Issues in Spanish Verbal Inflection: A Distributed Morphology Approach

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dc.contributor.advisorAlboiu, Gabriela
dc.contributor.authorBembridge, Gavin
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-14T16:36:06Z
dc.date.available2022-12-14T16:36:06Z
dc.date.copyright2022-05-25
dc.date.issued2022-12-14
dc.date.updated2022-12-14T16:36:05Z
dc.degree.disciplineLinguistics and Applied Linguistics (Linguistics)
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation analyzes various issues in the morphology of Spanish’s seven simple verb forms in a syntax-centric morphological framework known as Distributed Morphology (DM). In the extant DM literature, scholars have primarily analyzed verbal inflection as a linear arrangement of morphemes (e.g., Madrid Servín, 2005; Oltra-Massuet and Arregi, 2005). However, failing to account for the interpretation of a given verbal form is problematic. A focus on the semantics of each verbal form is required to understand how several seemingly disparate forms, such as the future and the subjunctive or the conditional and the imperfect subjunctive, are related to each other and what this relationship reveals about their structure. Thus, a major claim made in this dissertation is that a fairly robust understanding of the semantics of each of the seven verbal forms considered is required to (i) link the structure of these verbal forms to their meanings, (ii) to account for contrasts that are not currently accounted for in the literature, and (iii) to make connections between forms that would not otherwise be obvious. Additionally, for the future and conditional forms, in particular, it is argued that the historical analysis, which consists of an infinitive followed by a form of the verb haber ’have’, is superior to proposed reanalysis-based approaches. This historically informed approach demonstrates that we cannot dismiss historical analyses wholesale. Throughout the dissertation, I also demonstrate that the morphosyntax of these seven simple Spanish verbal forms can be accounted for with less conceptual machinery than previously argued for in several DM analyses while covering more empirical ground. Specifically, it is argued that the employment of lexical diacritics and morphological readjustment rules, among other analytical devices, are unnecessary for the analysis of Spanish verbs. In addition to these broad concerns, the dissertation proposes several novel solutions to data that have proven recalcitrant in prior analyses thus making an important contribution to the theoretical literature on Spanish verbal morphology.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/40723
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectLinguistics
dc.subject.keywordsSpanish verbal inflection
dc.subject.keywordsDistributed Morphology
dc.subject.keywordsMorphological theory
dc.subject.keywordsWord formation
dc.subject.keywordsVerbal inflection
dc.subject.keywordsVerbal morphology
dc.subject.keywordsInflection
dc.subject.keywordsMorphology
dc.titleIssues in Spanish Verbal Inflection: A Distributed Morphology Approach
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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