Infinitive Constructions with Specified Subjects

Most Romance languages permit the overt realization of the grammatical subject in infinitive clauses in a considerable number of configurations. Mensching has the following goals: to describe systematically Romance infinitive constructions with specified subjects taking into account diachronic and dialectical varieties; and then to interpret these facts within a generative framework examining how overt subjects in infinitive clauses are licensed and what determines their case and position. His findings call for a thorough revision of the principles that have been assumed for analysing the Romance languages. Mensching uses eight Romance languages in his comparisons among them Italian Sardinian Romanian Spanish and Portuguese.