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• Si -future exclamatives in Spanish shed new light into the notion of insubordination. • Mirative future emerges as a result of successive emancipations. • Mirative future is compatible with the 'distance-forward' deictic template. • Mirative future represents a further step into the process of grammaticalization. • Mirative future exemplifies the range of mirative meaning conveyed in Spanish. This paper examines si -future exclamatives in Spanish, both synchronically and diachronically, with the aim not only of identifying their possible contexts of use but also of distinguishing their various semantic interpretations. In addition to permitting the redefinition of the space of insubordination and assessing the role of analogy in the continuing independence of the marker si , this proposal provides an explanation of Spanish mirative future as emerging from the emancipation of a previous structure, albeit that it retains the deictic value of morphological future –which becomes a functional feature in its new discursive meaning. From this perspective, the grammaticalization of morphological future in Spanish is not contemplated as a closed cycle, but rather as a still ongoing process. More broadly speaking, this paper helps outline the semantic array of mirative meanings through providing evidence about the type of mirativity that can be conveyed in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Chinese should be categorized as a discourse-configurational language, namely a Category III language under Miyagawa's typology. • Several compelling empirical facts are presented to demonstrate that the δ-feature lowers to T in Chinese. • Chinese wh -adverbial zenme 'how come' is not base-generated in the CP periphery, but rather inserted in the TP. Assuming the Strong Uniformity Principle, Miyagawa recently proposed a typology of languages based on distinct patterns of Feature Inheritance at Phase C. In this typology, Chinese is identified as a Category II language (with the δ-feature on C and the φ-feature on T). That is, Chinese is regarded as a non-discourse-configurational language similar to English. This paper aims to review Miyagawa's discussion of Chinese and argue for its reclassification as a Category III language, that is, a discourse-configurational language like Spanish. I contend that Miyagawa's discussion of Chinese only pertains to Aboutness-shift topic, a type of topic base-generated in the CP domain across languages; as a result, his conclusions are unsustainable. On the other hand, I show that phenomena like Object Preposing, forced A-focalization, and the distribution of Familiar and Contrastive topics in non-assertive embedded clauses provide compelling evidence that the δ-feature has lowered to T in Chinese. Finally, I address a potential counterargument presented by the Chinese wh -adverbial zenme 'how come'. I argue that zenme is not base-generated in the CP periphery, but rather inserted in the TP layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work introduces a subset of informational features (termed core intentional features ), different from standard pragmatic features such as topic and focus. Adopting the basic tenets of the Minimalist program, core intentional features are defined as edge features which sit in the relevant phases and are subject to parametric variation. They are assumed to drive the derivation of the sentence so that it constitutes an intentionally-adequate object (i.e. a categorical or a thetic statement) even in the absence of a particular communicative situation. The paper specifically focuses on one of these features, [DI] ( discourse intention ), and on how it determines the eventual position of the subject in a discourse-prominent language such as Spanish. A preliminary distinction is made between sentences that inaugurate the discourse (d-sentences) and sentences which are integrated in a particular context (context-dependent sentences). It is argued that the SV/VS order in Spanish follows from the conditions of valuation of [DI] in each case; in particular, valuation of [DI] in d-sentences will be a matter of structural and semantic prominence whereas in context-dependent sentences it will depend on pragmatic conditions. The paper also addresses a number of significant contrasts in the much-debated issue of the placement of the subject in Spanish, which receive a principled explanation under the theory of core intentional features proposed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper introduces the melodic characterisation of spontaneous Spanish presented by speakers from two regions in the north of Spain: Asturias and Navarre, based on a conversational corpus composed of 100 utterances emitted by 62 participants. It focuses on the intonation of the dialects, an aspect which is poorly investigated but highly relevant for characterising and distinguishing one from the other. The study is based on the Melodic Analysis of Speech method, a meticulous acoustic analysis through which exact values are obtained from spontaneous speech, which can then be compared. In short, the most notable coincident and divergent melodic features between the two dialects are: (1) the tendency of the two to present a first peak, more frequently tonic in Asturian Spanish and atonic in Navarrese; (2) an almost flat or slightly falling body of the contour with abundant internal inflections, which are also distinguished by the syllable where the rise ends: tonic in Asturian Spanish, and tonic and atonic in the final position of the word in Navarrese; and (3) more pronounced final inflections, with five different endings, and tonal fields, in the region of Navarre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Se ve (que) 's 7 values include physical and cognitive perception and evidentiality. • In a large study of spoken Spanish corpora, its most frequent value was evidential. • Behavioral Profiles show affinities of form-function combinations with evidentiality. • Those with most affinity were indirect physical perception and cognitive perception. • Constructionalization of se ve (que) generates a fully abstract sense: evidentiality. Abstract The Spanish sequence se ve (que) presents intricate functional polysemy, including constructionalization as an evidential. The present paper investigates its different formal-functional combinations and degrees of specialization as an evidential construction. The following questions were addressed: (1) How many different senses can be distinguished in the sequence se ve (que) and what are their respective frequencies? (2) How do these senses correlate with the morphosyntactic behavior of the sequence se ve (que)? (3) Which senses of se ve (que) are more closely related to each other, and how does the evidential construction relate to this polysemous network? The semantic and formal affinities of se ve (que) were studied through the Behavioral Profiles method developed by Gries and Divjak (2009), which provides an empirical, systematic and verifiable approach to studying lexical phenomena. Its application to a pragmatic phenomenon is a new departure. The results show seven senses of se ve (que), ranging from the lexical value of direct physical perception to the more abstract and evidential value of 'source of information'. According to the corpus analysis, the closest senses to the evidential pole are indirect physical perception and cognitive perception. These all introduce an inflected verb clause, possess propositional scope and are morphosyntactically frozen.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents a semantic analysis for Spanish ya , translated roughly into English as already. Ya has been treated in the literature in a diversity of ways: mostly as an adverb of time, but also as an aspectual marker, as a presuppositional adverb, as a focus marker, as a modal adverb, as an epistemic operator and as a conceptual anchor (Bosque, 1980; Löbner, 1989, 1999; Girón Alconchel, 1991; Garrido, 1993; García Fernández, 1999; Fernández and De Miguel, 1999; Pavón Lucero, 1999 ; Delbecque and Maldonado, 2009). We propose that the semantic content of this lexical item is better explained in procedural terms. We suggest that ya encodes in its semantics two semantic procedures: an instruction to incorporate in the interpretation an assumption about the transition from a previous state of affairs ([+DYNAMICITY]), and an instruction to incorporate in the context of interpretation a mutually manifest assumption about the previous continuity ([+DURATIVITY]) of that state of affairs. We will show how this semantic content operates along different cognitive domains to produce the wide variety of uses and pragmatic effects displayed by ya. Our results show the advantages of considering that semantic features such as dynamicity and durativity can be encoded in linguistic items either conceptually or procedurally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Linguistic domains (vocabulary, phonetics, syntax) do not change independently in the development of languages. • Relationships among linguistic domains do not follow a uniform or universal pattern. • Linguistic distances between all of the modern languages predict traditional phylogenetic trees to a high degree. Languages differ along multiple dimensions (lexis, phonology, morphology, syntax). Related languages descend from a common ancestor language but have diverged over time. This paper asks whether languages diverge equally along all dimensions, and, to the extent that they do not, which dimension reflects the traditional language family tree best. We computed measures of (i) lexical distance (ii) phonetic distance, and (iii) syntactic distance. The measures were computed on all words and sentences extracted from a corpus of translations of four relatively short English texts into another four Germanic languages (Danish, Dutch, German, Swedish), five Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish) and six Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Slovakian, Slovenian). We examined the correlation structure of the distances for all pairs of Germanic (10), Romance (10) and Slavic (15) languages (i.e., within-family comparisons only). The results indicate that the linguistic dimensions are generally correlated (weakly but significantly), and that the correlations are stronger for pairs within families than when all 35 pairs are examined together. Cladistic family trees correlate best with the lexical distance (0.851 < r < 0.887). This confirms that the genealogical language trees are predominantly based on lexical rather than phonetic or syntactic considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the Spanish marker ‘se’ and its functions, the conclusions suggest that aside from its function as a reflexive pronoun it is a pragmatic marker not following a homogeneous structure ( Azpiazu Torres, 2005; Aarón and Torres Cacoullos, 2006 ; Maldonado, 1999 ). We propose that additional information on the function of ‘se’ is provided by the hand gestures co-occurring with ‘se’. This paper adds to the existing body of knowledge by taking a multimodal approach to investigate the uses of ‘se’ by two groups of speakers, one Spanish and one Mexican, by adding gestures to the linguistic analysis. Our results confirmed the various functions highlighted by linguistic analysis and point to the importance of including the gesture when interpreting the various meanings of ‘se’. In particular we observed that in verbs like ‘comer’ or ‘tragar’ (to eat, to swallow), ‘se + ingest’ is the preferred form, the gesture marking the subject, not the object. This is significant as studies of ‘se’ indicate that its use is to provide a telic aspect to the action indicating the whole object has been ingested ( Sánchez López, 2002 ), yet the gesture highlights the subject. With intransitive verbs, the gesture stresses or adds information related to the path or manner of the action, suggesting that one of its main function is to energize the action, as suggested by Maldonado (1999) . Our results indicated that Mexicans are more likely to use the marker ‘se’ but there were no differences in terms of functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to advance theory on how speakers of different languages perceive the act of placement. German and Spanish verbs for example, differ in the specification of object position (e.g., He stands/lays-puts the binoculars on the shelf ). Do speakers of these languages perceive placement events differently? This question relates to the notion of linguistic relativity. We report empirical data obtained with methods not yet applied to placement. These methods stem from three popular theoretical paradigms on language and thought. We examine whether placement verbs affect how speakers categorize (Experiment 1); memorize (Experiment 2) and mentally simulate (Experiment 3) object orientation. For three behavioral tasks, we compare accuracy and reaction time data of native speakers of German ( N = 80) and Spanish ( N = 50). Results suggest that German speakers do not categorize object position differently or make mental simulations of object orientation. They do show that German speakers have better recognition memory for object position than Spanish speakers. These findings suggest that language-specific effects may occur for some but not all mental processes. Future work should fine-tune reported methods to advance theory on perception of placement and should strive to combine methods to gain a multifaceted perspective on linguistic relativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of Chocó Spanish (CS) neutral declarative intonation. Results show that this Afro-Colombian dialect, in line with other black vernaculars spoken in Latin America and other cases of Spanish in contact, presents a reduced inventory of pitch accents when compared to other varieties of Spanish. Specifically, L+H* (i.e., peak alignment within the stressed syllable) predominates in both prenuclear and nuclear phrase positions, which deviates quite significantly from common Spanish trends, where there is often a distinction between nuclear L+H*/L* and prenuclear L+>H* (i.e., peak displacement to a post-tonic syllable). Conversely, at the intermediate and intonational phrase levels (ip and IP, respectively), CS appears to reflect other native (non-contact) varieties of Spanish, showing H- ip boundaries to indicate the continuation of a thought and L% IP boundaries to signal the conclusion of an idea. Our findings are further compared with results from other contact varieties to show that certain aspects of CS intonation may be conceived as the byproduct of the transmission of second language (L2) intonational features to following generations of first language (L1) speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories that plantation creoles were all born as pidgins at West African coast slave castles, including that proposed in McWhorter (2000) , have not fared well among creolists, amidst a preference for supposing that creoles are born, or not, according to factors local to a given context. In this paper I spell out why, especially in light of research since, the “Afrogenesis” paradigm is still worth serious consideration. A key fact is the following. Many creolists argue that a creole did not appear when there was extensive black-white contact and many slaves were locally-born, a scenario most often associated with the Spanish Caribbean and Reunion and now proposed for South American colonies by Sessarego (2014) and Díaz-Campos and Clements (2008) . However, conditions were of just this kind in early St. Kitts and Barbados, where most scholars now locate the birth of English-based and French-based plantation creoles. The disparity in outcomes between these locations means that after fifty years, there is no coherent theory of how or why creoles come to be. I argue that only Afrogenesis shows the way out of this conundrum. I further discuss why the idea that creoles result from individual blendings of “features” in each location (Mufwene, 2011, 2008) is incommensurate with creole linguistic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we offer a panoramic overview of the development of Andean Spanish and Andean Linguistics, from a theoretical point of view of language contact and universal grammar. We discuss how the notion of Andean Spanish came into existence, the issues under debate, and the consequences of different theoretical positions. We also introduce the contents of the papers included in this special issue, and highlight their key points, framing them in the context of the research on universal grammar. The following five areas are covered: (1) the convergence of Quechua and Aymara, (2) the impact of bilingualism on intonation, (3) the sharing of suffixes in contact situations, (4) the modification of the present perfect tense in Spanish in contact with Quechua, and (5) the properties of the Quechua case system from the point of view of contact varieties. Finally, we provide some remarks on bilingual education, and some suggestions for further directions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we will account for the semantic composition of a productive class of predicates in Mexican Spanish formed by lexical verbs that combine with a defective morphosyntactic clitic. Our analysis is that le corresponds to a lexical affix that is syntactically analysed as a defective High Appl head that selects for intransitive roots or intransitivized verbal bases, and projects a LeP. Semantically, le encodes an intensive meaning and imposes certain restrictions on the specific event schemas denoted by the V it may combine with. We show that le modifies the selected event by classifying it as an Action; and, in addition, the whole modified event may intersectively combine with a locus or goal property denoted by an external locative or oblique topic adjunct. Le is not an argument of the predicate, and therefore can be associated neither with a referential nor with a coreferential interpretation, but is not expletive either. This paper is relevant for showing how morphosyntax feeds semantics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper focuses on the nominal system of Catalan and Spanish, two Romance languages that have both a morphologically binary number distinction and a determiner system, but which still allow bare singular count nominals (BNs) in internal argument position. In particular, this paper investigates the structure and meaning of these nominal expressions. It shows that BNs in object position are not singular, and do not denote individual entities, either object-level individuals or kinds. Instead, they denote properties of kinds. This denotation conveys a number-neutral (NN) interpretation that is compatible with atomicity as well as non-atomicity entailments, a reading that can lead to either an enriched singularity or a plurality interpretation in appropriate contexts. The paper also highlights the differences between BNs and bare plurals, and between BNs and mass nouns. From a lexical perspective BNs have neither cumulativity nor divisivity of reference, but involve atomic domains. A Number projection is conceived as a realization function (from properties of kinds to either object individuals or sum entities). A definite Determiner is interpreted as the iota-operator, which can apply directly to a Noun and instantiate a kind-denoting expression; if it applies to a Number projection, it selects the unique satisfier or maximal object that has the property denoted by the nominal expression. An operation of quantification excludes a NN interpretation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Main clauses in Spanish optionally include a root complementizer. The presence of the complementizer adds a reportative component to the meaning of the clause. This paper attempts to characterize more precisely the kind of grammatical object represented by those reports. It argues that the Spanish main clause reports must be analyzed as instances of quotative constructions, and that the latter must be represented as involving an underlying predication between a clausal constituent and a quotative predicate. This predicate is overt in many languages, but silent in Spanish. The paper provides syntactic arguments in support of this hypothesis, as well as a comparison between the properties of those constructions and hearsay evidentiality, which is argued to be a different phenomenon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines three sources of knowledge in the acquisition of English articles by second language (L2) learners: L1-transfer, L2-input and Universal Grammar (UG). The paper examines patterns of English article (mis)use among L2-English learners whose L1 either has articles (Spanish) or lacks articles (Russian). It is shown that L1-Spanish learners of English transfer the semantics of Spanish articles onto English, and thus correctly categorize English articles on the basis of definiteness. In contrast, L1-Russian learners of English exhibit fluctuation between the concepts of definiteness and specificity, consistent with earlier findings by . It is shown that the L2-learners’ performance cannot be a result of domain-general statistical learning: despite a large hypothesis space for what English articles might mean, learners of English entertain only those hypotheses that involve semantic universals. It is argued that while L1-Spanish speakers rely on transfer, L1-Russian speakers, in the absence of transfer, have direct access to semantic universals, and fluctuate between them. The learners’ difficulty in choosing the appropriate semantic universal for English (definiteness) is argued to stem from problems generalizing from input triggers. Thus, all three factors – L1-transfer, access to semantic universals through UG, and input triggers – are shown to be relevant for the acquisition of English articles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the spontaneously produced intonation of Afro-Bolivian Spanish (ABS) declaratives. ABS is an Afro-Hispanic language of the Americas (AHLAs) spoken in the region of Los Yungas, Department of La Paz, Bolivia. The main findings indicate the presence in ABS of certain intonational features that diverge from those of other native varieties of Spanish. In line with recent hypotheses on the genesis and evolution of ABS and other AHLAs ( Sessarego, 2013a,b ), we propose that our results reflect advanced second language acquisition processes, which do not imply any previous (de)creolization phase for these Afro-Hispanic varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Spanish, several constituents have their unmarked position after the sentence's main verb (direct objects, locative adjuncts, depictives, etc.). The linearity of linguistic expressions implies that if two such postverbal constituents appear in a given sentence they must be ordered in a certain way. The present paper examines information focus and syntactic weight as possible factors in postverbal constituent order. Based on data from two experimental studies it will be shown that (i) these factors indeed play a role in postverbal constituent order in Spanish and that (ii) postverbal constituent order is characterized at the same time by optionality and preferences (e.g., although a direct object (dO) and a depictive (DEP) can be ordered as DEP-dO or dO-DEP, the order dO-DEP is clearly preferred over DEP-dO). To account for the optionality and preferences, the data will be modeled in a (simplified) Stochastic Optimality Theory grammar without assuming a basic constituent order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the long-standing assumption that (External or Internal) Merge is a necessary condition for theta-role assignment is challenged. It is argued, then, that a theory of thematic assignment which allows for long-distance theta-role assignment under conditions of locality and activity is empirically preferable when it comes to some complex interactions between se and causative constructions in Buenos Aires Spanish. It is also shown that recent arguments against long-distance theta-role assignment do not hold in a theory as the one defended here, which conceives of theta-roles as regulated by conditions generally available in the realm of A-dependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many instances of verb-object combinations involving change of state verbs, different kinds of internal arguments seem to trigger distinct interpretations of the verb phrase. These are usually divided into literal uses, such as romper la ventana ‘break the window’ or cortar el papel ‘cut the paper’ and figurative uses such as romper el desarrollo ‘interrupt the development’ or cortar la circulación ‘cut off the circulation’. Based on an extensive manual annotation of corpus (the used corpus is the El País Corpus consisting of all the El País newspaper issues from 1976 to 2007 and is hosted at the Insitut Universitari de Linguistica Aplicada (IULA) at the University Pompeu Fabra) data involving verb-object combinations with Spanish change of state verbs, I argue that combinations like romper el desarrollo or cortar la circulación , far from representing frozen idiom chunks, exemplify very productive compositional patterns. The frequency and naturalness with which change of state verbs take both physical and abstract entities as objects raises the question of how verbs express their meaning and makes this kind of data especially relevant for a theory of the lexicon as well as of composition. I provide a clear inventory of the typical combinatorial patterns of romper and cortar and I show that their combinatorial behaviour is much more diverse than usually acknowledged. I then argue that these facts need to be addressed by the compositional system, rather than by postulating homophonic lexical entires (Dowty, 1979; Alonso Ramos, 2011) or contextualist accounts (Recanati, 2005). For a proposal I turn to Modern Type Theories, which allow me to incorporate a richer notion of lexical semantics within compositional semantics. These theories thus allow me provide an insightful compositional account of what has long been considered non-compositional, namely combinations of change of state verbs with objects denoting abstract entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of gender agreement in three little studied Afro-Andean dialects: Chinchano Spanish (Perú), Yungueño Spanish (Bolivia) and Chota Valley Spanish (Ecuador). Data is presented showing a variety of DP gender agreement configurations significantly divergent from standard Spanish. A unified account for these phenomena is proposed combining quantitatitative methodology and several forms of data collection with a Minimalist approach to data explanation and interpretation. The provided analysis charts evolution and variation of gender agreement, arguing that the parallel development of gender agreement in these three Afro-Hispanic contact varieties can be explained by an approach in which change takes place along paths set by universal properties of grammar (feature valuation, locality of agreement, gradience of fitness in grammatical development, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an account of the differences between three varieties of Spanish with accusative clitic doubling is proposed. The dialects studied are: Andean, Buenos Aires and Lima Spanish. Buenos Aires and Lima Spanish are varieties that express full agreement (i.e. agreement in gender and number) between the clitic and a doubled direct object, whereas Andean Spanish is a dialect that neutralizes gender and number distinctions in 3rd person clitics. It is commonly assumed that clitic doubling is derived through object movement to Spec,vP. This is the case of Lima and Buenos Aires dialects. We claim that, in Andean Spanish, the doubled constituents remain in a vP internal position. We propose that the apparent doubling phenomenon registered in some varieties of Andean Spanish is not a case of clitic doubling, but a different phenomenon. A second source of variation explored is Kayne's Generalization – the condition on object DPs to bear a visible morphological case marker in order to be clitic doubled. Buenos Aires Spanish differs from Lima and Andean Spanish with respect to this condition. Finally, two issues are discussed: (a) to what extent it is possible to trace a correlation between clitic doubling via object movement and the full agreement pattern and (b) to what extent these conditions on clitic doubling can be linked to Baker's (2008) Parameters of Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The paper offers a unified account of the meaning of the Spanish subjunctive mood. [•] It covers a greater array of grammatical contexts than offered by previous studies. [•] Focus is on the conceptual relation between the main clause and mood choice. [•] The notion of dominion is a main tool for interpreting the subjunctive mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the syntactic analysis of emphatic polarity particles (EPPA) in Spanish and Catalan and shows that these elements fall under a more complex paradigm than previously assumed. It is proposed that EPPA split into a high and a low pattern. We provide evidence in favour of the claim that EPPA are polar elements with an added emphatic value, and present a syntactic analysis where (i) High EPPA are merged with PolP and move to FocusP; (ii) High EPPA display WH-operator properties; (iii) The occurrence of high EPPA is constrained to root and embedded clauses that have a full-fledged left periphery, as predicted by the proposed analysis. Further understanding of EPPA syntactic hierarchy can be attained by assuming that the topmost projection of the CP domain, ForceP, is also involved in the distribution of EPPA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper has two major goals. First, we want to critically assess the “universal free choice” (UFCA) analysis as it has been formulated in Menéndez-Benito (2010) for Spanish Free Choice Items (FCIs), while updating the dependent indefinite analysis of FCIs proposed originally in Giannakidou (1997, 2001). We find the UFCA empirically inadequate for FCIs, failing to capture their correct distribution, and making wrong predictions about their interpretation. The dependent indefinite analysis that we defend here is found to be superior empirically and conceptually. Our second goal is to distinguish the Greek, Catalan and Spanish FCI from another type of anti-specific indefinite that we call referentially vague. The English equivalent is some-or-other. Unlike the FCI, the referentially vague indefinite requires non-exhaustive variation in the value-drawing domain. In Greek, we find a referentially vague indefinite that is also a Negative Polarity Item (NPI)—and we discuss briefly a similar item in Korean. Overall, our discussion suggests that we gain a better understanding of anti-specificity phenomena such as free choice and referential vagueness if we treat them as manifestations of referential deficiency or low referentiality (as suggested in Giannakidou''s work, see also Partee, 2008), and it is unnecessary to appeal to propositional alternatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we offer a syntactic description of Spanish exceptive constructions headed by excepto, salvo or menos (‘except’). Framing our hypothesis in an adjunction analysis of coordination, we argue that these exceptive markers head a Boolean Phrase, like other coordinating conjunctions. Two types of exceptive phrases can be identified, depending on the level of the constituents conjoined. In connected exceptives two DPs are conjoined. In free exceptives two CPs are conjoined; the exceptive markers select for a full-fledged CP as complement, whose null head (C) triggers a process of ellipsis in which all the syntactic material inside TP is marked for PF-deletion, except the remnant constituent(s). Our proposal supports a structural approach to ellipsis whereby elliptical constituents are in fact fully fledged though non-pronounced syntactic structures. It also supports the hypothesis that the differences in the syntactic behaviour of coordinate sentences and subordinate adverbial clauses cannot be derived from their phrase structure geometry but are instead due to the properties of individual conjunctions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper I discuss cases where there has been systematic borrowing of affixes: Spanish elements in different Quechua languages. I will try to study, in this specific case, the different processes through which suffixes have entered the language. I argue that there are four dimensions, four paths through which a Spanish suffix can be incorporated into Quechua: second language (L2)-oriented processes, universally oriented processes, first language (L1)-oriented processes, and processes in which properties of both L1 and L2 play a role. Thus the process of borrowing morphology is far from uniform. Rather, it reflects the complexity of all language contact processes, in which the four dimensions listed play a role. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, declarative intonation contours from Peruvian Spanish speakers are compared between pragmatic conditions in order to observe potential differences in the prosodic realization of contrastive focus. To do so, an acoustic feature of intonation, the fundamental frequency (F0), is examined. Since focus in Quechua is realized through the use of evidential markers, it is hypothesized that Cuzco Spanish speakers may behave differently than Lima speakers in relatively less contact with Quechua. Two intonation features have been examined with relation to contrastive focus on the subject: peak alignment and peak height. While Lima speakers demonstrate earlier and higher peaks on the subject, similar to previous reports for Madrid and Peninsular Spanish, some Cuzco speakers use fewer prosodic cues, while others rely on post-focal deaccenting alone. Also, Cuzco speakers appear to behave similarly according to whether or not they are bilingual in Spanish and Quechua. This research demonstrates how focus in realized differently in two regional varieties of Peruvian Spanish and adds to our knowledge of how language contact may contribute to the development of alternate intonation patterns in Spanish. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, I analyze null subjects in absolute clauses (AC) in Spanish, comparing them to finite-clause null subjects and infinitival subjects. AC null subjects mostly pattern like finite-clause null subjects, but they cannot be identified by a rich inflection and they require a grammatically encoded antecedent (like some infinitival subjects). I propose that AC null subjects must be identified by a topic operator through the operation of AGREE, a matching operation between two categories in which one of them copies its values to the other. AC null subjects remain unvalued in their own clause, seeking an antecedent in the preceding clause through a mediating null topic in the absolute clause’s periphery. Finite-clause null subjects, on the other hand, are identified within their own clause by verbal morphology through the same AGREE mechanism. Two distinct ways of relating null subjects to discourse-antecedents are proposed, one for finite-clause subjects, one for absolute-clause subjects. By proposing a distinct discourse-identification process not mediated by rich agreement, this proposal opens the door to a unified theory of null referential categories, in which discourse-topic identification plays a central role. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study examines NPs in generic environments cross-linguistically. According to the semantic literature, NPs obtain generic readings from two sources: characterizing sentences (Lions are dangerous) and kind-reference (Dodo birds are extinct). English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese are known to differ in the types of NPs (definite vs. indefinite; singular vs. plural) that are allowed in the two types of environments, but there is disagreement in the literature concerning (i) the status of bare (article-less) NPs in generic environments in Brazilian Portuguese; and (ii) whether singular and/or plural generics are restricted to canonical kinds cross-linguistically. The broader goal of this paper is to use experimental methodology to resolve these disagreements; the more specific goal is to test the theoretical proposal of , which makes testable predictions for the distribution of generic NPs cross-linguistically. The results of Acceptability Judgment Tasks with native speakers of English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese provide support for Dayal''s proposal that plural generics cross-linguistically denote kinds, while definite singular generics denote taxonomic entities. These findings highlight the value of experimentally testing the predictions of semantic theories, and pose questions for further research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the complex interplay between phrasal prosody, syntax, and meaning in English and Spanish, and explores its implication for second language acquisition (SLA). We present L2 data from L1 Spanish/L2 English learners which indicate that moving from syntax to prosody to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far more challenging than moving from syntax to prosody to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. On the other hand, L2 data from L1 English/L2 Spanish learners indicate that moving from prosody to syntax to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far less challenging than moving from prosody to syntax to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. We offer a grammatical account of this seemingly contradictory situation, in support of the view that second language learners acquire a grammatical system rather than isolated patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper formal accounts of nominal ellipsis are compared with information-structural approaches in the light of Spanish data. It is first shown that empty nominals in this language are not subject to formal conditions, such as proper government by a functional category and/or identification by strong agreement. It is then proposed that nominal ellipsis obeys a focus condition, whereby the remnant of ellipsis selects a relevant alternative or subset in a contextually given set of equivalent alternatives. This condition will allow us to explain, in particular, why certain determiners and kinds of adjectives are excluded in Spanish elliptical DPs. Finally, a technical implementation of this idea is offered combining feature assignment at the stage of lexical insertion with PF and LF interpretation of the features involved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new analysis of Spanish verb forms. It works from a general assumption in the Spanish literature that the Spanish verb consists of a root followed by a verb theme marker; these are followed by tense/aspect/mood and finally by person/number. While this structure is often transparent, there are cases where it is unclear, leading to a variety of previous analyses. Problematic cases are accounted for here without violating this order of morphemes. The proposal is compared with the classical analysis by Harris and with a recent one by Arregi. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Romance languages make use of topicalisation as a grammatical strategy to mark [−focus] constituents, typically under Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) and Clitic Right Dislocation (CLRD). As a distinctive property, topicalisation involves clitic resumption (CR) of the dislocated constituent in Italian, as well as in other Romance languages (French, Spanish, Catalan). However, a great deal of variation is found in regard to the actual realisation of the resumptive clitic, which is traditionally explained by assuming that CR is optional. In Italian, CR of topic constituents proves to be optional with all phrases, except with direct objects and partitive complements. By contrast, the presence of a resumptive clitic is strictly required in all dislocation structures involving verbal arguments in other Romance varieties, such as Catalan and Sicilian. The aim of this paper is to identify the syntactic properties and the pragmatics characterisation of dislocation constructions lacking CR, and to account for the apparent optionality and the variation found across Romance. We claim that there are no optional nor null clitics, and that non-resumed dislocation actually corresponds to structures other than CLLD/CLRD, as suggested by the fact that the constructions lacking CR exhibit a wide range of syntactic differences with respect to the clitic-resumed counterparts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the coordination relations between f0 turning points and segmental landmarks in falling pitch accents in Catalan. Ten Central Catalan speakers participated in the production experiment, for a total of 500 target pitch accents. Results indicate that while the beginning of the falling accent gesture (H) is tightly synchronized with the onset of the accented syllable, the end of the falling gesture (L) is more variable. This contrast has also been reported in rising accents between the alignment behavior of f0 valleys and peaks. It has been suggested that the asymmetry between alignment patterns in syllable-initial vs. syllable-final position might be attributable to general properties of intergestural coordination (Gao, 2006; Prieto and Torreira, 2007). Second, the data reveal a clear effect of syllable structure: while in open syllables the end of the fall is aligned roughly with the end of the accented syllable, in closed syllables it is aligned somewhat later but well before the coda consonant. Thus the L turning point is not aligned with the offset of the accented syllable, and coda consonants seem to have a ‘transparent’ behavior. This same effect of coda consonants on alignment has been reported in crosslinguistic studies of rising accents. A potential perceptual explanation for these effects is House''s (1990) idea that in order to produce a perceptually acceptable rising (or falling) tone in a syllable with a final nasal, speakers would have to implement the most dynamic portion of the contour during the production of the vowel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the behaviour of VP topicalization in two unrelated languages, Hungarian and Spanish. It will show that in spite of the superficial similarity between the elements involved in such topicalization, the two languages employ a fundamentally different strategy in the derivation of these sentences. Hungarian fronts the VP material and spells it out in the form of a resumptive pronoun in the left periphery, in a mechanism similar to that described in Grohmann (2003). Spanish on the other hand generates the resumptive pronominal as an argument internal to the clause. This difference in the two derivations correlates with other differences in VP topicalization in the two languages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Agreement lies at the heart of sentence structure in that it usually codifies the formal link between the subject and the predicate. In a way, although not strictly necessary, agreement tends to be what signals that a clause has been created. However, linguists and psycholinguists disagree as to whether this core process is essentially a semantic or a syntactic phenomenon, and there is evidence that suggests that it may be both things at the same time. suggests that in morphologically impoverished languages like English, low frequency of agreement operations makes for a weak morphosyntactic component that is unable to keep semantic interference at bay, at least in production (where meaning comes first). In his completion study, he manages to show that the strong morphosyntactic defences of German do seem to encapsulate number agreement from non-formal forces. In this paper, I examine the psycholinguistic literature on the processing of agreement in English and Spanish in search of fine-grained evidence for encapsulation in all the relevant domains (NP, clausal, supra-clausal). The different grounding of the features of gender and number is also analysed and evidence for their differentiality in the first cycles of processing is ruled out. In general, Berg's hypothesis is confirmed by existing processing measures (Spanish patterns like German due to its rich morphology), but the fine picture of agreement operations in English and Spanish is also sensitive to the different domains tested and to whether production or comprehension is taken into account. Finally, it is argued that gender classes and the agreement systems based on them constitute a major generative device when constructing the clause. This is because gender is less semantically grounded than number and therefore easier to recruit for phrasal packaging, as this merely requires the co-variance of form. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although at the lexical level (in the citation form of words) Spanish has only high glides, mid vowels may also become nonsyllabic by a postlexical process of syllable contraction. In this paper we report on an experiment designed to study the contraction of sequences of nonhigh vowels in Castilian Spanish. Traditional phonological descriptions of this Spanish dialect state that in sequences of equal height such as /eo/, /oe/, the first of the two vowels undergoes greater shortening, becoming nonsyllabic. In sequences of different height, such as /ae/, /ea/, on the other hand, the higher of the two vowels becomes nonsyllabic. Our results offer only partial support for these hypotheses. In agreement with other recent studies, we find the realization of these sequences to be very variable. In particular, we discuss two seemingly opposite tendencies present in our data and elsewhere for the elimination of mid glides. One is their deletion: /ea/ ▪ [▪a] ▪ [a]. The other one is their raising to high glides: /ea/ ▪ [▪a] ▪ [ja]. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we analyze spontaneous and experimental data involving code-mixed DPs made up of English Determiners+Spanish Nouns (the casa “house”) and Spanish Determiners+English Nouns (la [the/feminine] house) from child English/Spanish simultaneous bilinguals and from L1 speakers of English, French and Spanish with different levels of proficiency in their respective L2s (Spanish in the case of L1 English and French; English in the case of L1 Spanish). We show that early child bilinguals and adult simultaneous bilinguals (production data) and L1 speakers of Spanish (experimental data) favor mixings where Spanish provides the functional category, the Determiner, over mixings where English does. We also show that when confronted with these mixed DPs adult L1 Spanish speakers and non-native speakers share a preference for the English D followed by a preference for the default gender marking in Spanish, the masculine (el [the/masculine] house). In the case of the L1 Spanish speakers, this preference is overridden by the “analogical criterion”, (la [the/feminine] house), which consists of assigning the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent (“casa” is feminine) to the English Noun. We provide a linguistic account of these preferences based on the intrinsic Gender feature of the Spanish Noun and the intrinsic Gender Agreement feature or the Spanish Determiner and argue that the cognitive mechanisms employed by the bilingual, the Spanish L1 speaker and the Spanish L2 speaker in spontaneous production and in the grammaticality judgments task make different use of these linguistic units. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper develops a generative analysis for a particular language contact phenomenon familiar in the variationist and language contact literature, namely indirect transfer [F. Klein, A quantitative study of syntactic and pragmatic indications of change in the Spanish of bilinguals in the U.S, in: W. Labov (Ed.), Locating Language in Time and Space, Academic Press, New York, 1980, p. 69; R. Mougeon, E. Beniak, Linguistic Consequences of Language Contact and Restriction: The Case of French in Ontario, OUP, Oxford, 1991; C. Silva-Corvalán, Language Contact and Change: Spanish in Los Angeles, OUP, Oxford, 1994]. This language contact effect, which is preferential rather than categorical, is difficult to deal with in traditional generative approaches, and has received no attention in this literature. My analysis focuses on Klein's study of synthetic/analytic verb forms used for the expression of progressive aspect in Spanish, where contact with English causes a skewing in the distribution of use of analytic forms in a bilingual variety compared to a similar monolingual variety. The analysis is carried out in a stochastic OT [P. Boersma, B. Hayes, Empirical tests of the Gradual Learning Algorithm. Linguistic Inquiry 32 (1) (2001) 45–86] framework, where I show that the indirect transfer effects observed by Klein can be captured by way of different ranking of a small set of OT constraints on a linear ranking scale. In addition to providing a model for the indirect transfer effects in Klein's study, my analysis also makes a typological prediction regarding morphosyntactic expression and Imperfective and Progressive verb forms: no language can have a synthetic Progressive and an analytic Imperfective. This prediction is supported by the absence of any such distribution in the surveys of Bybee et al. [The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994] or Dahl [Tense and Aspect Systems, Blackwell, Oxford, 1985]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the processes of spirantization and devoicing in Spanish. It argues that the aim of these processes is twofold. Phonologically, they serve to simplify marked linguistic structures, and phonetically, they aid to reduce muscular effort in the articulation of segments intended to have a complete oral closure with simultaneous vocal fold vibration. It is assumed that the phonetic component is part of the grammar and that certain sound patterns are determined at this low level by principles specific to this component that operate on surface phonological representations. Markedness constraints are phonological principles that are phonetically grounded, whereas effort-reduction constraints pertain solely to the phonetic component. At both levels, voiced stops are problematic because they contain a complete oral closure, which is the greatest impediment to voicing. Spanish chooses to either give up their voicing, or keep it but loosen the complete oral closure. Phonologically, both stricture and voicing are lost in non-prominent positions but maintained in prominent ones, so that voiced stops may retain their distinctiveness. Phonetically, the stricture of voiced stops must be loosen in all contexts that do not facilitate articulatory ease, so that the crucial effort threshold enforced by the constraint ranking of the phonetic component may be respected. By allowing co-articulation, speech rate and register to play a role in the sound component of the grammar, this analysis accounts for the gradiency, and great deal of cross dialectal and dialect internal variation exhibited by Spanish spirantization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• All uses of the Spanish future tense share a common feature: "echoing the ground". • Different uses of the Spanish future tense display different levels of subjectivity. • Evidentiality, tense and modality-related elements can be found in the future tense. The paper examines all uses of the Spanish future tense (the HABLARÉ paradigm) from a cognitive perspective and analyses in detail the level of subjectivity displayed and the relationship to the ground. It is claimed that these uses share a common feature: the echo of the ground (the speaker or the communication situation). The modal, evidential and temporal elements of the ground are presented in a new light, underlining their inherent interconnection. It is proposed that a unified account for all uses of what is traditionally called the "future tense" can be found only when all these elements are taken into account, thus arguing against approaches that associate this paradigm exclusively with temporality, modality or evidentiality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]