This paper aims to clarify the categorial and syntactic status of supine forms in Romanian. It appears that the supine is a [+N][+V] category that lacks w-features and differs from adjectives with reference to distribution, thematic properties, and syntactic checking. Crucially, the absence of w-features reflects on the syntactic configuration, which becomes valid in only two instances: within a DP, or within a CP structure. Supine complementation is the optimal choice for tough constructions. Checking conditions on [N] features in these constructions have as side effect a form of clause union. The result is a monoclausal structure, more economical in operations than tough constructions with infinitive or subjunctive complements.
Nonfinite verbal forms in Romance have been shown to generate clauses with nominal properties (Raposo 1987). Generally, this nominal property relates to the anaphoric tense of the nonfinite inflection and coincides with restrictions on complementizer (C ) selection. For example, infinitive clauses may have the complementizers de or a `, but not que, in all varieties of French, from Old French to Modern French (see Martineau 2000 among others). Most nonfinite clauses in Romanian present the same properties, with the exception of supines. The latter lack anaphoric tense, although they exhibit an obligatory C de. The investigation of these nonfinite forms helps clarify the clausal nominalization and the selectional restrictions on compatible Cs. Crucially, nominalization is dissociated here from anaphoric T: bare supines trigger specific syntactic processes that involve checking of nominal [N ] features specified on the verb stem, as opposed to clustering on a functional head (i.e. T[ense]). Furthermore, the constraints on [N ] checking prompt a clause-union configuration.