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This paper explores a newly identified contrastive topic configuration in Spanish. Coined by de Andrade (2018) for Galician and European Portuguese, the D(emonstrative)-construction features a left-dislocated topic and d(emonstrative)-pronoun resumptive. This study investigates whether the D-construction exists in Spanish, and if so, with which syntactic properties. We administered an acceptability judgment task on the D-construction, Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD), Hanging Topic Left Dislocation (HTLD) and Focus Fronting (FF) to Spanish speakers. The task tested the role of the left-dislocate, case connectivity, subject-verb inversion, embedding, recursivity, and sensitivity to island constraints. Simple instances of the D-construction received consistently high ratings, demonstrating that it exists in Spanish. There was individual variation regarding the role of the left-dislocate and case connectivity. The D-construction did not require subject-verb inversion, was non-recursive and demonstrated selective island sensitivity. Findings for CLLD, HTLD and FF were mostly in line with previous literature. The D-construction did not exactly pattern with CLLD, HTLD, nor FF; it is characterized by a unique set of syntactic properties. We propose that both left-dislocated elements are base-generated at Spec, TopP: the fronted DP is a hanging topic, and its resumptive d-pronoun is linked to a clitic within the main clause via an A'-chain.

This paper sheds light on the acquisition of wh-islands in L2 English spoken by native speakers of Spanish and L2 Spanish spoken by native speakers of English as well as on the distribution of wh-islands in L1 Spanish. A grammaticality judgment task with a 7-point Likert scale provides evidence that wh-island effects are present in L1 and L2 Spanish as well as L1 and L2 English. The L1 Spanish facts challenge the received view of wh-islands in this language, in keeping with recent developments which show that islands are more widely attested across languages than previously thought. These facts also highlight the dialogue between L2 research and replication studies thanks to the use of native control groups.

This paper sheds light on the acquisition of wh-islands in L2 English spoken by native speakers of Spanish and L2 Spanish spoken by native speakers of English as well as on the distribution of wh-islands in L1 Spanish. A grammaticality judgment task with a 7-point Likert scale provides evidence that wh-island effects are present in L1 and L2 Spanish as well as L1 and L2 English. The L1 Spanish facts challenge the received view of wh-islands in this language, in keeping with recent developments which show that islands are more widely attested across languages than previously thought. These facts also highlight the dialogue between L2 research and replication studies thanks to the use of native control groups.

This article reports on a study, with online measures, which investigated the processing of subject–verb (SV) agreement sentences by one group of heritage Spanish speakers (HSs), two groups of L2 learners of Spanish (L1 English) and one group of traditional Spanish native speakers. Experimental SV sentences manipulated person and number features with subjects and verbs in the present tense. Between-group statistical analyses indicated differential processing between the heritage and the L2 groups. The heritage group’s performance was more native-like than the L2 participants. Within-subject tests showed some similar patterns between heritage and L2 high-level processing, including delayed sensitivity to ungrammaticality after the verb region. We argue that the HSs were able to process basic grammar structures, just as traditional native speakers do. This suggests early bilingualism conferred an advantage to HSS when compared to L2 learners, in the control of basic agreement in Spanish.

This Special Issue of Languages includes nine selected and peer‐reviewed papers from the second meeting of Bilingualism in the Hispanic and Lusophone World (BHL), an international conference that took place at Florida State University, in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, in January 2017 [...]

This paper evaluates Bošković's (1999) proposal with respect to question formation in Basque. This language allows two strategies to ask a question such as «who bought what?». One possibility is that one wh-phrase fronts and the other stays in situ. The other possibility is that both wh-phrases move overtly to the front of the sentence. Regardless of the strategy employed, Superiority effects always show up in this language. The present study is the first attempt to offer an account of the mechanisms underlying multiple questions formation in Basque. Previous research (Ortiz de Urbina 1995, 1999) has found that wh-words in Basque behave very similarly to elements bearing focus. However, there are no detailed studies dealing with multiple question formation in this language. This paper offers an analysis of multiple questions in Basque which will help us gain understanding of the nature of «wh»-movement in this language.