Features, syntax, and categories in the Latin perfect

The analysis centers on the notion of category in synthetic and analytic ve rbal forms and on the status of the feature that determines the forms of th e Latin perfect. In this part of the Latin verbal system, active forms are synthetic ("verbs'') but passive forms are analytic (i.e., participle and f inite auxiliary). I show that the two perfects occur in essentially the sam e structure and are distinguished by a difference in movement to T; moreove r, the difference in forms can be derived without reference to category lab els like "Verb'' or "Adjective'' on the Root. In addition, the difference i n perfects is determined by a feature with clear syntactic consequences, wh ich must be associated arbitrarily with certain Roots, the deponent verbs. I discuss the implications of these points in the context of Distributed Mo rphology, the theory in which the analysis is framed.