Abstract
This paper looks at Adverb Climbing (AC), a syntactic configuration in which
an adverb preceding a verb with an infinitival complement modifies the non-
finite complement verb rather than the matrix verb (e.g. He intentionally seemed
to insult her). Assuming Wurmbrand’s analysis of Restructuring, I argue that
the availability of AC with Raising verbs in English (e.g. seem) indicates that
they take non-finite complements which lack a CP projection. In contrast, the
non-finite complements of Control verbs (e.g. try) are full CPs. Following a
comparison to Neg-Raising, with particular attention given to Klooster’s (2003)
approach, I will also argue that AC with a limited set of T-modifying adverbs
is possible for English Control verbs that select ‘temporally independent’ in-
finitives (e.g. want) because these verbs have T-to-C movement within their
non-finite complement clauses (cf. Landau 2003). This analysis will lead to a
general proposal regarding the limitations on adverb distribution in English.
an adverb preceding a verb with an infinitival complement modifies the non-
finite complement verb rather than the matrix verb (e.g. He intentionally seemed
to insult her). Assuming Wurmbrand’s analysis of Restructuring, I argue that
the availability of AC with Raising verbs in English (e.g. seem) indicates that
they take non-finite complements which lack a CP projection. In contrast, the
non-finite complements of Control verbs (e.g. try) are full CPs. Following a
comparison to Neg-Raising, with particular attention given to Klooster’s (2003)
approach, I will also argue that AC with a limited set of T-modifying adverbs
is possible for English Control verbs that select ‘temporally independent’ in-
finitives (e.g. want) because these verbs have T-to-C movement within their
non-finite complement clauses (cf. Landau 2003). This analysis will lead to a
general proposal regarding the limitations on adverb distribution in English.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | International Society for the Linguistics of English |
| Number of pages | 38 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2013 |