The evolution of Romanian gerundial periphrases with a sta/a se afla/a umbla

This paper argues that the cross-linguistic distinction between two classes of gerundial periphrases, such as proposed in Laca (2004a), can be extended to Romanian. That is, according to the level at which the finite verb is merged into the structure, we have one class with the finite verb merged directly in the functional domain, under Aspect; and the second class with the finite verb inserted at the lexical level, as the head of the VP, functioning as an eventuality modifier for the gerund. The first class is represented by structures with the auxiliary a fi 'to be' the second class, by configurations with the aspectualizers a sta 'to stay' a se afla 'to be situated' and a umbla 'to walk'. The diachronic analysis proposed in this paper argues that these three aspectualizers undergo different stages of grammaticalization, although they do not reach the auxiliary status. The loss of the locative argument and the possibility of extraction from the gerundial VP are used as arguments that the verbs a sta, a se afla and a umbla have undergone structural changes when used as aspectualizers