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Linglib.Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026

@cite{olivier-2026} — clitic-typology asymmetry #

Novel observation in @cite{olivier-2026} (also reported by @cite{cardinaletti-shlonsky-2004}, but not previously formalised): not all climbing clitics interact with Auxiliary Switch. Prepositional clitics (locative y/ci, partitive en/ne, non-reflexive dative lui/gli) climb to the matrix domain WITHOUT triggering AS. Only reflexive clitic climbing correlates with AS.

Mechanism (Olivier 2026 §6.2, §7.1) #

The asymmetry derives from one structural property: a reflexive clitic is bound by the External Argument via Voice* (the strong, agentive phase head — @cite{wurmbrand-shimamura-2017}, @cite{wood-2015}'s [+θ, +D] reflexive Voice). Under the SHARE mode of φ-feature transfer (@cite{ouali-2008}, formalised in Minimalist.TransferStyle), Voice* shares the now-EA-identical clitic features with vMOD; vAux inherits these via head-splitting; T probes EA and ends up with matching person/ID values, yielding BE-insertion. Other clitic types do not enter the EA-binding chain, so no ID-matching obtains and HAVE surfaces.

All argument clitics carry φ-features (Olivier fn 27 — locatives and partitives included); the asymmetry is not that some clitics lack φ. The asymmetry is which clitics enter binding by EA via Voice*.

What this file commits to #

This file's load-bearing claim is the per-clitic-type structural property boundByEAviaVoiceStar and the projection from a clitic type to an AuxiliaryVerbs.Studies.Olivier2026.RestructuringClause configuration. The AS prediction is then derived from the sibling file's AuxiliarySwitchOccurs predicate — not stipulated per case.

The Minimalist.TransferStyle (KEEP/SHARE/DONATE) and VoiceHead infrastructure are imported but not parametrised at the phenomenon level — language-level KEEP-vs-SHARE variation lives in the AuxVerbs sibling's diachronic-French / Sardinian generalisations, not here.

Empirical caveat (Olivier fn 18, Cinque 2006:60 fn 49) #

Prepositional-clitic climbing out of unaccusative complements (e.g. Italian Maria c'ha dovuto venire molte volte — locative climbing + HAVE despite unaccusative venire) is colloquial and yields varying acceptability among speakers. Olivier's analysis predicts AS in such cases (the embedded verb is unaccusative); the absence of AS is treated as diatopic markedness rather than counter-evidence. The formalisation below does not capture this colloquial-Italian deviation.

The contrast formalised here is the canonical case: prepositional clitics climbing out of transitive complements vs reflexive clitics climbing out of reflexive complements.

Clitic types #

Romance argument-clitic categories relevant to the AS-trigger asymmetry. The taxonomy is empirically supported by the distinct forms (y/ci, en/ne, lui/gli, le/la/lo, se/si) and by their differential climbing behaviour in restructuring contexts.

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inductive Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.CliticType :
Type

Romance clitic categories relevant to the AS-trigger asymmetry in @cite{olivier-2026}.

  • reflexive : CliticType

    se, si — bound by the local subject via Voice*.

  • locative : CliticType

    y, ci — PP-internal locative.

  • partitive : CliticType

    en, ne — PP-internal partitive.

  • dative : CliticType

    lui, gli — non-reflexive dative (PP- or Appl-internal).

  • accusative : CliticType

    le, la, lo — direct internal argument with independent reference.

Instances For
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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.instDecidableEqCliticType :
    DecidableEq CliticType
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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.instReprCliticType :
    Repr CliticType
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    def Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.instReprCliticType.repr :
    CliticType → ℕ → Std.Format
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    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
    Instances For

      The load-bearing configurational property #

      Per @cite{olivier-2026} §6.2: only reflexive clitics enter binding by the External Argument via Voice*. This is the single structural property from which the AS-trigger asymmetry derives.

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      def Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.CliticType.boundByEAviaVoiceStar :
      CliticType → Bool

      Whether a clitic of this type enters EA-binding via Voice*.

      Only reflexive clitics do — locatives and partitives are PP-internal arguments not introduced by Voice*; non-reflexive datives have independent referents; accusatives bear their own referential index distinct from EA's.

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      Instances For
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        def Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.CliticType.embeddedClassOnClimbing :
        CliticType → AuxiliaryVerbs.Selection.TransitivityClass

        The embedded-verb transitivity class induced when a clitic of this type is the embedded internal argument. Only a reflexive clitic forces a .reflexive embedded class (and hence BE-selection of the embedded predicate); the others appear with transitive embedded verbs.

        This is the projection from clitic-type taxonomy to the Phenomena.AuxiliaryVerbs.Selection.TransitivityClass enum used by the AuxVerbs sibling's AS predicate.

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          Canonical climbing scenarios #

          For each clitic type, the canonical modal-compound restructuring clause induced by climbing of a clitic of that type. The embedded verb class follows from the clitic type; the reflexive position flag is .climbed only when the clitic is itself reflexive.

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          def Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.CliticType.canonicalScenario (c : CliticType) :
          AuxiliaryVerbs.Studies.Olivier2026.RestructuringClause

          The canonical modal-compound restructuring scenario in which a clitic of type c has climbed to the matrix domain.

          Equations
          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
          Instances For

            Theorems: AS prediction is derived, not stipulated #

            The central claim is triggersAS_iff_boundByEAviaVoiceStar: the AS prediction for a canonical climbing scenario is the iff of the configurational property, derived from the AuxVerbs sibling's AuxiliarySwitchOccurs predicate. The five per-clitic-type smoke checks below follow from it.

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            theorem Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.triggersAS_iff_boundByEAviaVoiceStar (c : CliticType) :
            AuxiliaryVerbs.Studies.Olivier2026.AuxiliarySwitchOccurs c.canonicalScenario ↔ c.boundByEAviaVoiceStar = true

            A clitic of type c, climbing in its canonical scenario, triggers Auxiliary Switch iff it is bound by the External Argument via Voice*. This is @cite{olivier-2026}'s central asymmetry, derived (not stipulated) from the structural property boundByEAviaVoiceStar and the AuxVerbs sibling's AS predicate.

            Per-clitic-type smoke checks #

            Decide-closed instantiations of triggersAS_iff_boundByEAviaVoiceStar. They document expected outputs and serve as guards against regressions in the AuxVerbs sibling's predicate.

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            theorem Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.predictedAux_eq_be_iff_boundByEAviaVoiceStar (c : CliticType) :
            AuxiliaryVerbs.Studies.Olivier2026.predictedMatrixAux c.canonicalScenario = AuxiliaryVerbs.Selection.PerfectAux.be ↔ c.boundByEAviaVoiceStar = true

            Predicted matrix auxiliary across all five clitic types: BE iff the clitic enters EA-binding via Voice*.

            Bridge to AuxVerbs sibling's canonical reflexive scenario #

            The AuxVerbs sibling defines beWantReflexiveClimbed as the canonical reflexive-climbing scenario. We confirm this is exactly the canonical scenario produced by CliticType.reflexive.

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            theorem Phenomena.Pronouns.Studies.Olivier2026.reflexive_canonical_eq_beWantReflexiveClimbed :
            CliticType.reflexive.canonicalScenario = AuxiliaryVerbs.Studies.Olivier2026.beWantReflexiveClimbed

            The canonical reflexive-clitic scenario coincides with the AuxVerbs sibling's beWantReflexiveClimbed witness.