The resumptive pronoun in Spanish as a matching mechanism

Keywords: relative clause, semifree, resumptive pronoun, resumption, matching

Abstract

(Semi)free relative clauses are Case-marked by virtue of their syntactic position; the matrix clause Case-marks the relative pronoun (or complementizer, under certain analyses) depending upon the position of the so-called ‘participant’ or ‘bound-interpretation variable’. The syntax of Spanish allows for matching relative clauses (i. e. same Case-marking of the relative pronoun and the clause) and non-matching ones, which are subject to several conditions explored here. This paper puts forth the hypothesis that the resumptive pronoun may amnesty mismatches and, hence, render the construction grammatical or well-formed. Data is argued to support that this resumptive pronoun is degraded to a certain extent: it does not refer to any head, but only conveys a ‘prepositional shell’ which enables prepositional matching. If the degraded nature of the pronoun in these contexts is assumed, we may dispense with those analyses that posit a silent head in these structures.

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Published
2024-02-15
How to Cite
Agulló J. (2024). The resumptive pronoun in Spanish as a matching mechanism. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, 97, 121-137. https://doi.org/10.5209/clac.80517