Generalized cliticization and agreement asymmetries in Asturian possessive DPs

Abstract

This paper explores the generalization of the Affix Support condition to clitics, in order to explain the most distinctive properties of the different kinds of possessive DPs in Asturian. In doing so, the paper also unveils some derivational mechanisms with the potential of explaining the different kinds of agreement asymmetries typical of possessive DPs in this Romance language. From a broader theoretical perspective, the paper is also aimed as a contribution capable of offering some conceptual and empirical support to a model of the Syntax-Phonology interface which downsizes the degree of encapsulation and domain-specificity of the computational and externalization dimensions of the faculty of language.

Keywords

• Asturian
• possessives
• clitics
• agreement
• sound-syntax interface