Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Ja... more Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Jaume Mateu & Mike T. Putnam Part II. Main morphosyntactic parameters 2. Morphological parameters, Antonio Fabregas 3. Case. Ergative languages, Michelle Sheehan 4. Head directionality, Hubert Haider 5. Parameters and argument structure I: motion predicates and resultatives, Victor Acedo-Matellan & Jaume Mateu 6. Parameters and argument structure II: causatives and applicatives, Maria Cristina Cuervo 7. The functional structure of the clause: main issues, Martina Wiltschko 8. Extended projections of V: aspect, Jonathan E. MacDonald 9. Null subjects, Roberta D'Alessandro 10. Head movement in the clausal domain, Angel J. Gallego & Juan Uriagereka 11. Wh-movement, Zeljko Boskovic 12. Topic and focus, Jordi Fortuny 13. The functional structure of N, Asya Pereltsvaig Part III. Parameters beyond morphosyntax 14. Parameters in phonological analysis: stress, Marc van Oostendorp 15. Parameters in Language Acquisition and Language Contact, Nina Hyams, Victoria Mateu, Robyn Ortfitelli, Michael Putnam, Jason Rothman & Liliana Sanchez Index
Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Ja... more Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Jaume Mateu & Mike T. Putnam Part II. Main morphosyntactic parameters 2. Morphological parameters, Antonio Fabregas 3. Case. Ergative languages, Michelle Sheehan 4. Head directionality, Hubert Haider 5. Parameters and argument structure I: motion predicates and resultatives, Victor Acedo-Matellan & Jaume Mateu 6. Parameters and argument structure II: causatives and applicatives, Maria Cristina Cuervo 7. The functional structure of the clause: main issues, Martina Wiltschko 8. Extended projections of V: aspect, Jonathan E. MacDonald 9. Null subjects, Roberta D'Alessandro 10. Head movement in the clausal domain, Angel J. Gallego & Juan Uriagereka 11. Wh-movement, Zeljko Boskovic 12. Topic and focus, Jordi Fortuny 13. The functional structure of N, Asya Pereltsvaig Part III. Parameters beyond morphosyntax 14. Parameters in phonological analysis: stress, Marc van Oostendorp 15. Parameters ...
This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), t... more This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), there appears to be no morphosyntactic properties and/ or structures specifically designated for the formation of middle voice constructions. What has been labeled a 'middle voice construction' is a semantic interpretation that, crucially, is blocked when an event variable is existentially closed by T. This article focuses on two ways of expressing a middle statement; namely (i) middle voice readings that occur with lexical-s passives, and (ii) adjectival middles -in Mainland Scandinavian, showing that properties such as the availability of an agent in middles pattern with whether an event variable is present (in the structure) or not. These are the result of two equally valid and productive grammatical structures: one where an event variable is present, an agent is projected and a modal operator blocks existential closure of the event variable, and another one where the event variable is not present in the structure, and therefore the operator is not necessary -hence impossible.
This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), t... more This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), there appears to be no morphosyntactic properties and/ or structures specifically designated for the formation of middle voice constructions. What has been labeled a 'middle voice construction' is a semantic interpretation that, crucially, is blocked when an event variable is existentially closed by T. This article focuses on two ways of expressing a middle statement; namely (i) middle voice readings that occur with lexical-s passives, and (ii) adjectival middles -in Mainland Scandinavian, showing that properties such as the availability of an agent in middles pattern with whether an event variable is present (in the structure) or not. These are the result of two equally valid and productive grammatical structures: one where an event variable is present, an agent is projected and a modal operator blocks existential closure of the event variable, and another one where the event variable is not present in the structure, and therefore the operator is not necessary -hence impossible.
This chapter explores how the size of stored exponents can account for word order facts in the na... more This chapter explores how the size of stored exponents can account for word order facts in the nanosyntactic framework. Three Spanish varieties are considered; these varieties differ in the availability of preverbal subjects in interrogative sentences. The most restrictive one, European Spanish, disallows them all; Mérida (Venezuela) Spanish allows some under restrictive conditions, whereas Dominican Spanish allows them all. It is argued that the differences follow from the size of the subject agreement exponent and, crucially, whether it is the element that spells out the interrogative force of the sentence: The smaller the stored exponent is, the more available preverbal subjects in interrogative sentences are.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Feb 1, 2021
For the first Inter-Views we selected (morpho-)syntactic research, and asked 8 syntacticians, rep... more For the first Inter-Views we selected (morpho-)syntactic research, and asked 8 syntacticians, representing four approaches to the study of Romance linguistics, to answer our questions. The approaches we selected are Cartography, Distributed Morphology, Minimalism, and Nanosyntax. The scholars we interviewed are listed hereafter.
The nature of Person Case Constraints (PCC) in natural languages is among the most debated issues... more The nature of Person Case Constraints (PCC) in natural languages is among the most debated issues in current linguistic research. In this article we consider an instance of strong PCC attested in the Latvian debitive construction, whereby a 1st or 2nd person internal argument cannot appear in the nominative in the presence of a dative debitor. We argue that the Latvian facts support an analysis of strong PCC effects along the lines of Sigurðsson’s (2002, 2004) proposal that PCC is due to a dative intervention effect inside a multiheaded approach to pronominal licensing. We preliminarily extend the analysis to other instances of strong PCC effects, showing that Sigurðsson’s theory is a good candidate to unify strong PCC effects under a common treatment
Resumen En este trabajo se destacan una serie de problemas asociados a tratar-iza(r) como un únic... more Resumen En este trabajo se destacan una serie de problemas asociados a tratar-iza(r) como un único morfema verbalizador, incluyendo (i) la variabilidad de lecturas verbales que produce y (ii) el hecho de que muchas formaciones ya verbales puedan tomar-iz-como incremento en neologismos. Partiendo de aquí, se propone que-iz-no debe tratarse como un verbalizador, sino como una materialización de la estructura de soporte argumental que el verbo lleva por debajo del verbalizador.
Spanish Verbalisations and the Internal Structure of Lexical Predicates provides the first compre... more Spanish Verbalisations and the Internal Structure of Lexical Predicates provides the first comprehensive and empirically detailed theoretical analysis of the different ways in which Spanish builds verbs from nouns and adjectives. This book poses questions about the nature of theme vowels, parasynthesis and the structural relation between the three major lexical word classes from within a Neo-Constructionist framework that highlights the correlations between the syntactic and semantic behaviour of verbs and their morphological make up. Provided within are detailed empirical descriptions of each of the nine major ways of building lexical verbs in Spanish, as well as an integral analysis of those patterns that shows the significance of the contrast between them and their uses to address some foundational questions in morphological theory. Spanish Verbalisations will be of particular interest to researchers in formal linguistics and Spanish.
The claim that there are category-neutral primitives shared by nouns, adjectives and verbs (such ... more The claim that there are category-neutral primitives shared by nouns, adjectives and verbs (such as boundaries and bodies) makes the prediction that some heads should be sensitive to these primitives rather than to their lexically-specific materialisation as aspect. This article explores this prediction with a case study of a nominaliser: Spanish -ncia ‘-ance’. We claim that this suffix combines with bases that lack initial or final boundaries, or, in other words, bases with an intransformative semantics. This, we argue, explains several puzzles related to this suffix: (i) that it produces both quality and eventuality nominalations, provided that the later are stative; (ii) that it establishes a non-derivational relation with -nte ‘-ant’ and (iii) that is combines (apparently) with eventive bases, where we will show that those bases are interpreted as stative or assimilated to qualities.
This study deals with some problems related to the Spanish verbal morpheme -iza(r), such as (1) t... more This study deals with some problems related to the Spanish verbal morpheme -iza(r), such as (1) the different approaches it triggers, and (2) the creation of neologisms by the affixation of -iz- to verb forms. Based on these elements, this study suggests that -iz- should not be considered a verbalizer but the realization of argument structure of the verb being lower than the verbalizer layer.
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 2020
The goal of this article is to discuss the nature of so-called perfective adjectives in Spanish (... more The goal of this article is to discuss the nature of so-called perfective adjectives in Spanish (desnudo ‘naked,’ suelto ‘loose’). We do so through a discussion of the problem that participles are blocked by perfective adjectives in some contexts (Dejó la habitación {limpia / ∗limpiada} ‘He left the room {clean / ∗cleaned}). We will argue that perfective adjectives contain in their internal structure a StateP that can contextually be interpreted as a result state; this head has morphological, syntactic and semantic effects, and makes the structure spelled out by the perfective adjective identical to the one associated with a small participle, with the result that a principle of lexical economy blocks the participial morphology in situations where only the small participle is allowed.
Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Ja... more Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Jaume Mateu & Mike T. Putnam Part II. Main morphosyntactic parameters 2. Morphological parameters, Antonio Fabregas 3. Case. Ergative languages, Michelle Sheehan 4. Head directionality, Hubert Haider 5. Parameters and argument structure I: motion predicates and resultatives, Victor Acedo-Matellan & Jaume Mateu 6. Parameters and argument structure II: causatives and applicatives, Maria Cristina Cuervo 7. The functional structure of the clause: main issues, Martina Wiltschko 8. Extended projections of V: aspect, Jonathan E. MacDonald 9. Null subjects, Roberta D'Alessandro 10. Head movement in the clausal domain, Angel J. Gallego & Juan Uriagereka 11. Wh-movement, Zeljko Boskovic 12. Topic and focus, Jordi Fortuny 13. The functional structure of N, Asya Pereltsvaig Part III. Parameters beyond morphosyntax 14. Parameters in phonological analysis: stress, Marc van Oostendorp 15. Parameters in Language Acquisition and Language Contact, Nina Hyams, Victoria Mateu, Robyn Ortfitelli, Michael Putnam, Jason Rothman & Liliana Sanchez Index
Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Ja... more Part I. Prolegomena 1. Parameters in linguistic theory: what, where and how, Antonio Fabregas, Jaume Mateu & Mike T. Putnam Part II. Main morphosyntactic parameters 2. Morphological parameters, Antonio Fabregas 3. Case. Ergative languages, Michelle Sheehan 4. Head directionality, Hubert Haider 5. Parameters and argument structure I: motion predicates and resultatives, Victor Acedo-Matellan & Jaume Mateu 6. Parameters and argument structure II: causatives and applicatives, Maria Cristina Cuervo 7. The functional structure of the clause: main issues, Martina Wiltschko 8. Extended projections of V: aspect, Jonathan E. MacDonald 9. Null subjects, Roberta D'Alessandro 10. Head movement in the clausal domain, Angel J. Gallego & Juan Uriagereka 11. Wh-movement, Zeljko Boskovic 12. Topic and focus, Jordi Fortuny 13. The functional structure of N, Asya Pereltsvaig Part III. Parameters beyond morphosyntax 14. Parameters in phonological analysis: stress, Marc van Oostendorp 15. Parameters ...
This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), t... more This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), there appears to be no morphosyntactic properties and/ or structures specifically designated for the formation of middle voice constructions. What has been labeled a 'middle voice construction' is a semantic interpretation that, crucially, is blocked when an event variable is existentially closed by T. This article focuses on two ways of expressing a middle statement; namely (i) middle voice readings that occur with lexical-s passives, and (ii) adjectival middles -in Mainland Scandinavian, showing that properties such as the availability of an agent in middles pattern with whether an event variable is present (in the structure) or not. These are the result of two equally valid and productive grammatical structures: one where an event variable is present, an agent is projected and a modal operator blocks existential closure of the event variable, and another one where the event variable is not present in the structure, and therefore the operator is not necessary -hence impossible.
This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), t... more This article presents evidence that, cross-linguistically or within the same language (family), there appears to be no morphosyntactic properties and/ or structures specifically designated for the formation of middle voice constructions. What has been labeled a 'middle voice construction' is a semantic interpretation that, crucially, is blocked when an event variable is existentially closed by T. This article focuses on two ways of expressing a middle statement; namely (i) middle voice readings that occur with lexical-s passives, and (ii) adjectival middles -in Mainland Scandinavian, showing that properties such as the availability of an agent in middles pattern with whether an event variable is present (in the structure) or not. These are the result of two equally valid and productive grammatical structures: one where an event variable is present, an agent is projected and a modal operator blocks existential closure of the event variable, and another one where the event variable is not present in the structure, and therefore the operator is not necessary -hence impossible.
This chapter explores how the size of stored exponents can account for word order facts in the na... more This chapter explores how the size of stored exponents can account for word order facts in the nanosyntactic framework. Three Spanish varieties are considered; these varieties differ in the availability of preverbal subjects in interrogative sentences. The most restrictive one, European Spanish, disallows them all; Mérida (Venezuela) Spanish allows some under restrictive conditions, whereas Dominican Spanish allows them all. It is argued that the differences follow from the size of the subject agreement exponent and, crucially, whether it is the element that spells out the interrogative force of the sentence: The smaller the stored exponent is, the more available preverbal subjects in interrogative sentences are.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Feb 1, 2021
For the first Inter-Views we selected (morpho-)syntactic research, and asked 8 syntacticians, rep... more For the first Inter-Views we selected (morpho-)syntactic research, and asked 8 syntacticians, representing four approaches to the study of Romance linguistics, to answer our questions. The approaches we selected are Cartography, Distributed Morphology, Minimalism, and Nanosyntax. The scholars we interviewed are listed hereafter.
The nature of Person Case Constraints (PCC) in natural languages is among the most debated issues... more The nature of Person Case Constraints (PCC) in natural languages is among the most debated issues in current linguistic research. In this article we consider an instance of strong PCC attested in the Latvian debitive construction, whereby a 1st or 2nd person internal argument cannot appear in the nominative in the presence of a dative debitor. We argue that the Latvian facts support an analysis of strong PCC effects along the lines of Sigurðsson’s (2002, 2004) proposal that PCC is due to a dative intervention effect inside a multiheaded approach to pronominal licensing. We preliminarily extend the analysis to other instances of strong PCC effects, showing that Sigurðsson’s theory is a good candidate to unify strong PCC effects under a common treatment
Resumen En este trabajo se destacan una serie de problemas asociados a tratar-iza(r) como un únic... more Resumen En este trabajo se destacan una serie de problemas asociados a tratar-iza(r) como un único morfema verbalizador, incluyendo (i) la variabilidad de lecturas verbales que produce y (ii) el hecho de que muchas formaciones ya verbales puedan tomar-iz-como incremento en neologismos. Partiendo de aquí, se propone que-iz-no debe tratarse como un verbalizador, sino como una materialización de la estructura de soporte argumental que el verbo lleva por debajo del verbalizador.
Spanish Verbalisations and the Internal Structure of Lexical Predicates provides the first compre... more Spanish Verbalisations and the Internal Structure of Lexical Predicates provides the first comprehensive and empirically detailed theoretical analysis of the different ways in which Spanish builds verbs from nouns and adjectives. This book poses questions about the nature of theme vowels, parasynthesis and the structural relation between the three major lexical word classes from within a Neo-Constructionist framework that highlights the correlations between the syntactic and semantic behaviour of verbs and their morphological make up. Provided within are detailed empirical descriptions of each of the nine major ways of building lexical verbs in Spanish, as well as an integral analysis of those patterns that shows the significance of the contrast between them and their uses to address some foundational questions in morphological theory. Spanish Verbalisations will be of particular interest to researchers in formal linguistics and Spanish.
The claim that there are category-neutral primitives shared by nouns, adjectives and verbs (such ... more The claim that there are category-neutral primitives shared by nouns, adjectives and verbs (such as boundaries and bodies) makes the prediction that some heads should be sensitive to these primitives rather than to their lexically-specific materialisation as aspect. This article explores this prediction with a case study of a nominaliser: Spanish -ncia ‘-ance’. We claim that this suffix combines with bases that lack initial or final boundaries, or, in other words, bases with an intransformative semantics. This, we argue, explains several puzzles related to this suffix: (i) that it produces both quality and eventuality nominalations, provided that the later are stative; (ii) that it establishes a non-derivational relation with -nte ‘-ant’ and (iii) that is combines (apparently) with eventive bases, where we will show that those bases are interpreted as stative or assimilated to qualities.
This study deals with some problems related to the Spanish verbal morpheme -iza(r), such as (1) t... more This study deals with some problems related to the Spanish verbal morpheme -iza(r), such as (1) the different approaches it triggers, and (2) the creation of neologisms by the affixation of -iz- to verb forms. Based on these elements, this study suggests that -iz- should not be considered a verbalizer but the realization of argument structure of the verb being lower than the verbalizer layer.
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 2020
The goal of this article is to discuss the nature of so-called perfective adjectives in Spanish (... more The goal of this article is to discuss the nature of so-called perfective adjectives in Spanish (desnudo ‘naked,’ suelto ‘loose’). We do so through a discussion of the problem that participles are blocked by perfective adjectives in some contexts (Dejó la habitación {limpia / ∗limpiada} ‘He left the room {clean / ∗cleaned}). We will argue that perfective adjectives contain in their internal structure a StateP that can contextually be interpreted as a result state; this head has morphological, syntactic and semantic effects, and makes the structure spelled out by the perfective adjective identical to the one associated with a small participle, with the result that a principle of lexical economy blocks the participial morphology in situations where only the small participle is allowed.
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