Stylistic inversion in French.

Fender, Mary

Abstract

Stylistic inversion, a construction which involves the inversion of subject and verb in French is found in a restricted number of environments, mainly in embedded questions. Previous accounts have argued for rightward movement of the subject or raising of the verb to the head C of the complementiser phrase, thus qualifying French for the label of residual V2 language (Rizzi 1990). This paper argues that neither of these accounts are satisfactory, and that stylistic inversion results from the interaction of parameters such as verb raising and the licensing conditions of the empty category pro, which allow the subject to remain in its base position, to the right of the raised verb. These conditions are met when a feature, identified as [+h] is present in C, and the presence of this feature is related to Wh- movement or through selection by the matrix verb.

Citation

Fender, M. (2002). Stylistic inversion in French

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2002
• Deposit Date: Jul 22, 2010
• Journal: Durham Working Papers in Linguistics
• Volume: 8
• Pages: 27-40
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1520779