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Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 12: Selected papers from the 45th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), Campinas, Brazil
Edited by Ruth E.V. Lopes, Juanito Ornelas de Avelar and Sonia M. L. Cyrino
[Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 12] 2017
► pp. 111–126

Chapter 8
Locality constraints on θ-theory

Evidence from Spanish ditransitives

| Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas – Universidad de Buenos Aires
| Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas – Universidad de Buenos Aires

We focus on a pattern of Spanish se-reflexivization in ditransitive contexts that has not received due attention in the previous literature, namely, the impossibility of reflexivizing the direct object in presence of a dative clitic. In doing so, we will argue in favor of a particular long-distance approach to θ-assignment and against attract-based models. We will also defend the view of se as an edge marker (i.e., a v expletive) and argue against the hypothesis of se as residue of A-movement.

Keywords: θ-theory, dative alternation, locality, reflexives, Spanish ditransitive constructions
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical assumptions
    • 2.1Locality and theta-role assignment
    • 2.2SE-reflexivity in Spanish
  • 3.Deriving the main pattern
  • 4.Further predictions
  • 5.An alternative analysis
    • 5.1The Movement Theory of Reflexivization
    • 5.2Some problems for the MTR
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 October 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.12.08kam
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