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In:Null or Nothing: Zero elements in Romance syntax and morphology
Edited by Peter Herbeck and Natascha Pomino
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 291] 2026
► pp. 181–215

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The simple and the periphrastic past in spoken (Valencian) Catalan as evidence against zero in inflectional morphology

ORCiD logo with link | Universität Wien
ORCiD logo with link | Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Published online: 27 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.291.07her
Abstract
We analyze the substitution of the simple past by the periphrastic go-past in spoken Valencian Catalan. Corpus data show that this substitution is especially prominent in 1/3sg forms which are at the same time the least morphologically transparent ones. From this observation, we derive a relation between lack of transparency and the need for a periphrastic form. Based on synchronic and diachronic arguments, we reject the possibility of zero exponence and processes, such as fusion and obliteration, as explanation for the mismatch between morpho-syntactic structural complexity and reduced morpho-phonological realization. We argue instead for a spanning approach that can correctly derive lack of transparency and analyticisation avoiding unnecessary mechanisms.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The simple and the periphrastic past in spoken Valencian Catalan
    • 2.1The past perfective in spoken Catalan: General aspects
    • 2.2Corpus study of spoken Central Valencian Catalan
    • 2.3How morphological transparency is related to the past tense alternation
  • 3.Ways of implementing non-transparent structures in DM
    • 3.1Zero exponence
      • 3.1.1Against zero exponence for conceptual reasons
      • 3.1.2Further evidence against zero exponence
    • 3.2Fusion
    • 3.3Obliteration
    • 3.4Spanning
  • 4.A spanning approach for the past tense alternation
    in Valencian Catalan
    • 4.1Transparency
    • 4.2Analyticization
    • 4.3Restructuring (and lack thereof)
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (60)
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