%0 Journal Article %A Parodi, Teresa %A Vilar Beltrán, Elina %T Degree clauses in child Spanish: effects of locality on the interpretation of gaps and overt pronouns %D 2017 %@ 1697-0780 %U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/34345 %X This pilot study addresses the interpretation of degree clauses, one type of Null Operator Structure (NOS), by Spanish-speaking children (age 3-6) and adult speakers. Specifically, it focuses on locality and the role of finiteness and overt morphology (i.e. gaps vs resumptive pronouns) in establishing coreference between a matrix subject and the subject or object of an embedded clause. The results show that overt object pronouns do not facilitate the coreference between the matrix subject and an embedded object, neither for the children nor for the adults; the preferred binding is that between the matrix subject and the embedded PRO. This tendency to close the derivation at the smallest possible configuration is favoured both by syntax and by processing factors. %K Degree clauses %K Spanish %K Null operator structure %K Finiteness %K Locality %K Comprehension %K Construcciones de grado %K Español %K Estructura de operador nulo %K Finitud %K Localidad %K Comprensión %K Humanidades %K Humanities %K Lingüística %K Linguistics %~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala