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In this dissertation a single syntactic configuration is defended for a range of constructions in Romance and Germanic languages. This structure explains the syntactic and the semantic properties of what is called here verbal and nonverbal Complex Small Clauses (CSCl). The verbal constructions investigated are the so-called Pseudo-Relative, the Prepositional Infinitival Construction, and the Gerund Construction. The nonverbal ones, on the other hand, are constructions headed by an adjective or a noun in structures like `take DP for XP . It is shown that the head of the CSCl behaves like an aspectual marker in the verbal constructions and like a modal head in their nonverbal counterparts. It is claimed that, in the former, the CSCl-head provides the construction with a progressive interpretation by operating on the temporal domain that is provided by the internal predication. In the latter, the CSCl-head functions as a modal maker that indicates the pressumptive nature of the internal predication that it introduces.

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Joan Rafel was awarded his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He is currently teaching Language and Communication at the Universitat de Girona and is a tutor in language at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. He is interested in Syntax, Language acquisition, and Linguistics in general.

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