Small Clauses in Spanish. The Semantics of Transitivity

The present semantic-functional study analyzes small clauses in Spanish in terms of the semantics of main verbs, small clause predicates, direct objects, and subjects, taking Hopper & Thompson's (1980) Transitivity Hypothesis as a theoretical basis. The author argues that the licensing of the small clauses in adjunct position is not dependent solely on one factor as is believed by many linguists. Rather, it depends on the interaction among the semantic properties of the elements of a sentence, i.e., verbs, adjunct predicates, subjects, and objects. These elements interact in such a way that they, as a whole, confer higher or lower Transitivity to a given sentence, which in turn allows or disallows adjunct predicates. If those elements are higher on the Transitivity hierarchy, adjunct predicates receive a felicitous interpretation in a given sentence. If, however, the adjunct is lower on the hierarchy, that is, if it is an individual-level adjunct, it is ill-formed. Moreover, Yoon argues that the licensing of small clauses in complement position can also be accounted for by the Transitivity Hypothesis. More specifically, applying to small clause complements the distinction between individual-level vs. stage-level elements, the author argues that a felicitous interpretation of a small-clause complement depends crucially on whether the stage-level (higher in Transitivity) or individual-level (lower in Transitivity) property of a given verb co-varies with the stage-level or individual-level property of its corresponding small-clause complement. The study thus supports the view that the licensing of small clauses is better understood in terms of the compatibility of interacting semantic properties among sentential elements rather than in terms of discrete features that do not interact.