On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish
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Joshua Frank
Abstract
In English, an overt secondary complementizer has been described as a grammatical violation, a claim that cannot be corroborated for Spanish. The present study fills this gap in the literature by asking whether the overt variety is associated with a decrement in acceptability judgment when compared to the null variety. Results from a speeded aural acceptability judgment task suggest that there is indeed a significant decrement in acceptability rating. This finding is robust across both statement and question constructions. A processing-based account is offered in order to unify results from both Spanish and English. Importantly, given that the native Spanish speakers do not fully reject the overt variety, the proposed account is meant to complement rather than to replace existing grammar-based accounts.
Abstract
In English, an overt secondary complementizer has been described as a grammatical violation, a claim that cannot be corroborated for Spanish. The present study fills this gap in the literature by asking whether the overt variety is associated with a decrement in acceptability judgment when compared to the null variety. Results from a speeded aural acceptability judgment task suggest that there is indeed a significant decrement in acceptability rating. This finding is robust across both statement and question constructions. A processing-based account is offered in order to unify results from both Spanish and English. Importantly, given that the native Spanish speakers do not fully reject the overt variety, the proposed account is meant to complement rather than to replace existing grammar-based accounts.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
