On Clitic Climbing in the Balkan Languages from a Synchronic Perspective

In this paper, we describe the pattern of variation of clitic climbing, as it is currently attested in several Balkan Slavic dialects, among which Eastern Serbian and South Bulgarian, in Northern and Southern Albanian, as well as the Greek varieties spoken in Southern Italy Grecia Salentina. Apart from providing, through novel data, empirical generalizations about the distribution of the phenomenon and its cross-Balkan isoglosses, we test the hypothesis of a correlation between restructuring (w.r.t. clitic climbing as a transparency effect) and the pan-Balkan phenomenon of Infinitive loss. In so doing, we also make reference to older stages of the Balkan languages/dialects where clitic climbing is attested.