Part of
Inquiries in Hispanic Linguistics: From theory to empirical evidenceEdited by Alejandro Cuza, Lori Czerwionka and Daniel Olson
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 12] 2016
► pp. 73–94
Edited by Alejandro Cuza, Lori Czerwionka and Daniel Olson
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 12] 2016
► pp. 73–94
Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface
Complement clauses in conversation
This variationist study examines finite clausal complementation with respect to the prosodic integration of matrix clauses (MC) and complement clauses (CC). In both Spanish and English conversational data, MCs and CCs are found to occur in a single prosodic unit, or Intonation Unit (IU), over two-thirds of the time. The presence of syntactic material (e.g., adverbs) intervening between MC verb and CC (and complementizer that, in English) favors CC occurrence in a different IU. A contrary effect, favoring CC occurrence on the same IU, is that of first person MC subjects, which may form part of formulaic expressions. These discourse-cognitive constraints provide cross-linguistic evidence for the interaction of syntax with prosody in speech.
Keywords: Complement clauses, Corpus linguistics, Prosody and syntax, Variation
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Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Torres Cacoullos, Rena & Dora LaCasse
2024. Bilingual clause combining: A Variable Equivalence hypothesis for conjunction choice. International Journal of Bilingualism 
Beatty-Martínez, Anne L., Christian A. Navarro-Torres & Paola E. Dussias
2020. Codeswitching: A Bilingual Toolkit for Opportunistic Speech Planning. Frontiers in Psychology 11
Torres Cacoullos, Rena
2020. Code-Switching Strategies: Prosody and Syntax. Frontiers in Psychology 11
Steuck, Jonathan & Rena Torres Cacoullos
2019. Chapter 14. Complementing in another language. In Language Variation - European Perspectives VII [Studies in Language Variation, 22], ► pp. 218 ff.
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