I analyze clitic climbing as the effect of Romance syntactic complex predicate formation: the non-finite verb phrase moves to the specifier of the upper V. This movement forms a complex predicate so as to allow for a configuration where clitics can climb. Crucial for this movement is the presence of a defective C-T. The lack of clitic climbing in Brazilian Portuguese is but one consequence of a non-defective C-T system in these structures. As a consequence, we have the possibility for certain constructions to occur in the language; in fact, they are presented as additional evidence for the proposal.KEYWORDS: Clitic climbing. Syntactic complex predicates. ECM. Inflected infinitives. Brazilian Portuguese. Principles & Parameters Theory.
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Sônia Cyrino (2010) studied this question.