Syntactic reflexes of information structure in heritage Spanish: Evidence from psych-predicate constructions

This study examines the status of discourse-dependent syntactic properties in Spanish heritage grammars. In particular, we focus on pragmatically-driven word order patterns with Spanish psychological predicates (e. g., ‘to like’). The responses from 26 Spanish heritage speakers (as well as 8 bilingu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International review of applied linguistics in language teaching, IRAL IRAL, 2016-11, Vol.54 (4), p.291-317
Main Authors: Gómez Soler, Inmaculada, Pascual y Cabo, Diego
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
given-before-new principle
Grammar
Heritage language
heritage speaker acquisition
Information structure
psych-verbs
Psychological aspects
Spanish language
Syntactic structures
Syntax
Syntax discourse relationship
syntax-discourse interface
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Summary:This study examines the status of discourse-dependent syntactic properties in Spanish heritage grammars. In particular, we focus on pragmatically-driven word order patterns with Spanish psychological predicates (e. g., ‘to like’). The responses from 26 Spanish heritage speakers (as well as 8 bilingual native controls) to an aural pragmatic felicity task indicate that heritage speakers are sensitive to the nuanced discursive factors that regulate word order in Spanish psych-predicate constructions. These findings contribute to current debates over the status of interfaces in heritage grammars. Specifically, these results shed light on the factors that make certain syntax-discourse properties particularly prone to change while not others. This takes us to advocate for a finer-grained division of syntax-discourse constructions and their relation to learnability.
ISSN:0019-042X
1613-4141
DOI:10.1515/iral-2015-0036