non-referential pro-forms such as the proadjective/pro-adverb aşa ‘so’. Here are some examples of nominal ellipsis:
(108)
a. CauŃi
o ciocolată? Uite sunt acolo două [Ne]
[Ne]=ciocolate
look-for.2SG a chocolate(F) look are there two.F
‘Are you looking for a chocolate? Look, there are two over there’
b. (looking to some hats, Romanian pălărie – feminine)
Am
şi eu una [Ne] aşa
[Ne] = pălărie
have.1 also I one.FSG like-that
‘I too have one like that’
In (108)b, we see that the ‘anaphoric source’ of noun ellipsis may be a salient concept in the
extralinguistic context, so nominal pro-forms can be used in a sort of ‘deictic’ way (this type
of anaphoric source has been called by some researchers pragmatic antecedent). On the
assumption that pronouns with conventional gender involve nominal ellipsis, the existence of
pragmatic antecedents in nominal ellipsis explains the use of grammatical gender in deictic 3rd
person pronouns (see (102)-(103) above).
We may consider that anaphoric personal pronouns, in the context [[D[NP]]i … Proni,
are interpreted as [THE[NP]]i. The index can be represented as an identity predicate λx.x=v(i)
35
(where v(i) is the value the variable assignment function v assigns to i), combining with the
NP by predicate intersection and then combining with the iota operator (see chapter 3 part 2
Semantics of determiners for the semantics of the definite article). This rule also works for
bound variable pronouns. We have seen that sometimes even definite DPs with overt nouns
function as bound variables (see (94)), so we need a rule to interpret them as bound anyway.
8.4. Pronouns of laziness
There are pronouns which are related to their antecedent only by nominal anaphora – they
neither co-refer with their antecedent nor are they bound by it. So in their case we simply have
[D[NP]]...Pron → [D[NP]]…[THE[NP]], without any index. These are called pronouns of
laziness or paycheck-pronouns, after the example by which they have been introduced in the
linguistic literature12. The name pronouns of laziness expresses the idea that these pronouns
are only used in order not to repeat an NP rather than for pointing to the same referent. A
typical example are pronouns whose antecedent contains a bound variable. In Romanian this
variable typically appears as a possessive dative clitic, outside the DP:
(109)
Ioni şiia luat maşina (luii). Mariaj (şij-)
a
lăsat -o
acasă
Ion CL.REFL.DAT-has taken car(F)-the his Maria CL.REFL.DAT-has let- CL.3FSG.ACC home
‘John took his car. Mary left it home’
In (109) o in the second sentence refers to Maria’s car, not to Ion’s car. The pronoun is
interpreted by retrieving the NP of its antecedent – maşină a lui x ‘x’s car’ –. In the first
sentence x is a variable bound by Ion, in the second sentence it is bound by Maria.
Another type of pronouns of laziness involves antecedents which are part of an idiom:
although they are definite DPs, they do not refer. The pronoun is interpreted by recovering the
NP of the antecedent:
(110) Iar i-
a sărit Ńandăra. Poate o
să -mi
sară pro şi mie
again CL.3SG.DAT -has bursted sliver-the maybe will SUBJ-me.CL.DAT burst also me.DAT
‘Ion flew off the handle again. Perhaps I’ll do too’.
Another case in which the pronoun does not have the same reference as the antecedent
is when the antecedent is non-generic and the pronoun is used generically (in the following
example, agreement on the verb and the predicative adjective shows that the pro subject is 3rd
person masculine plural, taking the gender of the antecedent and showing the plural of
genericity):
(111)
A: Am văzut un şarpe. B: Vezi că pro pot
fi periculoşi
have.1 seen a snake(M) see that
can.3PL be dangerous.MPL
‘A: I saw a snake. B: Take care, they may be dangerous’.
A similar situation appears in examples of the type in (120), where the personal pronoun is
interpreted referentially – ‘the cows’ in a certain region where we know that cows must be
present – whereas the antecedent is used non-referentially, only contributing the noun ‘cow’:
(112)
N-am
văzut nicio vacă. Probabil Ńăranii
le
băgaseră în grajduri
not-have.1SG seen no cow probably peasants-the CL.FPL.ACC had-put in stables
‘I didn’t see any cow. The peasants must have put them in stables’
12
The example, due to Karttunen (1966), is the following:
(i)
The man who gave his paycheque to his wife was wiser than the man who gave it to his mistress
36
Nominal anaphora may also be considered to be responsible for a type of non-referential
pronouns called donkey pronouns. In this case pronouns appear in the nuclear scope of a
quantificational operator and their antecedents are narrow scope indefinites that occur in the
restrictive term of the operator. In this configuration, the pronoun is not C-commanded by the
antecedent, and therefore it cannot be bound by it:
(113) a. Oricine scrie o carte
vrea ca lumea s
-o
citească.
whoever writes a book(F) wants that people SUBJ-CL.3FSG.ACC read.3SG.SUBJ
‘Whoever writes a book wants people to read it’
b. Dacă cineva găseşte un bagaj
pierdut, pro să -l
aducă
aici
if
somebody finds a luggage(NEUT) lost
SUBJ-CL.3MSG. ACC bring.3SG.SUBJ here
‘If somebody finds a lost luggage, he should bring it here’
The dependency of these pronouns on the quantificational operator may be represented using
a situation variable inside the descriptive content of the pronoun:
(114) in all situations s in which some person finds a lost luggage, the unique person x in s should
bring the unique lost luggage x in s
The possibility that definite descriptions have a variable interpretation, co-varying with a situation
operator, even if they do not contain in their descriptive content an explicit variable, is proven by examples such
as the following:
(i)
Every time I took the bus to the University, the conductor was a woman.
In this example the definite DP “the conductor” does not refer to a single individual, but to an individual which
may differ from a situation of taking the bus to another; the use of the definite article is justified by the fact that
in all of these situations there is one and only one individual which satisfies the description “conductor”.
DPs with overt nouns too can be used as ‘donkey anaphorae’, which gives support to the
proposal of explaining donkey-pronouns by nominal anaphora:
(115)
Când se întâlnesc o pisică şi un câine, pisica în general fuge de câine
when REFL meet.3PL a cat and a dog cat-the in general runs from dog-the
‘When a cat and a dog meet, usually the cat flees from the dog’
8.5. Genderless pronouns
We have seen that gender in pronouns reflects the gender of the nominal antecedent (where
‘antecedent’ is understood in the broad sense, including ‘pragmatic antecedents’) except for
humans and animals with distinguishable sex, where it can also reflect a property of the
referent (the sex). There are however entities which are neither human nor fall under a
nominal concept: this is the case with propositional contents or unidentified (uncathegorized)
objects. In order to refer to entities of this type, neuter gender is used in those languages that
have it. Romanian, which has only two values for the Gender feature (see above), uses some
forms which are arguably genderless, as we have shown for the demonstrative asta, aia in
chapter 3 (see section 1.7). Among personal pronouns, the null subject pro (which we treat
here as a weak form of the nominative, see above) may be used both for a propositional
content and for an unidentified perceptual object:
(116)
(117)
A: [Zice [că va câştiga alegerile]i]j B: Proi/j e imposibil.
says
that will win elections-the
is impossible
‘A: He says he will win the elections. B: It’s impossible’
A: Ce e aia? B: Nu ştiu ce o
fi pro dar pro n-arată
bine
37
what is that
not know what may be
but
not-looks good
‘A: What’s that? B: I don’t know what it is but it doesn’t look good’
Reference to a propositional content may also be expressed by using the accusative feminine
clitic:
(118)
a. Nici
nu-mi
vine s-o
spun
not-even not-me.CL.DAT comes SUBJ-CL.3FSG.ACC say.1SG
‘I don’t even feel like saying it’
b. Uite, am făcut-o
look have.1SG did-CL.FSG.ACC
‘Look, I did it’
c. N-am
crezut-o
până nu mi
-a arătat fotografia
not-have.1SG believed-CL.FSG.ACC until not me.CL.DAT-has shown photo-the
‘I didn’t believe it until (s)he showed me the photo’
Although possible, the use of a pronominal clitic resuming a proposition is more restricted in
Romanian compared to western Romance languages. In many cases, Romanian uses instead
either object drop or the neuter demonstrative:
(119)
(120)
a. Je le
souhaite/je l’
espère
French
I CL.3MSG.ACC wish/I CL.3MCL.ACC-hope
b. * O doresc/*
O
sper (with o standing for a proposition)
Romanian
CL.3FSG.ACC wish.1SG/CL.3FSG.ACC hope.1SG
c. Sper (asta)
hope.1SG this
‘I hope so’
d. Doresc asta
wish.1SG this
‘I want this’
a. Je l’
admets
French
I CL.3MSG.ACC admit
b. (??O)
admit
Romanian
CL.3FSG.ACC
admit.1SG
If topicalized, the neuter demonstrative can be doubled by the feminine singular clitic (in the
structure known as Clitic Left Dislocation, see second Volume 2):
(121)
a. Ma concediat, asta nu-mi
vine s- o
cred
me.CL.ACC-has fired
this not-me.CL.DAT comes SUBJ-CL.3FSG.ACC believe.1SG
‘(S)he fired me, I can’t believe it’
b. Te
ajut,
asta o
fac
pentru tine
CL.2SG.ACC help.1SG this CL.3FSG.ACC do.1SG for
you
‘I will help you, I’ll do that for you’
8.6. Special (pragmatic) interpretations of some pronominal forms (Andra Vasilescu)
8.6.1. Generic uses
Contextually, 2nd person singular pronouns, including null subjects, may take a generic
reading:
(122)
Pro nu poŃi
prevedea totul
not
can.2SG predict.INF everything
‘One cannot predict everything.’
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8.6.2. Person deviations:
Person deviations can attach supplementary discourse values to personal pronouns:
(i) solidarity plural: we for he
(123)
(A lady speaking with her interlocutor about her puppy) (I. L Caragiale, Bubico)
Noi suntem băieŃi bine crescuŃi. Noi nu suntem mojici ca Bismark.
we are
boys well-educated we not are
rude like Bismark
‘We behave ourselves. We are not rude like Bismark.’
(ii) inclusive plural, as positive politeness strategy: we for you
(124)
Astăzi o să facem
curat în casă
today will SUBJ make.1PL clean in house
‘Today we will clean the house’
(an instruction given to the housecleaner)
The 1st person plural instead of the 2nd singular may also appear when addressing to children,
as an empathetic use (see (iv) below).
(iii) speaker-agent dissociation (speech act: threaten; expressive) she for I, you for I:
(125) Te
REFL.2SG.ACC
căptuşeşte ea, mătuşa Mărioara. (I. Creangă, Amintiri)
she aunt Mărioara
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‘She will teach you a good lesson, aunt Mary’ (says aunt Mary).
(126) Apoi lasă
-Ńi,
băiete, satul
cu tot farmecul frumuseŃilor
lui,
then let.IMPER.2SG.-CL.2SG.DAT boy.VOC village-the with all charm-the beauties-the.GEN its
şi pasă de te
du
în loc străin
şi aşe depărtat, dacă te
lasă
and care that CL.2SG.ACC go.IMPER.2SG in place foreign and so remote if CL.2SG.ACC lets
pârdalnica de inimă.
damned-the of heart
‘And now, boy, leave your native village with all the charm of its beauties and start for so
remote foreign places, if your damned heart lets you do it’ (writes the narrator, a character in the
story)
(iv) empathetic use (speaker – agent): I for you
(127) Eu sunt băieŃel cuminte şi mă
spăl
pe dinŃi în fiecare zi (a mother about her son)
I am boy.DIM well-behaved a me.ACC.CL wash.1SG on teeth in every day
‘I am a good boy and I brush my teeth every day’
We for you when adressing to children:
(128) Ce facem,
ne- am
murdărit?
what do.1PL REFL-have.1PL dirtied
‘What are we doing, have we got dirty?’
(v) power distance plural: we for I :
(129)
Noi, comisarul secŃiei
55, după reclamaŃia părŃilor… (I. L. Caragiale, Opere)
we officer-the section-the.GEN 55 after complaint-the sides-the.GEN
‘We, the police officer of the 55th Dept, having heard the complaints of the sides…’
(vi) modesty plural: we for I:
(130) Unde ai
plecat, moşule? – Mergem şi noi la târg. (Slavici)
where have.2SG gone old-man.VOC go.1PL also we to fair
‘Where are you going, old man? – We are going to the fair’
(vii) the author’s plural: we for I:
(131) Vom discuta mai întâi structura (54)b, care selectează interpretarea non-specifică,
will.1PL discuss first structure-the which selects interpretation-the non-specific
rezultând conform ipotezei
noastre în urma
aplicării
RQ
resulting according hypothesis-the.DAT our in consequence application-the.GEN QR
(Carmen Dobrovie Sorin, Sintaxa limbii române)
‘We will first discuss structure (54)b, which has a non-specific interpretation, resulting,
according to our hypothesis, from applying QR.’
(viii) collectivism plural: we for I (in collectivistic cultures, instead of assuming a point of view
speakers prefer a plural form to evoke a group experience):
(132) –– Ce părere aveŃi
despre anunŃata
vizită la Bucureşti a preşedintelui
what opinion have.2PL(POLITE) about announced-the visit to Bucharest ART president-the.GEN
Bush?
Bush
–– Suntem fericiŃi că, după atâŃia ani, americanii se uită şi spre
noi,
Americans-the REFL look also towards us
are.1PL glad that after many years
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spre
Ńara
noastră.
towards country-the our
‘What do you think about president Bush’s announced visit to Bucharest?/ - We are glad that
after so many years the Americans seem interested in us, in our country.’
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