The Verbal Phrase in Paraguayan Guarani: A Case Study on the Role of Prosody in Linearization

Abstract

This paper examines in detail the morpho-syntax of the verbal phrase in Paraguayan Guarani, in root and complement clauses, and argues that while the ordering relation between the verb and its associated functional morphemes is congruent with the syntax (cf. the Mirror Principle), the ordering of post-verbal arguments is best understood in terms of phonological linearization. More specifically, it is argued that there are language-particular prosodic requirements that force the post-verbal arguments to be phonologically linearized outside the accentual domain defined by the verb and its associated functional morphemes.