Italian Modal Auxiliaries #
@cite{hacquard-2010} @cite{cinque-2004} @cite{hacquard-2006} @cite{rizzi-1978}
Italian modal auxiliaries dovere ('must') and potere ('can'), with their behavior under restructuring. These are the primary empirical evidence for @cite{hacquard-2006}'s event-relative analysis: when Italian modals appear in restructuring configurations (syntactically low, below AspP), they lose epistemic readings.
Italian Restructuring #
Italian potere and dovere participate in restructuring. In restructuring contexts, the modal is syntactically low — merged below AspP, with the lower verb's clitic climbing through the modal. Diagnostics:
- Clitic climbing: lo posso fare ('it I-can do') — clitic lo climbs past the modal (restructuring) vs posso farlo (non-restructuring).
- Auxiliary selection: è dovuto andare (auxiliary essere with unaccusative andare) — auxiliary matches the lower verb (restructuring) vs ha dovuto andare (non-restructuring, default avere).
When restructured (low): only root readings (circumstantial, deontic). When non-restructured (high): epistemic readings available.
An Italian modal auxiliary entry with position-sensitive flavor.
- form : String
Citation form
- force : Core.Modality.ModalForce
Modal force (necessity or possibility)
- canRestructure : Bool
Whether the modal can restructure (appear below AspP)
- highFlavors : List Core.Modality.ModalFlavor
Flavors available when non-restructured (high position)
- lowFlavors : List Core.Modality.ModalFlavor
Flavors available when restructured (low position)
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- Fragments.Italian.Modals.instBEqItalianModalEntry.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false
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Potere ('can'): restructuring modal. High: epistemic, deontic, circumstantial. Low (restructured): deontic, circumstantial only.
@cite{rizzi-1978}; @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4:
- "Gianni può essere intelligente" (epistemic, non-restructured)
- "Gianni lo può fare" (root, restructured — clitic climbing)
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Dovere ('must'): restructuring modal. High: epistemic, deontic, circumstantial. Low (restructured): deontic, circumstantial only.
@cite{rizzi-1978}; @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4:
- "Gianni deve essere a casa" (epistemic, non-restructured)
- "Gianni deve lavorare" (deontic/circumstantial, restructured)
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Restructuring diagnostics from @cite{rizzi-1978}.
- cliticClimbing : RestructuringDiagnostic
Clitic climbing: clitic raises past the modal to the higher verb
- auxiliaryChange : RestructuringDiagnostic
Auxiliary change: auxiliary of the lower verb surfaces on the modal
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A restructuring example: sentence + diagnostic + reading.
- italian : String
Italian sentence
- gloss : String
English gloss
- isRestructured : Bool
Whether the modal is restructured
- diagnostic : Option RestructuringDiagnostic
Which diagnostic evidences restructuring
- availableFlavors : List Core.Modality.ModalFlavor
The modal reading(s) available
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Non-restructured potere — epistemic. "Gianni può essere intelligente" = Gianni may be intelligent. No clitic climbing; epistemic reading available. @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4.
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Restructured potere — root only. "Lo posso fare" = I can do it (clitic climbing). Clitic climbing diagnoses low position; epistemic unavailable. @cite{rizzi-1978}; @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4.
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Non-restructured dovere — epistemic. "Gianni deve essere a casa" = Gianni must be at home. Epistemic necessity. @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4.
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Restructured dovere — deontic/root only. "È dovuto andare a casa" = He had to go home. Auxiliary change (essere from unaccusative andare). @cite{rizzi-1978}; @cite{hacquard-2006}, Ch. 4.
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Non-restructured examples have epistemic as a flavor.
Restructured examples lack epistemic as a flavor.
The core generalization: restructured ↔ no epistemic.
The entry's position-sensitive flavors match EventRelativity's content licensing predictions.