Preferred Argument Structure beyond argument structure. The role of adjuncts in the preferred realization of syntactic constituents

Framed within the study of the Syntax-Pragmatics Interface, we explore one of the universal usage constraints posed by the theory of Preferred Argument Structure (Du Bois 1987, 2003; Du Bois et al. 2003). Specifically, we examine the validity of limiting the grammatical quantity constraint "Avoid more than one lexical argument per clause" to transitive structures. We compare the discourse behavior of transitive clauses, intransitive clauses with oblique arguments and intransitive clauses with adjuncts in oral and written Spanish texts. The results show that the tendency to avoid two lexical participants affects the three types of clauses analogously. This outcome challenges the framing of the quantity constraint in terms of "argument structure" and suggests instead the operation of a pragmatic principle that limits the amount of lexical phrases in the clause regardless of their grammatical status. In the spirit of Du Bois's theory, but also kindred formulations (Givon 1975, 1979; Chafe 1987), we will refer to this principle as "preferred sentence configuration".