Chapter 5. Fronting and contrastively focused secondary predicates in Spanish
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Steffen Heidinger
Abstract
This paper is about the syntactic position of contrastively focused secondary predicates in Spanish. In the literature, fronting is presented as a possible means to encode contrastive focus in Spanish. Based on data from a production experiment I will show however that fronting is a dispreferred strategy for the encoding of contrastively focused secondary predicates (and other postverbal constituents such as direct objects and locative adverbials). The main conclusion is that secondary predicates appear in their base position after the verb, even when contrastively focused. In the last part of the paper I will compare the results of my experiment to other empirical studies on the matter and discuss the grammatical constraints that may underlie the speaker’s choice when encoding contrastive focus.
Abstract
This paper is about the syntactic position of contrastively focused secondary predicates in Spanish. In the literature, fronting is presented as a possible means to encode contrastive focus in Spanish. Based on data from a production experiment I will show however that fronting is a dispreferred strategy for the encoding of contrastively focused secondary predicates (and other postverbal constituents such as direct objects and locative adverbials). The main conclusion is that secondary predicates appear in their base position after the verb, even when contrastively focused. In the last part of the paper I will compare the results of my experiment to other empirical studies on the matter and discuss the grammatical constraints that may underlie the speaker’s choice when encoding contrastive focus.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. Left Sentence Peripheries in Old Spanish
- Chapter 1. Left Dislocation phenomena in Old Spanish 23
- Chapter 2. Revisiting stylistic fronting in Old Spanish 53
- Chapter 3. Left forever 77
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Section 2. Syntactic variation in Modern Spanish
- Chapter 4. Spanish predicative verbless clauses and the left periphery 101
- Chapter 5. Fronting and contrastively focused secondary predicates in Spanish 125
- Chapter 6. The left periphery of Spanish comparative correlatives 155
- Chapter 7. The article at the left periphery 185
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Section 3. Syntax, semantics, and pragmatics
- Chapter 8. Evidentiality and illocutionary force 217
- Chapter 9. On the grammaticalization of the Assertion Structure 253
- Chapter 10. Informational status and the semantics of mood in Spanish preposed complement clauses 283
- Chapter 11. Fronting and irony in Spanish 309
-
Section 4. Spanish among the Romance languages
- Chapter 12. Left periphery in discourse 345
- Chapter 13. A comparative look at Focus Fronting in Romance 383
- Index 419
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. Left Sentence Peripheries in Old Spanish
- Chapter 1. Left Dislocation phenomena in Old Spanish 23
- Chapter 2. Revisiting stylistic fronting in Old Spanish 53
- Chapter 3. Left forever 77
-
Section 2. Syntactic variation in Modern Spanish
- Chapter 4. Spanish predicative verbless clauses and the left periphery 101
- Chapter 5. Fronting and contrastively focused secondary predicates in Spanish 125
- Chapter 6. The left periphery of Spanish comparative correlatives 155
- Chapter 7. The article at the left periphery 185
-
Section 3. Syntax, semantics, and pragmatics
- Chapter 8. Evidentiality and illocutionary force 217
- Chapter 9. On the grammaticalization of the Assertion Structure 253
- Chapter 10. Informational status and the semantics of mood in Spanish preposed complement clauses 283
- Chapter 11. Fronting and irony in Spanish 309
-
Section 4. Spanish among the Romance languages
- Chapter 12. Left periphery in discourse 345
- Chapter 13. A comparative look at Focus Fronting in Romance 383
- Index 419
