1st Edition
Data Representativity and Granularity in Spanish Syntax Subjecthood across Dialects and Methodologies in Spanish
Data Representativity and Granularity in Spanish Syntax focuses on the dialogue between Generative Grammar, Variationism, and experimental linguistics with a unique emphasis on Spanish linguistics.
Combining formal syntax and empirical data collection, this volume analyzes and compares various data collection methods in syntactic theory, and examines a wide variety of approaches to gain novel insight in this emerging area. Through the case study of subject properties in Spanish, with an emphasis on how differences in data collection and data analysis standards may shape our perception of the object of study, this book addresses the following questions: (a) How do the data gathered through the standard methodology in each discipline diverge (if at all) and why? and (b) What kind of research questions can be answered with the standard methodology in each field? The volume argues for methodological crosspollination to avoid forcing data to conform to field-specific expectations and to appreciate language variation for what it has to tell us about linguistic theory, marrying the goals of Generative Grammar with data-driven research.
This is an essential resource for researchers in the area of formal and generative syntax, linguists with an interest in data collection standard in syntax, and graduate or advanced undergraduate students in the field of Spanish linguistics.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Theoretical Syntax at the crossroads: Acceptability judgments on trial
Chapter 3: Subjecthood across methodologies in Spanish: On the concept of syntactic evidence
Chapter 4: Microvariation and dialect distance in the null subject properties of Spanish: Dialectology, corpora, and introspective judgments
Chapter 5: Beyond acceptability judgments in experimental linguistics: Relativized Minimality as a tool for interdisciplinary dialogue
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Biography
Iván Ortega-Santos is Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of World Languages and Literatures and Faculty Affiliate at the Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis, USA.
"This book enhances a dialogue between variationist studies, experimental linguistics and formal theorizing. The corresponding approaches or developments, unfortunately, have traditionally faced a relationship of mutual exclusion, rather than collaboration. It is high time for such a collaboration to take place, and Professor Ortega-Santos’ book is certainly at the forefront of it!"
Sandro Sessarego, Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
"This book explores the insurmountable breach between theoretical linguistics and other linguistic areas where data are crucial, namely, experimental linguistics and variation, by showing that the different methods of collecting data used in the different subdisciplines are reconcilable. Thought-provoking, challenging and novel, Ortega-Santos’s work succeeds to fill up a gap in the field by arguing for a crosspollination of data gathering (corpora, acceptability judgements, statistical analysis, etc.), applied to a specific theoretical issue such as subjecthood in Spanish. A must for linguists of a theoretical, experimental or variationist background alongside students of linguistics."
Ángel L. Jiménez-Fernández, Professor of English Linguistics, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
