Abstract
We offer a syntax–semantics interface for a previously undiscussed type of event-external pluractional operator. While earlier literature discusses overt cases of such operators that act as derivational affixes and attach at the V-level, we here report evidence for a covert operator, which behaves like an inflectional affix at the level of Aspect. This analysis enriches our understanding of pluractional operators as markers of verbal plurality in languages where verbs are lexically cumulative and pluractionality as accounted for previously would appear to be superfluous, at least at first sight. We formulate our claims on the basis of the Romanian supine, whose nominal form has previously been argued to carry a pluractional operator.
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The semantic proposal in this paper has been developed by the first author, while the syntactic account is joint work.
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Iordăchioaia, G., Soare, E. Pluractionality with lexically cumulative verbs. Nat Lang Semantics 23, 307–352 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-015-9117-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-015-9117-9