Abstract

FABREGAS, Antonio. Multiple genitives in Spanish: lexical and syntactic restrictions. Lexis [online]. 2014, vol.38, n.2, pp.269-306. ISSN 0254-9239.

This article identifies the conditions under which sequences of two genitives modifying the same noun are acceptable in Spanish; two cases are identified: event nouns (la manipulación de Juan de materiales radioactivos, lit. the handling of Juan of radioactive materials, ‘the handling of radioactive materials by Juan’) and representation nouns (el retrato de Marilyn de Warhol, lit. the portait of Marilyn of Warhol). These data are used to critically evaluate three possible approaches to the general rejection of sequences of identically marked objects in natural languages: one based on the avoidance of ambiguities, one of a morphophonological nature and one which is properly syntactic.

Keywords : genitives; noun phrase; representation nouns; syntax.

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