Spanish is one well-known example of a clitic-doubling language, having clitic doubling for both direct and indirect objects. Because standard Spanish grammatical structure does not draw a clear distinction between an indirect object and a direct object referring to a person or another animate entity, it is common but not compulsory to use clitic doubling to clarify. Compare: In such constructions, the indirect object can be expressed both as a full noun phrase and as a clitic in order to note that the noun phrase beginning with a should be understood as an indirect object: The above, if literally translated into English, would be redundant:
Le
di
un
regalo
a
mi
madre
To her
I gave
a
gift
to
my
mother
A
mis
invitados
siempre
les
ofrezco
café
to
my
guests
always
to them
I offer
coffee
No
les
des
comida
a
los
animales
not
to them
give
food
to
the
animals
This usage is highly preferred for many verbs, but for some verbs it is not compulsory, and it would also be valid to say: "Siempre ofrezco café a mis invitados", without clitic doubling. Similarly, the direct object may also be doubled, with both the direct object pronoun and the full noun phrase, but this is not as common as indirect clitic doubling and is usually influenced by definiteness, animacy, and specificity. One particular use is to clarify emphatic structures:
Italian
In Italian, clitic doubling can be used for emphasis, is often viewed as a colloquialpleonasm, and is considered "incorrect" by many prescriptive grammarians. Example: a me mi pare di sì
In Iloko, a third person pronoun must co-occur with the full noun phrase to which it refers when 1) the noun phrase is the agent of a transitive verb and a pronoun is the patient, or when 2) the noun phrase is the possessor and a pronoun is the thing possessed. The appropriate fused personal pronoun is used and the number of its third person component must agree with the noun phrase. Examples: Nakita ni Maria ni Juan. Maria saw Juan. Nakitana ni Juan. She saw Juan. BUT... Nakitanaka ni Maria. Maria saw you. NOT *Nakitaka ni Maria. NOT: *Nakitaak ni Maria. NOT: *Nakitaak da Maria ken ni Juan. NOT: *Anakka dagiti Rizal.
In Lombard, clitics are widely used with both nouns and pronouns. Te gh'el diset ti a la Rina che l'è staa luu? Will you tell OR Would you mind telling Rina it was him ?
In Venetian, clitics usually double the second singular person subject and third singular and plural subject. The above, if literally translated into English, would be redundant:
I
mii
i
vien
doman
The
mine
they
come
tomorrow
'My parents come tomorrow' 'Marco comes tomorrow' 'You come tomorrow' Interrogative subjects clitics double also other subjects. They attach to the verb: 'Do you sing as well?' Accusative clitics double first and second singular/plural direct object In some varieties of the language, also dative clitics may double and indirect object, even of third person:
Marco
el
ghe
ga
dà
un libro
a Toni
Mark
he
to him
has
given
a book
to Tony
Macedonian and Bulgarian
In the standard Macedonian language, clitic doubling is obligatory with definite direct and indirect objects, which contrasts with standard Bulgarian where clitic doubling is optional. Non-standard dialects of Macedonian and Bulgarian have differing rules regarding clitic doubling.
Degema
Clitic doubling occurs in Degema, as it does in Romance and Slavic languages. However, clitic doubling in Degema is not associated with the presence of a preposition as in Romance languages like Spanish nor is it associated with topicality or specificity as in Slavic languages like Bulgarian. Rather, what makes clitic doubling in Degema possible are syntactic and discourse factors Consider below: Eni mo=sire elephant cl=run 'An elephant is running' In the subject noun phrase 'Eni' is doubled by the clitic 'mo='. The clitic agrees in person, number and case with the doubled subject NP. Example shows that specific and non-specific subjects in Degema can be doubled by a clitic: Eni mo=rere elephant cl=walk 'An elephant is walking' Eni mee mo=rere elephant my cl=walk 'My elephant is walking' Example shows that both topicalized and non-topicalized NPs in Degema can be doubled by a clitic: Okper o=kun esen Otter cl=catch.factative fish 'An Otter caught a fish' Okper nu o=kun esen Otter Focus marker cl=catch.factative fish 'It was an Otter that caught a fish' In Degema, the preposition does not feature in clitic doubling constructions in particular and in cliticization in general. Although there are object NPs such as indirect object NPs that can cooccur with a preposition, there are no corresponding object clitics to double them, unlike subject NPs. Kari adds that "syntactic factors are stronger than discourse factors in the licensing of clitic doubling in Degema. Discourse factors only ensure the expression or suppression of the doubled NP after syntactic operations have taken place".
