Possessive Constructions in the Dialects of Asturian: A Micro-Parametric Approach

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the properties of two different kinds of possessive constructions in the dialects of Asturian. The first one has been called the "periphrastic (or analytic) possessive construction" and its surface appearance is "QP+de+Possessive Pronoun", as in tres vaques de só 'three cows of his'. This construction exists in Western and Central Asturian, but not in the Eastern dialect. The second one is the "ordinary (or non periphrastic) possessive construction", which shows in Asturian the surface order "Art+Possessive Pronoun+QP", as in les mis tres vaques 'my three cows'. When the possessive pronoun refers to a single possessor, the pronoun and the noun head agree in gender and number features in Western Asturian, but in the Central and Eastern dialects they only agree in number or do not agree at all. I try to derive all these divergences from minimal differences in the lexicons of the corresponding dialects.