Advances in Role and Reference Grammar

ATTRIBUTIVES AND IDENTIFICATIONALS^447

b. Paolo è stato professore.

Paolo is been-MAsc.sG professor

"Paolo was a professor."

[be' (Paolo, professor)]

I I

Loc Th

U
However, for the set of languages to be examined here, the second argu­
ment of these constructions does not behave syntactically like an argument
at all (since it does not have macrorole status, it should be expected to be
manifested as an oblique). I therefore assume that for these languages, a
lexical rule of argument incorporation applies.^12 This rule is stated as in
(32).^13 Because this is a lexical rule, it will necessarily precede the linking of
undergoer to a thematic relation and will therefore entail that theme/loca­
tion (as the only available argument) be undergoer. Thus, even though the
linking of location to undergoer is marked in the sense that location is not
a prototypical undergoer, the linking itself is not exceptional in any way but
rather follows from the presence of a lexical rule of argument incorporation
and from the assumption that syntactic linking works on the output of lexi­
cal rules.
(32) Attributiv e / identificational predicate creation
be' + attribute/identificand → predicate
What remains to be accounted for in Italian is the lack of objective pat­
terning of ne-cliticization of attributive/identificational constructions. Con­
structions which allow ne-cliticization in Italian and those which do not are
given in (33).
(33) ne *ne
direct object of active transitive subject of active transitive
subject of objective subject of subjective
subject of motion accomplishment subject of motion activity
subject of passive impersonal and weather verb
subject of middle and si middle constructions
subject of inherent reflexive
subject of locative, existential