[Grammaires créoles] Patricia Cabredo Hofherr (UMR 7023)

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Patricia Cabredo Hofherr (UMR 7023 - SFL CNRS & U. Paris 8)

Give-constructions with final clauses in Haitian

In Haitian Creole a cognate element of the verb BA(Y) `give' can introduce either a DP (1) or a final clause (2)

(1)     Jan voye let        la     bay Mari. (HC)
            J.    send letter det give    M.
            `Jan sent the letter to Mari.' lit `J. sent the letter give M.'

(2)     Li achte savon bay Mari lave men li. (HC)
          3sg buy soap give   M. wash hands 3sg
         ‘S/he bought soap and gave (it) to Mary to wash her hands (with it).’

In this presentation I compare the restrictions on HC BA(Y) introducing DP complements with restrictions on the BA(Y) introducing clausal complements, showing that the constructions contrast on a range of properties.