Establishing control into an adjunct: An examination of Spanish clitic control patterns and their theoretical implications

VanDyne, Katie

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124249 Copy

Description

Title

Establishing control into an adjunct: An examination of Spanish clitic control patterns and their theoretical implications

Author(s)

VanDyne, Katie

Issue Date

2024-04-15

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

MacDonald, Jonathan E

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

MacDonald, Jonathan E

Committee Member(s)

• Hualde, José Ignacio
• Talić, Aida
• Yoon, James Hye Suk

Department of Study

Spanish and Portuguese

Discipline

Spanish

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• syntax
• Spanish
• adjunct control
• clitics

Abstract

The goal of this dissertation is to introduce and discuss cases of adjunct control in Spanish in which the controller is an object clitic and to examine the implications these data have on theories of control, clitics, and optionality. While it has been previously demonstrated in the literature that complement control can occur with both subjects and objects acting as the controller, it has been claimed that only subject control into an adjunct is possible (Hornstein 1999, Boeckx et al. 2010, Landau 2013, among others). I present previously undiscussed data showing cases of adjunct control in which an object, when realized as a preverbal clitic, is a possible controller in Spanish. These data prove to have both empirical and theoretical implications. Empirically, these patterns add to the larger, cross-linguistic discussion on control. In addition, while there is a large history of work on Romance clitics, this work seeks to contribute a novel context in which to examine the theoretical status of clitics, including their internal structure, movements, and final position of Spanish clitics. Particularly, the work aims to shed light on the intermediate position and status of clitics in VoiceP. This contribution is built around an empirical contrast, involving two other types of moved, preverbal phrasal objects– shifted objects and wh-objects– that, unlike clitics, cannot control a non-finite adjunct. I argue that this suggests preverbal clitics are in a different VoiceP specifier than phrasal objects are. Another unique aspect of these structures that adds to these discussions are cases of control in which an object clitic is present, but the subject controls. That is, there is optionality in the controller. The account for these patterns can also add to the larger literature on how optionality fits into the framework of minimalist syntax. Finally, while I adopt a predication-based framework of control (Landau 2021) for the main analysis of these adjunct control structures, I also suggest that with a minor modification to the way the Movement Theory of Control in Boeckx et al. (2010) excludes object control into adjuncts, the patterns can be accounted for via a movement approach, as well. However, in either framework of control, I show that it is necessary to posit an inner VoiceP specifier position of the controlling clitic.

Graduation Semester

2024-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2024 Katie VanDyne

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