Chapter published 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

| University of Mainz
| University of Mainz

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.

Keywords: Bulgarian, fronting, information structure, Judeo-Spanish, possessives, cross-linguistic influence
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
    • 3.3Overall discussion
  • 4.Concluding remarks and outlook
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 February 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.273.08gab
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