The differential representation of number and gender in Spanish

Abstract

This paper investigates the geometry of phi-features with a special emphasis on number and gender in Spanish. We address (i) whether number and gender evidence single-or multi-valued systems for their respective features, and (ii) whether number and gender are bundled together or split. Given the lack of consensus on these issues based on primary data, we approach these questions experimentally, using the phenomenon of agreement attraction: a situation in which ungrammatical sequences are perceived as grammatical when one of the NPs is erroneously identified as determining agreement. Our results indicate that number but not gender in Spanish is multi-valued and o er novel support in favor of an agreement model in which number and gender are in separte projections and are valued independently. We also o er some considerations concerning parametric variation in such valuation.

In support of representational economy: Agreement in heritage Spanish

“…Under a bundling model, number and gender are bundled together and therefore leveled-there is no clear hierarchical relationship between the features that could deliver a consistent linear order. With arguments in favor of both the bundled model and the split model, the task is to determine which model is appropriate for which language-it need not be the case that every language approaches number and gender features in the same way (for a discussion of yet more arguments, see Fuchs et al 2015 and the references therein). In Fuchs et al (2015), we used experimental evidence from agreement phenomena to establish the baseline feature representation and specification in the native Spanish grammar.…”

“…To investigate the content of heritage speakers' knowledge about their morphology, together with the pressures that could shape differences in that knowledge relative to the native baseline, here we extend the experimental methodology developed in Fuchs et al (2015) to examine number and gender agreement in heritage Spanish. We focus on number and gender features because they are expressed on independent exponents in the native Spanish grammar, and because theoretical approaches to the structure of these categories provide two analytical possibilities for their representation in syntax.…”

“…Our study builds on the experimental paradigm of agreement attraction developed by Fuchs et al (2015) and elicits responses to agreement failures to diagnose the potentially-independent contributions of number and gender features. By comparing the structuring of these agreement categories in native and heritage Spanish, we document a case of grammatical divergence: heritage speakers restructure their agreement categories, favoring fewer feature values and less structure.…”

A note on the locus and function of formal gender

“…As is well known all nouns are assigned one of two possible formal Genders in Spanish, either the so-called 'masculine' or the 'feminine', which are more or less evenly distributed within the set of nouns (Fuchs et al 2015). One of the traditionally assumed functions of Gender, or noun class, is that of concord controller (see Hockett 1958;Corbett 1991;Corbett & Fraser 2000).…”

“…Behavioral experiments in language production and comprehension have shown that the two categories have different syntactic representation and different processing loci. See Fuchs et al (2015) and all references cited there for a recent overview and discussion of the evidence. 12 Note that the pluralia tantum expression sus pantalones 'his/her trousers' in the antecedent of example (15 a) refers to one piece of clothing, not many.…”