Variable subject pronominal expression in non-finite clauses: Implications for variant patterns and emergent contexts

Abstract

This work presents the first large-scale analysis of the typologically and dialectally unusual appearance of variable pronominal subjects in non-finite clauses. A comparative variationist analysis of 703 Spanish adverbial purpose clauses (both finite and non-finite) reveals that, despite a significant difference in rates of pronoun expression across clause types (subjunctive and infinitival), the linguistic factors constraining null vs. expressed pronominal subjects are nearly identical. This result suggests a similar function for subject pronouns that operates independently of clause types (finite/non-finite). The usage-based analysis allows us to identify the locus of emergence for the unusual morphosyntactic construction [para+(subject)+infinitive] as appearing in a non-canonical discourse context. This construction may be evidence in favor of a hypothesized general pattern of SVO word order solidification in Caribbean Spanish.