Why Is There No Raising to Object in Spanish? A Study of Code-Switching

Abstract

Raising to Object (RtoObj), like other types of Raising configurations, features a determiner phrase (DP) in a dual-clausal relationship with both the matrix and the embedded clauses. RtoO is possible in English and a few other languages, most famously, Icelandic. However, it is not possible in many other languages, such as Spanish. As far as we can tell, insight into what licenses RtoObj is largely speculative. The main goal of this paper is to limit the range of possible hypotheses by pinpointing the source of the cross-linguistic difference using code-switching data. A priori, we could hypothesize two possible sources for the licensor of RtoObj: it could be a feature in the matrix clause or a feature in the infinitival complement. In this chapter, we present code-switching data that support the second option: English TdefP is linked to the licensing of RtoObj. We find that early Spanish/English bilinguals overwhelmingly prefer code-switched RtoObj samples when the infinitival complement is in English and they reject RtoObj when the complement is a Spanish infinitival. This suggests that Spanish Tdef is either different or altogether missing.