D3.3 Very basic grammar for I Revision 0.1
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DeepThought IST-2000-30161 Page 44 (of 55)
11 ABSOLUTE PHRASES: PARTICIPIAL AND GERUNDIVE 11.1. Introduction Absolute phrases (both participial and gerundive phrases) in italian usually occur in a
sentence initial position and play the role of (mainly) temporal modifiers.
For examples:
1. Partita Maria, Giovanni pianse
2. Partita, Maria pianse
3. Baciato il marito, Maria è felice
4. Baciato dagli amici, Giovanni è commosso
5. Ucciso Cesare, Roma cadde nella confusione
6. Avendo distrutto la moto, Giovanni va a piedi
7.
Partendo per le vacanze, Maria sorrideva
A first distinction can be operated between AAP (Absolute Aspectual Phrase) and APP
(Absolute Predicative Phrase)
8
:
•
AAPs: gerundive phrases (for all types of verb) and
participials with an “
active ”
diath (for
transitive verbs with a
direct object or
intransitive verbs (with or without
subject) [see sentences 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7]
•
APPs: participials with a “
passive ” diath (for
transitive verbs neither preceded nor
followed by an NP (the surface subject cannot be expressed) [see sentence 4]
The main difference between AAPs and APPs (not taking in account semantic or temporal
and aspectual problems) is caused by the syntactic role: AAPs are
modifiers of the
governing phrase (matrix phrase); APPs are “predicatives” of the matrix phrase subject, in a
kind of subj-control structure.
8
See Luca Dini, Aspectual Constraints on Italian Absolute Phrases, 1995
D3.3 Very basic grammar for I Revision 0.1
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DeepThought IST-2000-30161 Page 45 (of 55)