Obviate me (not)

Obviation effects in Serbian main and complement clauses

Abstract

In Serbian, complements of directive and desiderative predicates can be finite clauses headed by da. da-clauses also serve as matrix clauses conveying directives or expressing wishes. Unlike subjunctive complements in Romance, Slovenian, or Hungarian, embedded da-clauses do not show obviation effects, i.e., they allow for coreference between matrix and embedded subject. However, overt embedded pronominal subjects are banned in this case. We argue that this ban is a reflex of obviative modality in a particular complement type and disambiguation towards this type by an overt subject. The obviative construction also underlies the directive or desiderative matrix da-clauses, where obviation surfaces as a restriction on what conversational participants the subject can refer to.