1887
Volume 32, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0213-2028
  • E-ISSN: 2254-6774
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Abstract

Abstract

The obligatory use of the preposition ‘ with animate, specific direct objects in Spanish ( “Juan knows Maria”) is a well-known instance of Differential Object Marking (). This study investigates the acquisition of by native speakers of Romanian learning Spanish. Spanish and Romanian have lexicalized in the prepositions ‘ (Spanish) and in ‘ (Romanian). In the two languages is regulated by animacy and specificity. Thirty-two native speakers of Spanish and 36 Romanian-speaking learners of Spanish with advanced proficiency completed a written production, a written comprehension, and an acceptability judgment task. The results show that, in general, and unlike what has been found for English-speaking learners of Spanish, advanced Romanian learners of Spanish are successful at acquiring the feature specification and distribution of in Spanish. The findings are discussed with respect to the nature of ultimate attainment as a function of language transfer.

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2019-07-24
2025-02-11
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