Numeral Reduplication and Clausal Syntax: Grammaticalized Distributivity in Medieval Iberia

Abstract

Abstract This study examines a little-known case of grammaticalized distributivity in the Romance branch, as found in tenth to fifteenth century texts produced in the Iberian Peninsula. Analysis of a newly compiled, hand-annotated corpus demonstrates that, in Old Ibero-Romance, the reduplication of an adnominal cardinal numeral on the internal argument of the verb mandates a distributive reading at the sentential level. The distributive construction is characterized as ‘double-object’-like structure occurring only in expressions of dynamic and static possession. Whilst a cross-categorial operation originating in the DP edge triggers pluralization of the event itself, an applicative treatment of the clausal syntax not only captures the ‘double-object’-like structure of the construction, but the nature of the distributive relation itself.