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Locative DPs and deictic adverbs/pronouns in subject position in Brazilian Portuguese

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Abstract

The paper investigates the licensing of locative DPs and deictic adverbs in subject position in Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth, BP), taking into consideration specifically the grammatical status of third person verb inflection in this language. We develop a unified analysis for related phenomena, which allow to identifying Brazilian Portuguese (BP) as a partial null subject language (cf. Holmberg 2010). In particular, we examine (i) sentences with a locative preverbal adverb/pronoun, which can be either overt or null (further allowing a locative adverb in postverbal position), in which the verb bears third person inflection and the subject has an arbitrary reading; (ii) VS word order sentences with an overt locative adverb, giving rise to a locative inversion configuration; (iii) sentences with weather verbs and a preverbal locative DP licensing agreement on the verb; (iv) the so-called topic-subject constructions, with a (selected) DP raised from an internal VP position. We assume that third person inflection on the verb, unlike first and second person inflection, is unable to license referential definite null subjects (cf. Rabelo 2010). We claim that the possibility of filling the subject position with a locative pronoun/adverb or a locative DP is due to the fact that the third person inflection in BP is no longer referential. In turn, null or overt locative adverbs/pronouns in preverbal position can check the EPP feature in these constructions, yielding arbitrary interpretation of the external argument as a consequence of the absence of a referential feature on (third person) T. We further claim that the (null) adverb/pronoun bears a locative feature in locative inversion constructions, existential predicates, and (internal) locative/part-whole arguments.

Abstract

The paper investigates the licensing of locative DPs and deictic adverbs in subject position in Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth, BP), taking into consideration specifically the grammatical status of third person verb inflection in this language. We develop a unified analysis for related phenomena, which allow to identifying Brazilian Portuguese (BP) as a partial null subject language (cf. Holmberg 2010). In particular, we examine (i) sentences with a locative preverbal adverb/pronoun, which can be either overt or null (further allowing a locative adverb in postverbal position), in which the verb bears third person inflection and the subject has an arbitrary reading; (ii) VS word order sentences with an overt locative adverb, giving rise to a locative inversion configuration; (iii) sentences with weather verbs and a preverbal locative DP licensing agreement on the verb; (iv) the so-called topic-subject constructions, with a (selected) DP raised from an internal VP position. We assume that third person inflection on the verb, unlike first and second person inflection, is unable to license referential definite null subjects (cf. Rabelo 2010). We claim that the possibility of filling the subject position with a locative pronoun/adverb or a locative DP is due to the fact that the third person inflection in BP is no longer referential. In turn, null or overt locative adverbs/pronouns in preverbal position can check the EPP feature in these constructions, yielding arbitrary interpretation of the external argument as a consequence of the absence of a referential feature on (third person) T. We further claim that the (null) adverb/pronoun bears a locative feature in locative inversion constructions, existential predicates, and (internal) locative/part-whole arguments.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1. (Morpho)phonology-Syntax Interface
  6. Syntacticizing blends 27
  7. Does the verb raise to T in Spanish? 47
  8. Locative DPs and deictic adverbs/pronouns in subject position in Brazilian Portuguese 63
  9. A note on the syntax of possession in Paraguayan Guaraní 85
  10. Section 2. Syntax-Semantics interface
  11. Adverbial elatives in Caribbean Spanish 107
  12. On weak definites and their contribution to event kinds 129
  13. The grammaticalization of ‘big’ situations 151
  14. On the scalar properties and telicity of degree achievements 173
  15. Section 3. Syntax-Discourse interface
  16. Multiple Wh-Movement in European Spanish 195
  17. Subextraction at the Discourse-Grammar interface 223
  18. On the de se reading in the de se center shift in Korean 255
  19. Section 4. Lexicon-Syntax interface
  20. Spanish participial adjectives and individual-level/stage-level interpretations in nominals 279
  21. Two types of transitive verbs in Spanish 305
  22. Grammatical categories at the Lexicon-Syntax-Semantics interface 325
  23. State and change of state in Latin 343
  24. Index 367
Boundaries, Phases and Interfaces
This chapter is in the book Boundaries, Phases and Interfaces
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.239.04pil

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1. (Morpho)phonology-Syntax Interface
  6. Syntacticizing blends 27
  7. Does the verb raise to T in Spanish? 47
  8. Locative DPs and deictic adverbs/pronouns in subject position in Brazilian Portuguese 63
  9. A note on the syntax of possession in Paraguayan Guaraní 85
  10. Section 2. Syntax-Semantics interface
  11. Adverbial elatives in Caribbean Spanish 107
  12. On weak definites and their contribution to event kinds 129
  13. The grammaticalization of ‘big’ situations 151
  14. On the scalar properties and telicity of degree achievements 173
  15. Section 3. Syntax-Discourse interface
  16. Multiple Wh-Movement in European Spanish 195
  17. Subextraction at the Discourse-Grammar interface 223
  18. On the de se reading in the de se center shift in Korean 255
  19. Section 4. Lexicon-Syntax interface
  20. Spanish participial adjectives and individual-level/stage-level interpretations in nominals 279
  21. Two types of transitive verbs in Spanish 305
  22. Grammatical categories at the Lexicon-Syntax-Semantics interface 325
  23. State and change of state in Latin 343
  24. Index 367
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