CASE IN THE NOMINAL AND PRONOMINAL SYSTEMS IN AROMANIAN: OBLIQUE CASE AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE PERSON SPLIT

In this work, we analyze the internal structure of the Aromanian noun, based on the assumption that the morphological organization of the noun projects in syntactic structure. The comparison between Aromanian and Romanian, and between Aromanian and Albanian (Shkodër) provides us with a crosslinguistic perspective, leading to a clearer view of the relevant phenomena. In keeping with Manzini and Savoia (2011a,b, 2012, 2014a), oblique case is understood as a partwhole or possessee-possessor relation, and formalized as the inclusion predicate .We extend this analysis to DOM phenomena, assuming that the oblique form taken by DOM objects in Romanian/Aromanian, Albanian, etc. reflects the fact that they are inserted as the ‘possessors’ of the event. As for linkers, we propose an analysis whereby they are identified with D elements. Interesting differences between Aromanian and Romanian/Albanian emerge, for example the fact that in Aromanian, the linker also occurs in dative contexts. Finally, we examine possessive structures. In Aromanian, as in Romanian and in Albanian, 3P pronouns pattern with lexical DPs, whereas 1/2P have specialized possessive forms, which show a complex internal structure, including an initial linker, the 1/2P pronoun proper and finally an inflectional element agreeing with the possessee (i.e. the head noun). Based on these forms, we argue for the continuity of possessive pronoun agreement with so-called Suffixaufnahme phenomena.