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This work is a formal linguistic study of the analogous polygenetic emergence and optional omissibility of a syncretic that-type complementiser across the Germanic (Part I), Romance (Part II), "Balkan" (Part III) and Celtic (Part IV) branches of the Indo-European family. It has, however, many parts which seem redundant but actually aim at providing a solid background about the Indo-European language family being treated in each section, as well as some very interesting appendixes. Cover image: Confronted leopards above a banqueting scene in the Tomb of the Leopards, Etruscan Necropolis of Monterozzi (480-450 BC).

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Patrick Dennis was born in Italy in 1983. After completing Liceo Classico Muratori (Modena,Italy), he studied at the universities of Bologna (Italy), Indiana (USA), Sorbonne (France) and specialized at the university Ca´Foscari of Venice in Germanic philology and X-bar theory, and at the university of Cambridge (UK) in Celtic and Romance philology.

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