Finiteness and the subjunctive: the case of Bulgarian da constructions from a contrastive perspective

Iliyana Krapova
Ca‘ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Abstract
This paper explores the morphosyntactic properties of the so-called Balkan subjunctive constructions, with a focus on Bulgarian da-clauses. Building on typological and generative approaches to finiteness, the study argues for a three-way classification of dacomplements depending on their syntactic structure and semantic interpretation: monoclausal (event-level), biclausal control (situation-level), and biclausal non-control (propositionallevel) configurations. These structures correspond to different degrees of syntactic transparency and subject control, which reflect their position on an implicational hierarchy of clausehood. The paper draws parallels with Romance infinitives and subjunctives, as well as wth English to-infinitives, arguing that the Balkan-type “subjunctive” represents a compensatory strategy for encoding dependency relations in the absence of a productive infinitive form.

Keywords: Bulgarian, subjunctive, control, null pronoun, Tense, Balkan languages, Romance languages, English