The course will discuss several puzzles concerning the syntax of non-finite complementation, focusing on the availability of overt subjects and subject agreement in embedded non-finite environments. Our goal is to determine whether the same syntactic mechanisms lie behind subject licensing in finite and non-finite domains.

In the first part of the course we will examine the typology of non-finite complements, specifically the distinction between extended verbal projections and mixed nominal-verbal categories. First, we will discuss possible diagnostics that can provide support for a nominalization analysis. Second, we will consider the question of the size of the extended verbal projection in non-finite complements. In the second part of the course we will zoom in on the distribution of overt subjects and subject agreement in different types of non-finite complements (infinitival and nominalized clauses, gerunds). We will compare existing analyses of these phenomena and attempt to apply them to some specific data from Uralic, Indo-European, and Mayan languages.

Readings and handouts/slides to be added later.