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, Ángel J. Gallego Bartolomé (secret.) , Michelle Sheehan (voc.) This dissertation is devoted to the analysis of Clitic Climbing (CC) phenomenon and how it correlates with respect to restructuring and control. This thesis aims to reach three main goals: to delimitate the scope of CC; to provide a descriptive and formal approach to linguistic variation regarding the different CC patterns attested in Catalan dialects and across Romance varieties; to demonstrate that the absence of CC does not entail the absence of restructuring and, ultimately, to offer a redefinition of restructuring as a gradual phenomenon.
Chapter 2 offers a description of the interdialectal and cross-linguistic patterns regarding CC. In particular, a pan-Romance scenario is drawn by exploring the different positions occupied by clitics in different complex structures involving V1 [+FIN] + V2 [-FIN]. In the second part of the chapter, the diachronic perspective adopted reveals how the interweaving of synchronic and diachronic data brings to light the current kaleidoscopic pan-Romance scenario as a result of the stage which each Romance language occupies with respect to the labelled ‘CC Cycle’.
Chapter 3 presents a characterization of restructuring in Catalan by analyzing which set of transparency phenomena are associated with it and examines which correlation holds between all of them and CC. A cross-linguistic description of restructuring is made in the second part of the chapter. All the transparency effects analyzed provide strong evidence to support two major claims: i) the absence of CC does not entail the absence of restructuring not only in those languages in which the phenomenon displays an optional nature but also in those languages in which CC is ruled out; ii) restructuring is universal; what differentiates languages is the way in which it becomes visible (i.e. the set of transparency phenomena). Ultimately, this chapter explores different verbs belonging to the restructuring class and shows that a monolithic treatment is untenable.
Chapter 4 is dedicated to the analysis of the intersection between CC, control and restructuring. The major contribution is the delimitation of the scope of CC with unexplored data. In particular, the phenomenon includes several control verbs including pronominal and object control verbs with the exception of propositional and factive verbs. Thus, the study of the temporal properties of different control verbs reveals the salient role played by tense in restructuring. Additionally, it gives support to the claim that restructuring displays a gradual nature. Eventually, the analysis has an important implication for the control theory: it is demonstrated that the division between exhaustive and partial control does not hold in Catalan dialects nor in Spanish.
Chapter 5 offers a formal approach to restructuring and CC. A bi-clausal approach is defended involving an embedded clause headed by Cdef/Tdef. A set of arguments is provided to support this analysis. At the same time, it is argued that the opaqueness of the embedded clause selected by propositional and factive verbs is the result of a more complex structure. The second part of the chapter is dedicated to the analysis of CC. It presents a characterization of different factors and restrictions constraining CC and it develops an analysis which locates the variation regarding the different CC patterns on the nature of embedded v*. Ultimately, the analysis presented leads to a redefinition of restructuring.
