Syntactic variation in Colombian Spanish
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Dunia Catalina Méndez Vallejo
Abstract
This article examines some of the syntactic properties of the Focalizing ser (FS) structure in Colombian Spanish. The FS has been reported in only a few dialects of Spanish (Venezuelan, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Panamanian), and it is not stigmatized, despite being dialectally marked. Although the FS shows some resemblance to the pseudo-cleft construction, the syntactic analysis included here is based on the premise that the two forms are syntactically different. Looking at the syntactic contexts in which this form may occur, I show that the FS may precede any kind of phrase, serving any kind of syntactic function, as long as it is post-verbal. Furthermore, I illustrate that the agreement relation between FS ser and certain sentential constituents is not random. At the end, I present compelling evidence to suggest that the FS is in a TP-internal Focus Phrase, generated below TP and above vP. Key words: TP-internal focus; functional projection; information structure; dialectal variation
Abstract
This article examines some of the syntactic properties of the Focalizing ser (FS) structure in Colombian Spanish. The FS has been reported in only a few dialects of Spanish (Venezuelan, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Panamanian), and it is not stigmatized, despite being dialectally marked. Although the FS shows some resemblance to the pseudo-cleft construction, the syntactic analysis included here is based on the premise that the two forms are syntactically different. Looking at the syntactic contexts in which this form may occur, I show that the FS may precede any kind of phrase, serving any kind of syntactic function, as long as it is post-verbal. Furthermore, I illustrate that the agreement relation between FS ser and certain sentential constituents is not random. At the end, I present compelling evidence to suggest that the FS is in a TP-internal Focus Phrase, generated below TP and above vP. Key words: TP-internal focus; functional projection; information structure; dialectal variation
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
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Part I. Phonetics/Phonology
- Correcting the record on Dominican [s]-hypercorrection 15
- V-to-V assimilation in trisyllabic words in French 25
- The production and provenance of palatal nasals in Portuguese and Spanish 43
- Lenition and phonemic contrast in Majorcan Catalan 63
- Alveolar laterals in Majorcan Spanish 81
- Units of speech production in Italian 95
- Pitch polarity in Palenquero 111
- Word-minimality and sound change in Hispano-Romance 129
- Multiple opacity in Eastern Regional French 153
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Part II. Syntax
- Syntactic variation in Colombian Spanish 169
- Anaphoricity, logophoricity and intensification 187
- More on the clitic combination puzzle 203
- The Spanish dative alternation revisited 217
- Romanian genderless pronouns and parasitic gaps 231
- To agree or not to agree 249
- Variation in subject expression in Western Romance 267
- A phase-based analysis of Old French genitive constructions 285
- V2 loss in Old French and Old Occitan 301
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Part III. Morphology, and interfaces
- The loss and survival of inflectional morphology 323
- Allomorphy in pre-clitic imperatives in Formenteran Catalan 337
- Preverbal vowels in wh-questions and declarative sentences in Northern Italian Piacentine dialects 353
- Pitch accent, focus, and the interpretation of non- wh exclamatives in French 369
- Detours along the perfect path 387
- Grammaticalization of commencer/cominciare “to begin” in French and Italian 405
- Index of subjects, terms and languages 423
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonetics/Phonology
- Correcting the record on Dominican [s]-hypercorrection 15
- V-to-V assimilation in trisyllabic words in French 25
- The production and provenance of palatal nasals in Portuguese and Spanish 43
- Lenition and phonemic contrast in Majorcan Catalan 63
- Alveolar laterals in Majorcan Spanish 81
- Units of speech production in Italian 95
- Pitch polarity in Palenquero 111
- Word-minimality and sound change in Hispano-Romance 129
- Multiple opacity in Eastern Regional French 153
-
Part II. Syntax
- Syntactic variation in Colombian Spanish 169
- Anaphoricity, logophoricity and intensification 187
- More on the clitic combination puzzle 203
- The Spanish dative alternation revisited 217
- Romanian genderless pronouns and parasitic gaps 231
- To agree or not to agree 249
- Variation in subject expression in Western Romance 267
- A phase-based analysis of Old French genitive constructions 285
- V2 loss in Old French and Old Occitan 301
-
Part III. Morphology, and interfaces
- The loss and survival of inflectional morphology 323
- Allomorphy in pre-clitic imperatives in Formenteran Catalan 337
- Preverbal vowels in wh-questions and declarative sentences in Northern Italian Piacentine dialects 353
- Pitch accent, focus, and the interpretation of non- wh exclamatives in French 369
- Detours along the perfect path 387
- Grammaticalization of commencer/cominciare “to begin” in French and Italian 405
- Index of subjects, terms and languages 423
