Experimenting with wh -movement in Spanish
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Grant Goodall
Abstract
This paper provides evidence for an analysis of subject inversion in wh-questions in Spanish and demonstrates that techniques of experimental syntax play an important role in developing such analyses. The techniques used show that there is gradience in judgments of wh-questions depending on the nature of the filler and of the intervening subject. The facts fall out from the interplay of straightforward properties of the syntax (e.g. wh-movement, preverbal or postverbal placement of the subject) with straightforward properties of the processor (a common pool of limited resources to process wh-dependencies and establish discourse referents). The analysis predicts a correlation between the Overt Pronoun Rate in any given variety and the ability of a wh-dependency to tolerate an intervening subject, and the difference between Caribbean and mainland Latin American Spanish confirms this.
Abstract
This paper provides evidence for an analysis of subject inversion in wh-questions in Spanish and demonstrates that techniques of experimental syntax play an important role in developing such analyses. The techniques used show that there is gradience in judgments of wh-questions depending on the nature of the filler and of the intervening subject. The facts fall out from the interplay of straightforward properties of the syntax (e.g. wh-movement, preverbal or postverbal placement of the subject) with straightforward properties of the processor (a common pool of limited resources to process wh-dependencies and establish discourse referents). The analysis predicts a correlation between the Overt Pronoun Rate in any given variety and the ability of a wh-dependency to tolerate an intervening subject, and the difference between Caribbean and mainland Latin American Spanish confirms this.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction 1
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Part 1. Language contact and bilingualism
- Subject pronoun expression in bilinguals of two null subject languages 9
- Where are hiatuses left? 23
- Loanword adaptation in the French of Spanish-speaking immigrants in Montréal 39
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Part 2. Phonology and interfaces
- Morphology and phonology of word-final vowel deletion in spoken Tuscan Italian 57
- Relativization, intonational phrases and rich left peripheries 73
- Stress domain effects in French phonology and phonological development 89
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Part 3. Syntax and morphophonology
- Syntactic realizations of plural in Romance and Germanic nominalizations 107
- The syntax of Spanish parecer and the status of little pro 125
- Two types of (apparently) ditransitive light verb constructions 139
- Modal ellipsis in French, Spanish and Italian 157
- Optional prepositions in Brazilian Portuguese 171
- An apparent ‘number case constraint’ in Romanian 185
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Part 4. Semantics and morphology
- Generic bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese 203
- Aspect shift in stative verbs and their arguments 217
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Part 5. Psycholinguistics
- Experimenting with wh -movement in Spanish 233
- How Spanish phonotactics informs psycholinuistic models of speech production 249
- Index 265
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part 1. Language contact and bilingualism
- Subject pronoun expression in bilinguals of two null subject languages 9
- Where are hiatuses left? 23
- Loanword adaptation in the French of Spanish-speaking immigrants in Montréal 39
-
Part 2. Phonology and interfaces
- Morphology and phonology of word-final vowel deletion in spoken Tuscan Italian 57
- Relativization, intonational phrases and rich left peripheries 73
- Stress domain effects in French phonology and phonological development 89
-
Part 3. Syntax and morphophonology
- Syntactic realizations of plural in Romance and Germanic nominalizations 107
- The syntax of Spanish parecer and the status of little pro 125
- Two types of (apparently) ditransitive light verb constructions 139
- Modal ellipsis in French, Spanish and Italian 157
- Optional prepositions in Brazilian Portuguese 171
- An apparent ‘number case constraint’ in Romanian 185
-
Part 4. Semantics and morphology
- Generic bare singulars in Brazilian Portuguese 203
- Aspect shift in stative verbs and their arguments 217
-
Part 5. Psycholinguistics
- Experimenting with wh -movement in Spanish 233
- How Spanish phonotactics informs psycholinuistic models of speech production 249
- Index 265
