OBJECT CONTROL VERBS IN ITALIAN AND SERBIAN

Abstract

The present study aims to describe, analyse and compare Italian and Serbian object control verbs selecting an infinitival complement (or its finite equivalent). The overarching method employed is contrastive analysis. Using this method, Italian and Serbian verbs that belong to the class of interest are contrasted from a synchronic perspective, and are analysed within the theoretical framework of generative grammar. The main goal of the study is to formulate a classification system for the Italian and Serbian object control verbs taking an infinitival complement (or its finite equivalent). The following syntactic criteria are used as a basis for the classification: 1) a noun phrase functioning as a direct (accusative) object /a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase functioning as an indirect (dative) object, 2) presence/absence of a preposition preceding the infinitival complement, 3) compatibility/incompatibility with an anteriority reading of the action expressed by the complement verb, and 4) possibility/impossibility of using an alternative finite construction with a coreferential or a non-coreferential subject, with particular attention to the characteristics of the finite equivalent of the infinitive in Serbian – the construction da ‘that’ + (subjunctive non-mobile) present tense.