ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will investigate another peculiar property of complex predicate constructions: Long-distance head movement. The phenomenon of long-distance head movement that we primarily focus on is known as clitic climbing, in which a clitic is extracted out of an embedded clause (Kayne (1975), Rizzi (1982), Burzio (1986), Lujàn (1980), among others). Consider the following Italian sentences:
Mario vuole risolverlo da solo.
Mario wants to-solve-it by himself
‘Mario wants to solve it by himself’
Mario lo vuole risolvere da solo.
Mario it wants to-solve by himself
‘Mario wants to solve it by himself’
(Rizzi (1982:4))