Home Linguistics & Semiotics On the nature of nominal features
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

On the nature of nominal features

Agreement mismatches in Spanish conjoined structures
  • Violeta Demonte , Héctor Fernández-Alcalde and Isabel Pérez-Jiménez
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Romance Linguistics 2010
This chapter is in the book Romance Linguistics 2010

Abstract

Agreement mismatches pose a challenge for standard conceptions of Agree as a Probe-Goal feature valuation process of a single set of φ-features. In this paper we focus on sentences with a subject DP formed by two singular conjoined Ns, such as La madre e hija vinieron juntas, in which agreement inside DP gives rise to Closest Conjunct Agreement – D agrees in singular with the first N – while Subject-Tense agreement is plural. To solve this puzzle we argue for the necessity of incorporating into the minimalist framework the distinction between concord and index features, as proposed in other theoretical frameworks. Ns and Ds carry these two sets of features which, we claim, are introduced in independently motivated bundles. Building on Frampton & Gutmann’s (2000, 2006) Feature Sharing theory and Chomsky’s (2001) Maximization Principle, we articulate a single agreement process which derives the two ways in which agreement proceeds in conjoined structures.

Abstract

Agreement mismatches pose a challenge for standard conceptions of Agree as a Probe-Goal feature valuation process of a single set of φ-features. In this paper we focus on sentences with a subject DP formed by two singular conjoined Ns, such as La madre e hija vinieron juntas, in which agreement inside DP gives rise to Closest Conjunct Agreement – D agrees in singular with the first N – while Subject-Tense agreement is plural. To solve this puzzle we argue for the necessity of incorporating into the minimalist framework the distinction between concord and index features, as proposed in other theoretical frameworks. Ns and Ds carry these two sets of features which, we claim, are introduced in independently motivated bundles. Building on Frampton & Gutmann’s (2000, 2006) Feature Sharing theory and Chomsky’s (2001) Maximization Principle, we articulate a single agreement process which derives the two ways in which agreement proceeds in conjoined structures.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword and acknowledgements ix
  4. Editor’s introduction xi
  5. Theory and practice in Romance linguistics today 1
  6. Part I. Morphophonology
  7. On the origins of /ɨ/ in Romanian 17
  8. An acoustic investigation of nasal place neutralization in Spanish 33
  9. An acoustic study of rhotics in onset clusters in La Rioja 49
  10. Mid front vowel lowering before rhotics in Ibero-Romance 63
  11. Plural formation in Galician 79
  12. Part II. Syntax
  13. On bare subject relative clauses in Old French 101
  14. Directed motion in Medieval French 117
  15. An ergative analysis of French valency alternations 137
  16. Peninsular Spanish pre-nominal possessives in ellipsis contexts 155
  17. On the nature of nominal features 177
  18. On the nature of bare nouns in Afro-Bolivian Spanish 191
  19. Negative imperatives in Portuguese and other Romance languages 205
  20. Part III. Semantic interfaces
  21. Another look at Italian generic sentences 223
  22. The agreement of collective DPS in Romanian 239
  23. A multidominance account for conjoined questions in Romanian 257
  24. The Romanian verbal cluster and the theory of head movement 271
  25. New challenges in the area of semantic dependencies 287
  26. Polarity particles in English and Romanian 303
  27. Index 329
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.318.11dem

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword and acknowledgements ix
  4. Editor’s introduction xi
  5. Theory and practice in Romance linguistics today 1
  6. Part I. Morphophonology
  7. On the origins of /ɨ/ in Romanian 17
  8. An acoustic investigation of nasal place neutralization in Spanish 33
  9. An acoustic study of rhotics in onset clusters in La Rioja 49
  10. Mid front vowel lowering before rhotics in Ibero-Romance 63
  11. Plural formation in Galician 79
  12. Part II. Syntax
  13. On bare subject relative clauses in Old French 101
  14. Directed motion in Medieval French 117
  15. An ergative analysis of French valency alternations 137
  16. Peninsular Spanish pre-nominal possessives in ellipsis contexts 155
  17. On the nature of nominal features 177
  18. On the nature of bare nouns in Afro-Bolivian Spanish 191
  19. Negative imperatives in Portuguese and other Romance languages 205
  20. Part III. Semantic interfaces
  21. Another look at Italian generic sentences 223
  22. The agreement of collective DPS in Romanian 239
  23. A multidominance account for conjoined questions in Romanian 257
  24. The Romanian verbal cluster and the theory of head movement 271
  25. New challenges in the area of semantic dependencies 287
  26. Polarity particles in English and Romanian 303
  27. Index 329
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 29.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cilt.318.11dem/html
Scroll to top button