Closest conjunct agreement in Spanish DPsSyntax and beyond

Abstract

This article analyses a phenomenon not frequently dealt with in the grammar of Romance languages, namely, closest conjunct (number) agreement (CCA) between determiners, adjectives and nouns in Spanish structures containing conjoined singular Ns: [DP D (A) [N1 y N 2] (A)]. Using new corpus data, we apply statistical tests to assess the theoretical and empirical claims of the analysis. We first offer a description of the plural semantics of these structures. Regarding syntax, we show that, despite the plural semantics of the DP, determiners and prenominal adjectives agree with the closest conjunct (N1) (e.g. Una. f.sg fuerte.sg lluvia.f.sg y viento.m.sg azotaron.pl la ciudad ‘A heavy rain and wind battered the city’). As for postnominal adjectives, CCA with N2 alternates with full (plural) agreement (e.g. Una.f.sg lluvia.f.sg y viento.m.sg{inoportuno.m.sg/inoportunos.m.pl} azotaron.pl la ciudad ‘An inopportune rain and wind battered the city’). Within a generative framework, we analyse CCA in the prenominal field and full agreement of postnominal adjectives as syntactically derived from the interaction of the Agree operation and a reformulated theory of phi-features. CCA of postnominal adjectives is analysed to be the result of post-syntactic relations, that is, linear adjacency.