This dissertation investigates intra-clausal relations, namely, the relations that obtain between the elements in a clause. This investigation is based on a detailed study of copular sentences in Russian and Italian. In particular, three types of intra-clausal relations are investigated here: phrase-structural relations, thematic relations, and case relations. / With respect to phrase-structural relations, it is argued that not all syntactic structures are asymmetrical. Rather, it is proposed that under certain conditions---when the two input phrases have the same features---Merge will result in a symmetrical structure. This requirement for matching features leads to a more parsimonious analysis of equative sentences where the interpretation derives directly from the syntactic structure, without postulating a special "identity copula". / As for thematic relations, it is claimed that there is no one-to-one correspondence between thematic positions and structural positions (contra the strong version of UTAH, Baker 1988). Instead, a more flexible theory of thematic relations is proposed. It is also proposed that theta-assignment is not a necessary condition for DP interpretation. Rather, a DP can be interpreted if it establishes a certain relationship with another theta-marked DP. This analysis extends to Left Dislocation, Pronoun Doubling and sound like -construction. / Finally, case relations are said to be tied to thematic relations. A version of the Visibility Condition is thus argued for. It is maintained that non-argument DPs---namely, those that are merged as neither complements nor specifiers of a lexical head---need not be case-marked in syntax at all and appear with the morphological default (i.e., nominative) marking. The alternative "agreement in case" analysis of NOM-NOM sentences is argued against; various conceptual and empirical problems for this analysis are identified and discussed. / The analysis developed in this dissertation accounts for a number of properties of copular sentences, including their interpretation, case-marking patterns, and such syntactic properties as extraction, inversion, binding possibilities and unaccusativity diagnostics.

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This study is a comparative analysis of the syntax of adverbials in Chinese and Italian in the context of an anti-symmetric view of clause structure. Through a detailed investigation of selected sentence adverbs, aspect adverbs and manner adverbs, various similarities and differences between Italian and Chinese are identified. Chinese adverbials are mostly pre-verbal (with a few exceptions) while in Italian they can also appear after the verb. Such differences are plausibly accounted for through the verb-movement analysis: the Italian verb raises, overtly, to the left of adverbs, probably as a consequence of the rich inflectional morphology, while in Chinese the verb cannot overtly raise out of VP, due to the scarce inflectional morphology of the language. The traditional analysis of adverbs as adjuncts, coupled with directionality parameters, is not needed in order to explain the facts. The study shows that when adverbs such as the Italian adverb presto and the corresponding Chinese adverb kuai (‘quickly’) appear in different syntactic positions, they may receive different interpretations. This fact cannot be properly captured by the adjunct analysis, but it is predicted by the F-Spec hypothesis, according to which each class of adverbs occupies a specific syntactic position within the functional projections above VP. The double analysis of Italian bene (‘well’), which can be an adverb but can also (in specific cases) be interpreted as a predicate, is a clear example in support of the functional vs. predicational nature of adverbs, a fact also noted in the predicational analysis of the Chinese post-verbal V-deconstructions. Finally, Italian adverbs like stranamente (‘oddly’) are ambiguous between a clausal and a manner reading when appearing in post-verbal / pre-object position, while in Chinese the corresponding adverb qiguai shows the same ambiguity in the pre-verbal position. This, again, is associated with the possibility in Italian, but not in Chinese, for the verb to raise to the left of adverbs. Overall, the study supports the view that several word order and interpretative properties which differ between languages can be reduced to a few abstract syntactic principles. / published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 712-718. / by Luigi Burzio. / Ph.D.