DE+INFINITIVO AS BALKAN CONTACT INFLUENCE IN JUDEO-SPANISH
DE+INFINITIVO AS BALKAN CONTACT INFLUENCE IN JUDEO-SPANISH

Summary/Abstract: Abstract: This paper reveals the initial signs of loss of the infinitive in Judeo-Spanish, resulting from Balkan contact. They are numerous and range from infinitive’s replacement by que+subjunctive in same-subject purpose clauses to the preference for gerunds in immediative and accompaniative constructions, among others. Judeo-Spanish also tends to insert ungrammatical or expletive preposition de before infinitives (Spanish deísmo). Thus Judeo-Spanish approximates to Italian and to Balkan languages, distancing itself from Spanish and other Ibero-Romance languages. Beside Romance inheritance, the contentless de preceding Judeo-Spanish infinitives is also due to a Balkan influence, replicating earlier stages of infinitive loss, e.g. infinitive headed by da as detected in Old Bulgarian texts.

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