TY - JOUR
T1 - A translation-matched, experimental comparison of three types of wh-island effects in Spanish and English
AU - Pañeda, Claudia
AU - Villata, Sandra
AU - Kush, Dave
AU - Sprouse, Jon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s).
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - According to the historical empirical consensus in the field, wh-argument extraction from embedded wh-questions gives rise to island effects in English, but not in Spanish. This observation - which was important for the development of a parameters-based theory of cross-linguistic variation in islands - has recently been challenged by experimental studies showing wh-island effects in both languages. However, these studies typically employ different materials and experimental conditions between languages, limiting direct comparison. Our study addresses this limitation by testing wh-islands in both English and Spanish with translation-matched materials. We present twelve acceptability judgment experiments with approximately 100 participants per experiment. In each language, we examine wh-argument extraction from three wh-clause types (introduced by whether, why and when) under two matrix verb types (know and ask), amounting to six wh-islands that are relevant to assess the reported contrasts. We test (i) for the presence or absence of wh-island effects in the two languages, (ii) for a gradient contrast in effect size, and (iii) for evidence of increased individual variation in Spanish as compared to English. We find (i) that wh-island effects are present in both English and Spanish, (ii) that they are rather large in both languages and larger in Spanish for most wh-island types, and (iii) that Spanish does not show more individual variation in wh-island effects than English. Our results speak against the cross-linguistic contrast as originally proposed, suggesting that its use as evidence for theories that encode cross-linguistic variation in wh-island effects might need to be reconsidered.
AB - According to the historical empirical consensus in the field, wh-argument extraction from embedded wh-questions gives rise to island effects in English, but not in Spanish. This observation - which was important for the development of a parameters-based theory of cross-linguistic variation in islands - has recently been challenged by experimental studies showing wh-island effects in both languages. However, these studies typically employ different materials and experimental conditions between languages, limiting direct comparison. Our study addresses this limitation by testing wh-islands in both English and Spanish with translation-matched materials. We present twelve acceptability judgment experiments with approximately 100 participants per experiment. In each language, we examine wh-argument extraction from three wh-clause types (introduced by whether, why and when) under two matrix verb types (know and ask), amounting to six wh-islands that are relevant to assess the reported contrasts. We test (i) for the presence or absence of wh-island effects in the two languages, (ii) for a gradient contrast in effect size, and (iii) for evidence of increased individual variation in Spanish as compared to English. We find (i) that wh-island effects are present in both English and Spanish, (ii) that they are rather large in both languages and larger in Spanish for most wh-island types, and (iii) that Spanish does not show more individual variation in wh-island effects than English. Our results speak against the cross-linguistic contrast as originally proposed, suggesting that its use as evidence for theories that encode cross-linguistic variation in wh-island effects might need to be reconsidered.
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U2 - 10.16995/glossa.11164
DO - 10.16995/glossa.11164
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85210300906
SN - 2397-1835
VL - 9
JO - Glossa
JF - Glossa
ER -