Does agreement affect the syntax of bare nominal subjects in Russian–Spanish bilinguals?
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José Camacho
Abstract
We analyze the effect of overt agreement marking on nouns in the acquisition of the syntactic constraints of bare nominals among L1 Russian learners of L2 Spanish. Gender is grammatically active in both Russian and Spanish, but nominals have a different structure and distribution. We posit that gender serves as a path for Russian learners to acquire the distribution and the structure of nominals in Spanish. The results of the present study show that L1 Russian speakers do acquire the overall DP structure in Spanish, and that overt agreement has some effect on the acquisition of bare NP constraints. Results are consistent with the representation of feminine as different from masculine.
Abstract
We analyze the effect of overt agreement marking on nouns in the acquisition of the syntactic constraints of bare nominals among L1 Russian learners of L2 Spanish. Gender is grammatically active in both Russian and Spanish, but nominals have a different structure and distribution. We posit that gender serves as a path for Russian learners to acquire the distribution and the structure of nominals in Spanish. The results of the present study show that L1 Russian speakers do acquire the overall DP structure in Spanish, and that overt agreement has some effect on the acquisition of bare NP constraints. Results are consistent with the representation of feminine as different from masculine.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Theoretical and descriptive approaches
- No superiority, no intervention effects 3
- Overt PRO in Romance 25
- The semantics and pragmatics of andar and venir + gerund 49
- Sequence of tenses in complementation structures 69
- Fue muerto 89
- Temporal and spectral dependencies in the processing of Spanish and English stop consonant voicing 113
- Segmental and prosodic conditionings on gradient voicing assimilation in Spanish 127
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Part II. Language acquisition
- The sum is more than its parts 147
- Does agreement affect the syntax of bare nominal subjects in Russian–Spanish bilinguals? 169
- Perfecting the past 191
- The protracted acquisition of past tense aspectual values in child heritage Spanish 211
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Part III. Language contact and language variation
- Morphological adjectival intensifier variation in Lima, Peru 233
- An experimental approach to hypercorrection in Dominican Spanish 251
- Dialect identification and listener attributes 269
- Sociophonetic analysis of young Peninsular Spanish women’s voice quality 293
- A sociophonetic analysis of trill production in Panamanian Spanish 313
- Index 337
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Theoretical and descriptive approaches
- No superiority, no intervention effects 3
- Overt PRO in Romance 25
- The semantics and pragmatics of andar and venir + gerund 49
- Sequence of tenses in complementation structures 69
- Fue muerto 89
- Temporal and spectral dependencies in the processing of Spanish and English stop consonant voicing 113
- Segmental and prosodic conditionings on gradient voicing assimilation in Spanish 127
-
Part II. Language acquisition
- The sum is more than its parts 147
- Does agreement affect the syntax of bare nominal subjects in Russian–Spanish bilinguals? 169
- Perfecting the past 191
- The protracted acquisition of past tense aspectual values in child heritage Spanish 211
-
Part III. Language contact and language variation
- Morphological adjectival intensifier variation in Lima, Peru 233
- An experimental approach to hypercorrection in Dominican Spanish 251
- Dialect identification and listener attributes 269
- Sociophonetic analysis of young Peninsular Spanish women’s voice quality 293
- A sociophonetic analysis of trill production in Panamanian Spanish 313
- Index 337
