NOMINAL INFINITIVES IN SPANISH - AN ASPECTUAL CONSTRAINT

The aim of this article is to provide an analysis of two types of Span ish infinitival constructions headed by a determiner. In an attempt to define the categorial status of the infinitive morpheme, it is propos ed that there are two homophonous infinitival morphemes which project two different structures: one of them is inflectional in nature and pr ojects clausal configurations; the other one is derivational in nature and projects nominal structures. This latter suffix carries an activi ty aspect and attaches only to aspectually compatible verbal stems. Th is proposal explains the different properties and contexts for the two structures analysed, and, more interestingly, provides an account for a number of data that remained unexplained in previous analyses.