Catalan possessive pronouns: The Avoid Pronoun Principle revisited

8. The external possessor construction in West Flemish

“…As far as I can tell, the data discussed so far will not provide us with any particular information as to the precise position of the non-overt pronoun. Following various discussion in the literature (Zribi Hertz 1998, Picallo 1994 we could assume that the clitic possessive, whose presence is incompatible with the determiner, cliticises to D. Let us assume provisionally that [Spec, DP] would then be occupied by pro. On the basis of these assumptions, (50a) is replaced by (50b), in which an operator in a left-peripheral position, here the interrogative pronoun wien, binds the null pronoun licensed by the clitic possessor zenen.…”

Predicate focus fronting in the Spanish determiner phrase

“…In Catalan, strong pronouns (see Rigau, 1988, andPicallo, 1994), due to their contrastive or emphatic value, are highly restricted in discourse neutral contexts and when referring to inanimate entities.…”

“…Basically, it is commonly accepted that at least a distinction exists in the DP domain between two domains, in parallel to the TP-CP: a lower one linked to morphological properties of the noun -number, and gender, basically; see Giusti (1993), Picallo (1994), Ritter (1991) -and a higher one linked to referential and, we will argue, force properties-see Aboh (2004a), Aboh (2004b), Haegeman (2004), Giusti (1996), Longobardi (1994).…”

A DP-Internal Anaphor Agreement Effect

“…Because the possessive pronoun is in complementary distribution with the determiner, I propose that it occupies D (see Corver 1990). Following among others Zribi-Hertz (1998) and Picallo (1995), and simplifying for reasons of space, I assume that the possessive pronoun originates as the I head of the DP-internal IP layer and that it moves to D (see Corver 1990, Haegeman 2003, for more detailed analyses). Thefeatures of the possessive in the nominal I license a possessor pro (see Picallo 1995) in Spec,IP, the ''nominal subject'' (11b).…”

“…Following among others Zribi-Hertz (1998) and Picallo (1995), and simplifying for reasons of space, I assume that the possessive pronoun originates as the I head of the DP-internal IP layer and that it moves to D (see Corver 1990, Haegeman 2003, for more detailed analyses). Thefeatures of the possessive in the nominal I license a possessor pro (see Picallo 1995) in Spec,IP, the ''nominal subject'' (11b). The prenominal possessor DP Valère in (11c) occupies Spec,DP 4 and forms a chain with pro in Spec,IP, with which it shares the possessor role.…”