Syntax and semantics of subjunctive clauses in Persian

• Ali Darzi ^[1] ; Saera Kwak ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Tehran

     University of Tehran

     Irán

     
  2. [2] Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

     Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

     Corea del Sur

     
• Localización: Lingua: International review of general linguistics, ISSN 0024-3841, Nº 153, 2015, págs. 1-13
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Modern Persian. We propose that subjunctivity in Persian is regulated via a temporal relation between the embedded subjunctive clause and the matrix clause time. The matrix V is proposed to Agree with/select all the embedded head Cs and Ts as [-Past] in a Multiple Agree fashion, along a proposal by Hiraiwa (2001) for raising and ECM constructions in Japanese. The head T, carrying an interpretable [-Past] feature checks the uninterpretable matching feature on C along a similar proposal by Landau (2004) for subjunctive clauses in the Balkan languages and Hebrew. We propose an analysis of embedded subjunctive clauses in terms of the semantic tense anaphoricity between the two clauses in the sense of Landau (2004), rather than a sequence of tenses from a morphological perspective which requires that the morphological tense specification of the selecting verb and the embedded subjunctive verb covary. The [-Past] feature on V is morphologically realized as the subjunctive prefix marker in accordance with the Persian morphology, and triggers a temporal interpretation simultaneous with, or posterior to, the matrix event time in present subjunctives. The paper also employs Reichenbach's (1947) tripartite distinction between speech time, event time, and reference time to account for the fact that in the past subjunctive, the event expressed by the embedded subjunctive clause precedes the matrix event time