Here s a puzzle: ecco

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1 1 Introduction Here s a puzzle: ecco Raffaella Zanuttini Yale University NYU, November 21, 2014 Presentatives" are said to have the function of introducing an entity or an event (Rosén 1998, Sadka 2001, Petit 2010, Julia 2013, a.o.). Italian ecco can be seen as one such element: (1) a. Ecco. Here s. b. Ecco che perde la pazienza. Now is losing her patience. c. Ecco che perde la pazienza. Here s losing her patience. Ecco can co-occur with a noun phrase (1a), a finite clause (1b), and a pseudo-relative (1c). 1 This distribution is reminiscent of perception verbs (2): (2) a. Vedo. I see. b. Vedo che perde la pazienza. I see that is losing her patience. c. Vedo che perde la pazienza. I see losing her patience. Morin (1985): French voici and voilà are subjectless verbs restricted to a single tense and mood, the present indicative. The Italian examples in (1) also resemble existential sentences like those in (3): (3) a. C è. is here. b. C è che perde la pazienza. What s happening is that is losing her patience. c. C è che perde la pazienza. Here s losing her patience. 1 For a discussion of pseudo-relatives as complements of perception verbs, see (among others) Cinque (1995b, Ch.8) and references therein. 1 Today I will focus on cases where ecco is followed by a noun phrase ( ecco-nps ): (4) Ecco mio fratello. ecco my brother Here s my brother. In this presentation, I will 1. describe how ecco-nps are interpreted, and highlight their felicity conditions; 2. point out that in some respects they behave like root declarative clauses; 3. compare them with existential and locative sentences in Italian; 4. argue that what follows ecco is (not simply an but rather) a small clause with a locative predicate, and discuss how it differs from and is similar to the small clause in locative sentences; 5. offer a few speculations on the nature of ecco. 2 The clause-like behavior of ecco-np The examples in (5) convey that the entity under discussion is present in the utterance context, in proximity of the speaker or in some way accessible to the speaker: (5) a. Ecco le chiavi. ecco the keys Here are the keys. or There are the keys. b. Ecco una giacca. ecco a jacket Here s a jacket. c. Ecco. ecco Here is Mary. d. Eccomi./ Eccoti. ecco-me/ ecco-you Here I am. / Here you are. e. Eccolo./ Eccola. ecco-him/it (masc)/ ecco-her/it (fem.) Here he is. / Here it is. / Here she is. Ecco may also introduce an entity that is not visible to the speaker, but can be perceived through some other sense: (6) a. Ecco il caffé. Here s the coffee. (said upon smelling coffee) 2

2 b. Ecco i primi ospiti. Here are the first guests. (said upon hearing knocks on the door) In fact, the entity does not have to be perceivable to one of the senses: it can be in the space of mental possibilities being contemplated: 2 (7) Ecco una possibile soluzione:... ecco a possible solution Here s a possible solution:... Ecco cannot co-occur with certain quantifiers: (8) a. * Ecco ecco poche persone. few people b. * Ecco ogni libro ecco each book c. Ecco tutti i miei amici. ecco all the my friends Here are all my friends. It also cannot introduce an entity out of the blue: (9) a. * Ecco ecco uno scoiattolo. a squirrel b. * Ecco Obama. ecco Obama Whether the is definite or not, the entity cannot be discourse-new. Its existence, or relevance to the conversation, must have been under discussion in the previous context. This contrasts with existential sentences (10) and with perception verbs (11): (10) a. C è uno scoiattolo! There s a squirrel! b. C è Obama There s Obama! (11) a. Guarda, uno scoiattolo! Look, a squirrel. b. Guarda lo/quello scoiattolo! Look at the/that squirrel! Ecco can also co-occur with a finite clause: (12) Ecco che il Maestro si prepara a dirigere l orchestra. ecco that the Maestro self prepares to conduct the-orchestra Now the Maestro getting ready to conduct the orchestra. 2 This seems to be true of biblical Hebrew hinne as well, according to Sadka (2001, 481). 3 (13) Ecco che esce il sole. ecco that comes-out the sun Now the sun is coming out. These examples share two properties with declarative clauses: 1. they make an assertion to which one can object: (14) a. Speaker A: Ecco che il Maestro si prepara a dirigere l orchestra. Now the Maestro is getting ready to conduct the orchestra. b. Speaker B: No, stanno per fare una pausa No, they re about to take a break. 2. they can be resumed with the same kind of element that resumes a clause: (15) a. Ecco che esce il sole. Now the sun is coming out. b. Questo vuol dire che possiamo fare la nostra gita. This means that we can now go on our hike. The same is true for ecco followed by a noun phrase: 1. it makes an assertion to which one can object: (16) a. Speaker A: Dove sono le zucchine? Where are the zucchinis? b. Speaker B: Eccole! Here they are! c. Speaker A: Quelle non sono zucchine, sono cetrioli. Those are not zucchinis. they re cucumbers. 2. They can be referred to with the same kind of element that refers to a clause: (17) a. Ecco Cristina! Here s Cristina. b. Questo mi fa pensare che fra poco arriveranno anche Lucio e Bruno. this me makes think that in little will-come also Lucio and Bruno This makes me think that soon Lucio and Bruno will arrive as well. In sum, we have observed that when ecco co-occurs with a noun phrase the noun phrase can be definite or indefinite (but not always quantificational); the entity denoted by the noun phrase is deictically accessible to the speaker; 4

3 its existence was already mentioned in the discourse, or can be inferred from the discourse; an assertion is made, which can be corrected; questo, a resumptive element for declarative clauses, can be used for ecco-nps. I begin to build my proposal by making the following hypotheses: 1. Ecco-NPs are clauses, despite the lack of an overt element easily identifiable as a predicate; 2. minimally, they contain (i) a noun phrase and (ii) a locative element: (18) a. Locative b. Locative 3 Is ecco a locative? Not obviously, for the following reasons: 1. Ecco does not exhibit the same distribution as locatives in Italian: (19) a. Le tue chiavi sono qui/ sulla sedia/ *ecco. the your keys are here/ on-the chair/ *ecco Your keys are here/ on the chair. b. Ho messo la giacca qui/ nell armadio/ *ecco. have put the jacket here/ in-the-closet/ *ecco I put the jacket here/ in the closet. c. Abitano qui/ in questa casa/ *ecco. live here/ n this house/ *ecco They live here/ in this house. d. In casa/ qui/ *ecco troverai tutto quello che ti serve. in house/ here/ ecco will-find all that which to-you helps In the house/ here you ll find everything you need. Ecco never co-occurs with a verb. 2. Ecco can host pronominal clitics: (20) a. Eccomi./ Eccoti. ecco-me/ ecco-you Here I am. / Here you are. b. Eccolo./ Eccola. ecco-him/it (masc)/ ecco-her/it (fem.) Here he is. / Here it is. / Here she is. Locative elements cannot host clitics in Italian. 5 My hypothesis: (21) a. Ecco itself is not a locative element. (Though it might contain a locative morpheme.) b. It co-occurs with an abstract locative (or temporal) element. The abstract locative (cf. Kayne 2005; Francez 2007; Irwin 2012) can sometimes be overt, or modified by an overt element: qui here and là there, which express proximity and distance from the speaker. Their distribution is interesting: 1. in the presence of a lexical noun phrase (or a stressed/modified pronoun): ecco qui (22) a. Ecco qui le chiavi. ecco here the keys Here are the keys. b. *Ecco le chiavi qui. (23) a. Ecco qui un po di frutta. ecco here a bit of fruit Here s some fruit. b. *Ecco un po di frutta qui. (24) a. Ecco là le chiavi. ecco there the keys There are the keys. b. *Ecco le chiavi là. (25) a. Ecco là un po di frutta.. ecco there the jacket of Gabriel There s some fruit. b. *Ecco un po di frutta. là. 2. If the noun phrase is a clitic pronoun: ecco-cl qui: (26) a. Eccomi qui. Here I am. b. Eccoti qui. Here you are. c. Eccolo qui. Here he is. d. Eccolo lì. There he is. However, if the pronoun is modified, the order is ecco qui pronoun: (27) a. Ecco qui me a 5 anni. ecco here me at 5 years Here s me at age 5. 6

4 b. *Ecco me a 5 anni qui. This suggests two possibilities concerning the underlying word order: 1. The locative is in the subject position within the small clause. This would yield the basic word order ecco qui : (28) le chiavi When the is a clitic, it raises to cliticize onto a higher head, yielding ecco-cl qui: (29) le 2. The locative is in the predicate position in the small clause. In order to get the basic word order ecco qui, we must assume that the locative raises out of the small clause: (30) YP Y le chiavi le When the is a clitic, it also moves to cliticize onto a higher head, yielding ecco-cl qui: (31) le 7 YP Y le 4 Comparison with existential sentences Let us compare sentences with ecco with sentences containing the clitic ci there and a form of essere be. Some ci-sentences (Cruschina 2012) are like existential sentences in English: they occur with an indefinite noun phrase and can assert the existence of an entity: (32) a. Ci sono delle persone che si lamentano sempre. there are some people who self complain always There are people who complain all the time. b. Ci sono tanti tipi di mele. There are many kinds of apples. c. Alcuni credono che ci siano degli angeli che ci proteggono. Some people believe that there are angels who protect us. d. Non c è motivo di arrabbiarsi. There is no reason to get upset. Ecco-NPs cannot be used to assert the existence of an entity. The interpretive contrast between (32) and (33) is striking: (33) a. Ecco delle persone che si lamentano sempre. Here are some people who complain all the time. b. Ecco tanti tipi di mele. Here are many kinds of apples. c. Ecco un motivo per arrabbiarsi. Here s a reason to get upset. Ecco-NPs resemble existential sentences with definite noun phrases - possible in Italian (cf. Moro 1997; Zucchi 1995; Zamparelli 2000; Cruschina 2012) - which have a locative interpretation: (34) a. Ci sono i miei amici in cucina. there are the my friends in kitchen My friends are in the kitchen. b. Ci sono le tue mele in cantina. there are the your apples in cellar Your apples are in the wine cellar. Despite their similarities, there are also differences between locative ci-sentences and ecco-nps: 1. The sentences with ecco do not show any inflection or agreement; locative ci-sentences do; 2. The sentences with ecco cannot be negated; locative ci-sentences can: (35) a. *Non ecco (*non). b. Non c è. neg there-is isn t here. 3. The sentences with ecco cannot introduce new entities, locative ci-sentences can: 8

5 (36) a. Senti! C è qualcuno alla porta. Listen! There s someone at the door. b. Guarda! C è una volpe in giardino! Look! There s a fox in the yard. (37) a. Senti! *Ecco qualcuno alla porta. Listen! Here s someone at the door. b. Guarda! *Ecco una volpe in giardino! Look! Here s a fox in the yard. These sentences can only be used felicitously if the previous discourse context contains mention of someone being expected at the door, or of an animal in the backyard: (38) a. Gli ospiti dovrebbero cominciare ad arrivare. (... ) Ecco qualcuno alla porta. The guests should be about to arrive. (... ) Here s someone at the door. b. A volte degli animali selvatici arrivano fino a qui, e vengono in giardino a cercar da mangiare. (... ) Ecco una volpe in giardino! Sometimes wild animals come here and come inside our backyard looking for something to eat. (... ) Here s a fox in our yard! In other words, the indefinite that co-occurs with ecco must pick out an entity whose existence has been mentioned or can be inferred from the discourse context. 4. Locative ci-sentences are appropriate answers to questions concerning the nominal element: (39) a. Chi c è? Who s there? b. C è Gianni (in cucina). there-is Gianni (in kitchen). c. *Ecco Gianni. (40) a. Cosa c è in garage? What is in the garage? b. Ci sono le macchine di e Gianni. there are the cars of and Gianni c. *Ecco le macchine di e Gianni. In contrast, ecco-sentences answer questions concerning the location of an entity (or time of an event), directly or indirectly: (41) a. Dove sono le chiavi? Where are the keys? b. Eccole. Here they are. c. *Ci sono (in cucina). 5. With locative ci-sentences, the location can be (i) mentioned overtly (42), (ii) deduced from the context (43), or (iii) mentioned previously in the discourse (44b): (42) Ci sono i miei amici in cucina. there are the my friends in kitchen My friends are in the kitchen. 9 (43) Ci sono i miei amici. there are the my friends My friends are here. (location interpreted as the one salient in the context) (44) a. Speaker A: Ho sentito che hai ospiti a casa. I heard you have guests at home. b. Speaker B: Ci sono i miei genitori e mia sorella. there are the my parents and my sister My parents and my sister are here. (location interpreted as home) In sentences with ecco, the location is always determined on the basis of the location of the speaker. This difference between locative ci-sentences and ecco-sentences gives rise to the striking contrast (44b) and (45b): (45) a. Speaker A: Ho sentito che hai ospiti a casa. I heard you have guests at home. b. Speaker B: #Ecco i miei genitori e mia sorella. In sum, ecco-nps differ from locative ci-sentences in that they do not show inflection; they cannot be negated; the entity denoted by the noun phrase is given; the information concerning location is new; the location is always interpreted in relation to the speaker. 5 Locative movement Consider the locative sentence in Italian: (46) è in giardino. is in the garden. Following Moro (1997, 2000), we start from a small clause with as the subject and in giardino as the predicate, and raise the subject: (47) IP è v è 10 vp PP in giardino

6 Now consider a ci-locative sentence like (48): (51) SpeakerP (48) C è in giardino. there-is in garden is in the garden. Cruschina (2012) (building on Moro 2009) propose a derivation that involves the subject of the small clause moving to a clause-internal FocusP: Speaker ecco T TP FocP Foc TopP Top vp v (49) IP pro INFL c è FocP Foc TopP This derivation helps us to account for the following properties: 1. the word order ecco qui ; PP in giardino Top vp 2. the fact that the new information concerns the location; 3. the fact that the nominal represents old information, v è PP in giardino 4. the fact that certain quantifiers are not possible (they don t make a good topic); 5. possibly the restriction on negation: it d amount to focusing on the not-here of some entity; ci 6. ore generally, this approach helps us see similarities and differences between ci-locatives and ecco-nps. Now consider the ecco sentence under investigation: (50) Ecco. ecco Here s Mary I d like to propose a derivation similar to the one for the inverse locative given above, but with one crucial difference: it is not the subject of the small clause, but rather the locative predicate moves to a clause-internal FocusP: 11 What about ecco? It could be an unanalyzable element, perhaps in the left-periphery of the clause, possibly the one that licenses the null locative predicate; it could be composed of different morphemes: 1. a locative morpheme: c (cf. the morpheme we find in the locative pronoun ci, ce); 2. a form of the copula: e (cf. the 3rd person form of the copula, è); 3. a morpheme with a 1st person feature: o (cf. the 1st person verbal ending parl-o). 12

7 6 Open issues There are other differences between locative ci-sentences and ecco-nps that remain unaccounted: locative ci-sentences show inflection, ecco-nps do not. (Lack of T?) while in locative ci-sentences the location can be given by the context, in ecco-nps it is always interpreted in relation to the speaker. Why? I d like to appeal to an idea in Giorgi (2010): the syntax contains the representation of the temporal and spatial location of the speaker (the speaker s coordinates ) in a functional projection in the left-periphery of the clause: SpeakerP. locative ci-sentences can be embedded, ecco-nps cannot: (52) a. Dico che c è. say that there-is I say that is here. b. *Dico che ecco. say that ecco Ecco-NPs cannot be embedded (unlike other declarative clauses) and yet they don t have the distribution of small clauses, either: (53) a. Con Gianni qui, non si poteva dire niente. with Gianni here, neg si could to-say nothing With Gianni here, we couldn t say anything. b. *Con ecco Gianni, non si poteva dire niente. (54) a. Immagino te qui con noi. imagine(1st) you here with you I picture you here with us. b. *Immagino eccoti qui con noi. c. *Immagino ecco te qui con noi. What gives rise to the special flavor of a presentative? How does it arise from the ingredients we have put on the table, namely, (i) a locative predicate in focus, and (ii) the spatial and temporal coordinates being determined by the speaker projection, rather than though the usual mechanisms? 7 Appendix: Clitics Three additional observations: 1. Ne-cliticization is possible: (55) a. Eccone tre. ecco-ne three Here s three of them. b. Eccone qui tre. ecco-ne here three Here s three of them. 2. Dative clitics are possible, if 2nd person: (56) a. Eccoti le chiavi. ecco-you the keys Here re the keys for you. b. Eccote-le ecco-you-them Here they are for you. (57) a. *Eccogli le chiavi. ecco-him the keys Here re the keys for him. b. *Eccogli-e-le ecco-him-them Here they are for him. (58) a. *Eccomi le ecco-me the b. *Eccome-le ecco-me-them chiavi. keys 3. What follows ecco can also be a small clause, and the subject of that small clause can be cliticized: (59) a. Ecco qui Gianni vittorioso. ecco here Gianni victorious Here re Gianni victorious. b. Eccolo qui vittorioso. ecco-him here victorious Which is the subject of predication in ecco-nps, the or the locative? 13 14

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