In:When Data Challenges Theory: Unexpected and paradoxical evidence in information structure
Edited by Davide Garassino and Daniel Jacob
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 273] 2022
► pp. 239–270
Unmarked use of marked syntactic structures
Possessives and fronting of non-subject XPs in Bulgarian Judeo-Spanish
Published online: 22 February 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.273.08gab
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.273.08gab
Abstract
Bulgarian Judeo-Spanish (BJS) is characterized by its
frequent use of structures that are considered highly marked or even
ungrammatical in Mainstream Spanish (MS). The analysis of
semi-spontaneous data, recorded from four BJS-Bulgarian bilinguals,
and the comparison with a same-sized Madrid Spanish control corpus
reveal that BJS offers a broader gamut of possessive constructions
and allows for fronting of non-subject constituents in
information-structurally neutral contexts. A rating task carried out
with 8 MS natives confirms that such structures are perceived as
marked in MS. The fact that BJS patterns with both Old Spanish and
contemporary Bulgarian regarding its repertoire of possessives and
the use of fronting structures suggests an interpretation which
refers to both its ancestor and the present-day contact
language.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Linguistic features of Bulgarian Judeo-Spanish
- 2.1Phonetics and phonology
- 2.2Morphosyntax
- 3.Empirical study
- 3.1Data and methodology
- 3.2Results and discussion
- 3.2.1Possessive constructions
- 3.2.1.1Corpus analysis
- 3.2.1.2Discussion
- 3.2.2Fronting constructions
- 3.2.2.1Corpus analysis
- 3.2.2.2Acceptability judgment task
- 3.2.2.3Discussion
- 3.2.1Possessive constructions
- 3.3Overall discussion
- 4.Concluding remarks and outlook
Acknowledgements Notes References Appendix
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