Angelopoulos 2026: On clausal complementation, once more @cite{angelopoulos-2026} #

Nikos Angelopoulos (2026). Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 44:26. DOI 10.1007/s11049-026-09711-w.

Three puzzles, one mechanism #

The paper resolves three puzzles about Modern Greek oti (content complementizer) and pu (situation/factive complementizer):

Internal/external argument asymmetry. Both oti- and pu-clauses pattern as internal arguments under three diagnostics — clitic doubling, passivization, A-bar extraction transparency — yet both are banned from the external argument position.
Near-complementary distribution. oti combines with content-selecting matrix verbs (ipe 'said', pistévo 'believe', xeri 'know'); pu combines with situation- selecting emotive factives (metanjose 'regret', aresi 'like / appeal to', xérome 'be happy').
Novel stativity restriction on complement pu. Complement pu-clauses require a stative matrix predicate. The restriction vanishes in adjunct, relative, and interrogative pu uses.

The unifying mechanism: oti and pu bear an uninterpretable [n]-feature checked by a light noun in their specifier (@cite{arsenijevic-2009}, @cite{moltmann-2019}). The light noun is licensed by Hale-Keyser noun-incorporation (@cite{hale-keyser-1993}) into a lexical host (v_State or v_Event); incorporation into a functional head (T) is impossible. Aspectual head v_State selects either content- or situation-typed [n]; v_Event selects only content-typed [n]. Adjuncts select-upward (@cite{bruening-2013}, @cite{hewett-2023}, @cite{hunter-2015}, @cite{neeleman-philip-tanaka-vandekoot-2023}), exempting non- complement pu from v_State.

Hedges (per audit) #

Stativity restriction credit. Noted in @cite{roussou-2019} (Angelopoulos credits her example as the source of his ex. 22b discriminating the stativity contrast); the systematic generalization across complement pu-clauses is presented as novel in @cite{angelopoulos-2026}, derived here from v_State c-selection.
Manner-adverb diagnostic. Unidirectional in the literature. @cite{maienborn-2005} shows Kimian states allow some manner- like modification; the converse (allows manner ⟹ eventive) is contested.
Clitic doubling as argumenthood. Exposed as a construction fact (doubledByClitic), NOT axiomatized as biconditional with isArgument. @cite{anagnostopoulou-2003} ties doubling to specificity, not bare argumenthood.
Crosslinguistic scope. Greek with cross-references to @cite{major-2024} (Uyghur dep) and @cite{bochnak-hanink-2021} (Washo). Two-language extension, not a typology. Korean -ko, Japanese to/koto, Romance que/de, Hebrew še/ki avoided.

Cross-framework engagement #

Theoretical ally: @cite{bruening-2025} ("C-Selection Irreducibility") makes a parallel argument for bidirectional feature-driven selection in coordination, formalised in Phenomena/Coordination/Studies/Bruening2025.lean. The bidirectional-selection move here generalises Bruening's argument-side claim to the adjunct domain.
Silent divergence vs HPSG: HPSG selection is intrinsically head-driven (the SUBCAT/COMPS list lives on the head); the paper's adjunct-selects-host machinery has no HPSG counterpart yet formalised in linglib. A future Theories/Syntax/HPSG/Complementation.lean would let us state the cross-framework refutation directly.
Silent divergence vs CCG: CCG adjuncts are X/X modifiers that don't probe their host; the bidirectional-selection move is also silently divergent from CCG.
Encoding gap: the §6 refutation theorems are conditional (premises about constructive SyntacticObject witnesses); the substantive instantiation requires a Step.applyAdjunctChecked dual to Selection.lean's checked Merge, which is queued substrate. As written, both refutation theorems function as paper-attributed promises rather than constructive refutations.

Studies-local apparatus (per audit) #

vAspectHead enum (vState / vEvent): per the @cite{borer-2005} / @cite{merchant-2019} light-v split. Not promoted to substrate yet — single paper-anchored consumer; promote to Theories/Syntax/Minimalist/LightV.lean when ≥ 2 consumers.
adjunctSelects predicate: bidirectional selection per @cite{bruening-2013} / @cite{hewett-2023} / @cite{hunter-2015} / @cite{neeleman-philip-tanaka-vandekoot-2023}. Studies-local; promote to Theories/Syntax/Minimalist/AdjunctSelection.lean when ≥ 2 consumers.
hkIncorporable predicate: @cite{hale-keyser-1993} noun- incorporation. Distinct from Phase.lean D-incorporation (Davies-Dubinsky 2003 phase deactivation) and Typology.Voice noun-incorporation (Beavers-Udayana 2022 type-shifting taxonomy). The three are coincidentally named but structurally distinct; do NOT unify into a single Incorporation.lean substrate.