Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In general, Slovene clitics occur in the second, so-called Wackernagel position of the clause. However, Slovene is exceptional among Wackernagel languages in that the clitic cluster may also occupy the clause-initial position. Imperative sentences have been argued to form an exception to this exception, again allowing the clitic cluster only in the second position. In this paper, we present corpus data that speaks against this second-order exception. We categorize the imperative clauses containing initial clitic clusters found in the corpora into three classes: modally subordinated imperatives, imperatives containing the adversative or the concessive particle, and imperatives occuring as a step in an instruction. We argue that all three classes involve a covert anaphoric element residing in the clause-initial position, yielding an illusion of a clause-initial clitic cluster. In conclusion, initial clitic clusters in Slovene imperatives are not ungrammatical but merely uncommon, and their distribution is ultimately governed by the discourse. We also make a theoretical point, emphasizing that the presented analysis offers support to the view that all discursive information must be represented in syntax.
Source: Languages
Authors: Sašo Živanović, Ema Štarkl
Institutions: University of Ljubljana, University of Nova Gorica
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,689
OpenAlex ID: W4413811559