Infinitive Constructions with Specified Subjects: A Syntactic Analysis of the Romance Languages

Most Romance languages permit the overt realization of the grammatical subject in infinitive clauses in a considerable number of configurations. Mensching has the following goals: to describe systematically Romance infinitive constructions with specified subjects, taking into account diachronic and dialectical varieties; and then to interpret these facts within a generative framework, examining how overt subjects in infinitive clauses are licensed and what determines their case and position. His findings call for a thorough revision of the principles that have been assumed for analyzing the Romance languages. Mensching uses eight Romance languages in his comparisons, among them Italian, Sardinian, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese.