A number of verb classes in Spanish display oblique arguments that occupy the preverbal position otherwise typical of transitive subjects. Based on this observation, a number of works have suggested that these oblique arguments are a kind of quirky subject, similar (though not identical) to the quirky subjects of Icelandic. In this paper I provide evidence against these analyses. I show that Spanish preverbal obliques have none of the defining characteristics of quirky (or non-nominative) subjects. I also show that phenomena where Spanish and Icelandic seem to be similar are in fact unrelated and depend on entirely different grammatical conditions. I conclude by showing that the word order facts observed with these oblique arguments are unrelated to subjecthood. Rather, I show that unmarked word order in Spanish is regulated by the thematic roles of the arguments of the verb and not by subject properties. Hence, there are cases where an oblique argument occupies the preverbal position because its theta-role ranks higher in the Thematic Hierarchy than that of the grammatical subject.
2022. What makes the dative-experiencer construction in Modern Hebrew different from its counterparts in European languages?. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 75:3 ► pp. 379 ff.
Halevy, Rivka
2023. Non-subject oriented existential, possessive and dative-experiencer constructions in Modern Hebrew – a cross-linguistic typological approach. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 76:4 ► pp. 545 ff.
2011. Towards a Typology of Locative Inversion – Bantu, Perhaps Chinese and English – But Beyond?. Language and Linguistics Compass 5:4 ► pp. 169 ff.
Pöll, Bernhard
2010. Some remarks on subject positions and the architecture of the left periphery in Spanish. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 55:3 ► pp. 359 ff.
Gutiérrez-Bravo, Rodrigo
2007. Prominence scales and unmarked word order in Spanish. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 25:2 ► pp. 235 ff.
[no author supplied]
2019. List of abbreviations. In Cycles in Language Change, ► pp. ix ff.
[no author supplied]
2019. Copyright Page. In Cycles in Language Change, ► pp. iv ff.
[no author supplied]
2019. Series preface. In Cycles in Language Change, ► pp. vii ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.