Propositional equations through expressive selection: another argument for the equative approach to binominals

Abstract

I focus on a type of binominal construction that has received little attention in the previous literature, e.g., eso de que Ana baila ‘that thing that Ana dances’. The eso de que construction behaves like other extensively studied qualitative binominals in Spanish and Romance regarding two crucial constituent diagnostics: (i) coordination of the de-phrases, and (ii) fragment answers with the de-phrase. These diagnostics conclusively show that de cannot be considered the nominal counterpart of the verbal copula, contradicting the expectations of mainstream approaches to binominals. Then, I argue for an extension of the equative analysis recently put forward in Saab (2022), according to which a subset of expressive elements can introduce equative phrases within the nominal domain. The type of equations proposed in that work only include equations for individuals (e.g., el idiota de Andrés ‘that idiot Andrés’) or for properties (e.g., una mierda de departamento ‘a shit of an apartment’). This paper shows that equations for propositions are instantiated for the eso de que construction, completing thus the empirical picture in the way predicted by the equative approach to binominals. I conclude by conjecturing that these equations are selected by designated expressive heads, an idea that, if proven as correct, gives novel support, and a more explicit content, to the thesis that there is a grammar of expressivity within nominal phrases.