Decomposing EPP effects in Greek enclisis

Abstract

This paper pursues the idea, originally proposed by Landau (2007), that the Extended Projection Principle is PF related on the basis of Greek enclisis. It is argued that the complementary distribution pattern attested with Cypriot Greek finite enclisis derives from the fact that the first head H c-selecting TP has a morpho-syntactic requirement, and a related PF/prosodic requirement subject to an Economy Condition. The former derives merger of an X or XP copy at H, while the latter ensures that only one of the two copies gets spelled-out. Non-finite H triggers obligatory enclisis in both Cypriot and Standard Greek, as it contains only affixal morphemes, which is further supported by Medieval Greek non-finite enclisis. The parameterization of H along with potential implications are also discussed.