Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate V-V "imperative com- pounds" in Sardinian. After discussing the various hypotheses put forth in the literature to explain such morphological constructions, I will investi- gate whether Sardinian data favour any particular hypothesis. The ques- tion of whether Sardinian data are subject to any prosodic constraint on the size of the verbal element of these nominal compounds will be ad- dressed: in particular, I will ask whether the bisyllabic trochee should be recognized as a prosodic pattern governing the structure of Sardinian V-V compounds. I will argue that having recourse to imperatives in morpho- logical processes is a widespread phenomenon: the basicness of impera- tives is at least partly responsible for their "recycling" in morphology.