A syntactic analysis of secondary predication in Spanish

Bibliographic Data

ID10139558
AuthorsEnrique Mallén (0000-0001-6901-7677, University of Florida, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume27
Issue2
Pages375-403
Publication date1991-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-2267 • E-ISSN: 1469-7742
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s002222670001272x
OpenAlexW2048857177
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited20

This article argues in favour of a syntactic analysis of secondary predication as first proposed in Williams (1980) and against the semantic approach to predication defended most recently in Napoli (1989). Most of the evidence to be adduced in the proposed analysis comes from Spanish. We posit that secondary predicates are base-generated inside VP in Spanish, confirming Culicover & Wilkins's (1984) and Roberts's (1988) analysis for English. Under this hypothesis, object-oriented (O-) predicates occur inside the c-domain of V as sisters to the verbal complement, whereas subject-oriented (S-) secondary predicates attach to VP as sisters to the subject. Based on this asymmetry and adopting Jaeggli's (1981) assumption that initial wh -traces must be lexically identified, we explain the fact that only O-predicates can undergo wh -movement in Spanish. This restriction on wh -movement follows from the syntactic configuration assigned to secondary predicates in which both predicates are governed by V, but only O-predicates are c-commanded by V

Base (topology · Complement (music · Domain (mathematical analysis · Linguistics · Object (grammar · Subject (documents · Syntax · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Philosophy · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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