That -trace effects in Spanish-English code-switching
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Shane Ebert
Abstract
Many languages, including English, exhibit a restriction on subject extraction over complementizers called the that-trace effect. Although extensively studied, this phenomenon remains a puzzle. Not all languages exhibit the effect; Spanish does not. Spanish also allows postverbal subjects, while English does not, which has been linked to the that-trace effect. Because Spanish/English differ in these properties, combining lexical items from both languages in a single derivation, as in code-switching, offers additional insight into the nature of the restriction. Two acceptability judgment tasks of Spanish/English code-switching reveal that a single Spanish functional head is insufficient to license either postverbal subjects or subject extraction. Instead, we argue, the that-trace effect and related properties arise from the interaction of two heads.
Abstract
Many languages, including English, exhibit a restriction on subject extraction over complementizers called the that-trace effect. Although extensively studied, this phenomenon remains a puzzle. Not all languages exhibit the effect; Spanish does not. Spanish also allows postverbal subjects, while English does not, which has been linked to the that-trace effect. Because Spanish/English differ in these properties, combining lexical items from both languages in a single derivation, as in code-switching, offers additional insight into the nature of the restriction. Two acceptability judgment tasks of Spanish/English code-switching reveal that a single Spanish functional head is insufficient to license either postverbal subjects or subject extraction. Instead, we argue, the that-trace effect and related properties arise from the interaction of two heads.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Preface vii
- Gender assignment in Basque/Spanish mixed determiner phrases 15
- The familiar and the strange 39
- Adjective placement in Spanish and Basque mixed DPs 63
- That -trace effects in Spanish-English code-switching 101
- Modality in experimental code-switching research 147
- Event-related potentials reveal evidence for syntactic co-activation in bilingual language processing 177
- Phonological factors of Spanish/English word internal code-switching 195
- Basque complementizers under the microscope 223
- The future of code-switching research 257
- Subject index 269
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Preface vii
- Gender assignment in Basque/Spanish mixed determiner phrases 15
- The familiar and the strange 39
- Adjective placement in Spanish and Basque mixed DPs 63
- That -trace effects in Spanish-English code-switching 101
- Modality in experimental code-switching research 147
- Event-related potentials reveal evidence for syntactic co-activation in bilingual language processing 177
- Phonological factors of Spanish/English word internal code-switching 195
- Basque complementizers under the microscope 223
- The future of code-switching research 257
- Subject index 269
