Abstract
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">This work examines the role of the stage-level (SL)/individual-level (IL) distinction applied to nouns in a case of morphosyntactic regularization in Spanish: variable reanalysis of the NP argument as subject in the presentational <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haber </em>construction (<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hab&iacute;a/hab&iacute;an perros</em>). We conduct variationist, quantitative analyses on all instances of existential <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haber </em>with a plural NP in corpora of spoken Puerto Rican Spanish (&gt;500,000 words) to determine the linguistic factor groups that promote reanalysis and, hence, pluralized forms. Results of variable rule analyses reveal that the SL-IL distinction constrains the regularization. IL predicates significantly favor <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haber </em>regularization (e.g., <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hab&iacute;an muchas personas de las Antillas</em> &lsquo;there were a lot of people from the Antillas&rsquo;) whereas SL predicates significantly disfavor pluralized forms (<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">este a&ntilde;o hubo menos tiros que en a&ntilde;os pasados</em> &lsquo;this year there were fewer shots fired than previous years&rsquo;). These results are interpreted from within a usage-based framework in which the status of the noun introduced in the [<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haber </em>+ NP] construction, as either a likely or unlikely subject for <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haber</em>,<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </em>influences the analogical leveling. IL predicates are more prototypical nouns than SL predicates because the former are temporally persistent. IL predicates promote nouns&rsquo; candidacy as subjects over direct objects because prototypical subjects present two temporally-persistent characteristics: independence existence and referentiality. As a result, IL predicates increase the likelihood of reanalyzing the direct object as subject, thus triggering agreement of the verbal form with plural NPs. SL predicates, on the other hand, because they display low temporal stability, inhibit regularization.</span>
Highlights
In its original formulation (Carlson 1977), the semantic distinction betweenIndividual-Level (IL) and Stage-Level (SL) predicates describes a cross-linguistic commonality in which some predicates express more permanent, immutable properties than others in which the properties expressed are more transient or changeable
In order to determine which linguistic factor groups may favor pluralization of haber in Puerto Rican Spanish, we submit our data to a variable rule analysis using Varbrul (Rand and Sankoff 2001)
Is there a connection between tense and the SL-IL distinction analyzed in this analogical variation? We suggest that the preterit vs. other distinction is the morphological counterpart of the SL-IL distinction
Summary
In its original formulation (Carlson 1977), the semantic distinction betweenIndividual-Level (IL) and Stage-Level (SL) predicates describes a cross-linguistic commonality in which some predicates express more permanent, immutable properties than others in which the properties expressed are more transient or changeable. As can be seen in example (1), naked is acceptable after the object of a perception verb (John), while intelligent yields an unacceptable sequence in the same syntactic slot in (2) This difference in grammaticality judgments is argued to be a result of the SL-IL distinction.. ‘B: Yes, there were problems (lit.: there was problems).’ This construction co-occurs in many varieties of Spanish with another in which plural NPs may trigger the use of a plural form of haber, as can be seen in examples (5) and (6): Cortés-Torres, Interview 11, 37 (5) J: ...Sabes, hubieron tiendas que cerraron a las nueve ‘J:...You know, there were stores that closed at nine’ Cortés-Torres, Interview 15, 157 (6) No, pero habían muchas hormigas y esas hormigas son de las que pican bueno ‘No, but there were a lot of ants, and of the type that really bite’.
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