Event Existentials in Tagalog

This paper proposes an analysis of a relatively under described existential construction in Tagalog. This construction at first glance appears to embed a relative clause under the existential predicate. However, it differs from this type of existential in two crucial respects. The complement of the existential verb allows extraction, demonstrating that it is not a DP. Additionally, rather asserting the existence of just an individual, this type of existential asserts the existence of an event. I therefore propose an analysis in which the complement of the existential verb is not a DP but a clause. Extraction is accounted for by proposing that this is a reduced clause, consisting of a vP, rather than a CP. This analysis shows Tagalog to be similar to modal existential constructions, particularly in a Slavic and Romance languages. Surface differences between Tagalog and modal existentials derive from language-specific characteristics, principally the verbinitial word order of Tagalog, which results in fronting of all or part of the predicate so that it immediately follows the existential verb in the matrix clause.