Violeta Demonte

Force and finiteness in the Spanish complementizer system

Abstract The goal of this paper is to show that the structure of CP in Spanish is more complex than it appears to be in most descriptive approaches. In particular, we analyze five types of constructions, which are quite extended in all dialects of Spanish but which have remained almost unaddressed in grammatical studies. These data clearly reveal a complex structure for Spanish CP both in root and embedded clauses: They involve sentences with more than one instance of a complementizer heading the clause, sentences where a wh-element (interrogative or exclamative) can be preceded or followed by the complementizer que ‘that’, and matrix sentences (obligatorily) introduced by an explicit Comp, among other cases. Our point of departure will be the studies on the so called “sentence left periphery” (Rizzi, The fine structure of left periphery, Kluwer, 1997) containing an upper limit, ForceP and a lower limit, FinP. Our claim will be that in Spanish there are two instances of que: que1 and que2 which are respectively generated in the upper and in the lower part of the sentence periphery. In addition, we will provide data suggesting that there might even be a third instance of que, a kind of “reinforcement” of Force. In this sense Spanish resembles some languages which are very different from the typological point of view.

Closest conjunct agreement in Spanish DPs: Syntax and beyond

Deutschclosest conjunct agreement; partial agreement; adjectival agreement; coordination; phi-feature; Agree; number EnglishThis article analyses a phenomenon not frequently dealt with in the grammar of Romance languages, namely, closest conjunct (number) agreement (CCA) between determiners, adjectives and nouns in Spanish structures containing conjoined singular Ns: [DP D (A) [N1 y N 2] (A)]. Using new corpus data, we apply statistical tests to assess the theoretical and empirical claims of the analysis. We first offer a description of the plural semantics of these structures. Regarding syntax, we show that, despite the plural semantics of the DP, determiners and prenominal adjectives agree with the closest conjunct (N1) (e.g. Una. f.sg fuerte.sg lluvia.f.sg y viento.m.sg azotaron.pl la ciudad ‘A heavy rain and wind battered the city’). As for postnominal adjectives, CCA with N2 alternates with full (plural) agreement (e.g. Una.f.sg lluvia.f.sg y viento.m.sg{inoportuno.m.sg/inoportunos.m.pl} azotaron.pl la ciudad ‘An inopportune rain and wind battered the city’). Within a generative framework, we analyse CCA in the prenominal field and full agreement of postnominal adjectives as syntactically derived from the interaction of the Agree operation and a reformulated theory of phi-features. CCA of postnominal adjectives is analysed to be the result of post-syntactic relations, that is, linear adjacency.

Agreement and interpretation of partitive constructions in Spanish: The dual nature of nominal features

Abstract This paper analyzes the role of the interaction between syntax and semantics in determining the mixed agreement patterns shown by Spanish partitive constructions when they appear as subjects. These patterns follow straightforwardly from the dual nature of nominal features (concord and index features organized in bundles) and from the assumption that Agree is a feature-valuation process in which the unvalued features of a Probe seek matching parallel valued features of a Goal under locality constraints and a maximization principle. After discussing previous approaches and justifying our syntactic analysis, we demonstrate that interaction for agreement between syntax and semantics is articulated via the nominal index features of the head nouns in the partitive structure, so singular and plural agreement, linked to the valuation/non-valuation of the number index feature, correlates with a group/atomic entity vs. a plurality/distributive reading, respectively, the meaning of the verbal predicate also being relevant. The empirical basis for this analysis is provided by a corpus search whose results are carefully described in the paper.

On the lexicon–syntax interface in Romance languages

Probus 22 (2010), 149 0921–4771/10/022-0149 DOI 10.1515/prbs.2010.005 ©Walter de Gruyter The present collection of papers aims to illustrate the contribution of Romance linguistics to the study of event and argument structure in a diverse set of core syntactic constructions, such as the dative and locative alternations, the directed motion and resultative forms, as well as the causative, anti-causative/inchoative, and conative constructions. With their rich clitic systems and their principled and systematic differences with Germanic, the Romance languages provide a unique window into the complex interaction between the meaning of verbal stems and the syntactic form (as encoded in the (semi) closed class vocabulary of the grammar), and sheds light on their respective contributions to the propositional content of the sentence. Research into the lexicon-syntax interface in the last decade has shifted its explanatory power from the lexicon to the syntax, thus clarifying the role of functional categories while constraining the form of syntactic mechanisms. The articles in this volume provide further support for this new perspective. Yet, the import of the lexical meaning of open class items (even in its most minimal sense) and its relation to the meaning contributed by the construction itself to the overall interpretation of the sentence continue to be ongoing topics of debate. This volume also partakes of this debate.