Abstract
Abstract. This article investigates the role of prosodic length and syntactic complexity on intonational phrasing in Spanish and European Portuguese. Spanish presents a clear tendency to divide utterances into (S)(VO) phrasings, depending on branchingness. In EP (SVO) is the predominant phrasing, but a long branching subject can trigger the phrasing (S)(VO). The main differences between the two languages are analyzed as arising from two properties: the different syntactic position of subjects (external or internal to Extended VP) and the different parameters of prosodic weight (number of syllables vs. number of words/branchingness) realized by each language. Constraints of the syntax‐prosody interface and prosodic constraints on the maximum size of major phrases refer to these properties and produce different outcomes. The preference shared by EP and Spanish to have the material in a VP contained in the same major phrase (disallowing (V)(O) phrasings) also stems from a syntax‐phonology constraint.
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