On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences

This paper examines external possession between a dative possessor and a relational noun in Spanish middle-passive configurations. The dative DP in these contexts must surface preverbally in out-of-the-blue contexts, either by itself –presumably in preverbal subject position–, or along with the the...

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Main Author: Imanol Suárez-Palma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2024-12-01
Series:Isogloss
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/393
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author Imanol Suárez-Palma
author_facet Imanol Suárez-Palma
author_sort Imanol Suárez-Palma
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines external possession between a dative possessor and a relational noun in Spanish middle-passive configurations. The dative DP in these contexts must surface preverbally in out-of-the-blue contexts, either by itself –presumably in preverbal subject position–, or along with the theme containing the possessee. When the dative precedes the theme, it cannot be assumed that the former is left-dislocated while the latter sits in preverbal subject position, for this would imply a violation of locality under a low applicative analysis of dative possessors: Tº would skip the possessor argument in Spec,ApplP to probe the possessee in Applº’s complement position to its specifier. Rather, I provide data showing that preverbal DPs –dative or otherwise– in Spanish middle-passive contexts are clitic left-dislocations co-referring with empty pronouns in argument position. I offer a biclausal analysis of these configurations that avoids any potential intervention effects, while at the same time accounting for the extra-sentential properties of these constituents.
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spelling doaj-art-8ca67c8efda743fd93375296fa827c522025-01-28T03:01:58ZengUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaIsogloss2385-41382024-12-0110710.5565/rev/isogloss.393On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences Imanol Suárez-Palma0University of Florida This paper examines external possession between a dative possessor and a relational noun in Spanish middle-passive configurations. The dative DP in these contexts must surface preverbally in out-of-the-blue contexts, either by itself –presumably in preverbal subject position–, or along with the theme containing the possessee. When the dative precedes the theme, it cannot be assumed that the former is left-dislocated while the latter sits in preverbal subject position, for this would imply a violation of locality under a low applicative analysis of dative possessors: Tº would skip the possessor argument in Spec,ApplP to probe the possessee in Applº’s complement position to its specifier. Rather, I provide data showing that preverbal DPs –dative or otherwise– in Spanish middle-passive contexts are clitic left-dislocations co-referring with empty pronouns in argument position. I offer a biclausal analysis of these configurations that avoids any potential intervention effects, while at the same time accounting for the extra-sentential properties of these constituents. https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/393middle-passiveclitic-left dislocationdative argumentslocality
spellingShingle Imanol Suárez-Palma
On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
Isogloss
middle-passive
clitic-left dislocation
dative arguments
locality
title On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
title_full On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
title_fullStr On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
title_full_unstemmed On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
title_short On the position of dative DPs in Spanish middle-passive sentences
title_sort on the position of dative dps in spanish middle passive sentences
topic middle-passive
clitic-left dislocation
dative arguments
locality
url https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/393
work_keys_str_mv AT imanolsuarezpalma onthepositionofdativedpsinspanishmiddlepassivesentences