Italian -to Participle Clauses as (Quasi-)Converbal Constructions

It is argued that Italian adverbial clauses built from the -to participle can be understood as a type of contextual converb construction, as defined by V. P. Nedjalkov (1995). An examination of morphosyntactic properties of these constructions shows that they are subordinate according to criteria of subordination proposed by C. Lehmann (1988) & that they are restricted to transitive & intransitive verbs implying an end-point of action; intrinsically durative intransitives are excluded. Syntactic & semantic properties of participle clause subjects are outlined, & interpretation of the clauses is related to scales of informativeness & cognitive complexity. This account contrasts with the widely shared view that in the Romance languages the gerund is the verbal form most closely related to converbs; in Italian, past participles & gerunds share the functions filled by a single form in other languages. 13 References. Adapted from the source document