Recomplementation in English and Spanish: Delineating the CP space

Abstract

The paper aims to provide a characterization of the colloquial phenomenon of recomplementation (i.e., that1/que1 – XP[dislocated] – that2/que2 constructions) in both contemporary English and Spanish from a comparative perspective. I draw a systematic comparison between that2 and que2 and present a host of similarities in terms of the syntactic behavior and distribution of secondary complementizers in the two languages. Thus, I argue for a unified analysis of recomplementation in English and Spanish within Rizzi’s (1997 et seq.) split-CP hypothesis wherein the flanked dislocate occupies the specifier of TopicP, whose head is spelled out as that2/que2. I therefore show that the structures of the peripheries of English and Spanish are not as different as they may appear to be at first sight. I also note several asymmetries between the two languages in terms of the interaction between recomplementation patterns and other constructions, and submit that these differences can be ascribed to independent factors: they are due to lexico-semantic and syntactic differences displayed by the two languages, but not to a different underlying left-peripheral architecture. The paper also investigates the reason(s) why secondary thats/ques are lexically realized and argues for the polyvalent nature of such iterative complementizers. I further propose that one of their functions is to mark discourse. The findings reported here also have far-reaching consequences for the contentious derivation of preposed topical phrases in the syntax of English and Spanish (including adjunct clauses), as well as ramifications to other existing debates.