Setting the Verb Raising Parameter in Lithuanian

Abstract

The present article is concerned with the verb raising parameter in Lithuanian. As is known, Pollock (1989) postulates the verb raising parameter and examines the differences betweena verb raising language like French and a verb non-raising language like English. The verb raising parameter has become an essential part of analysis within the generative syntactic framework. However, due to its rich morphological system and free word order, Lithuanian has remained virtually unexplored. The present article explores the behaviour of the Lithuanian verb in light of the test environments proposed by Pollock: the position of the verb in negative sentences, yes/no questions, relative to the so-called low adverbs, and floating quantifiers. The preliminary conclusions are further verified in agrammaticality preferencetest, with a particular focus on the placement of manner adverbs, which are regarded to stand the closest to the verb. It is shown that the verb does not raise from its base position in the affirmative sentences and may optionally raise in yes/no questions.The adverb placement relative to the verb is further specified in light of the negative particle ne-

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.25.8396