Core intentional features in the syntactic computation: Deriving the position of the subject in Spanish

•Some intentional features are obligatory present in the derivation of the sentence.•They drive the derivation so that a categorical or a thetic statement obtains.•They mark the discourse intention of the sentence ([DI]) and its informational focus ([IF]).•In discourse-prominent languages valuation of [DI] produces syntactic effects.•SV/VS order in Spanish crucially depends on the process of valuation of [DI].

This work introduces a subset of informational features (termed core intentional features), different from standard pragmatic features such as topic and focus. Adopting the basic tenets of the Minimalist program, core intentional features are defined as edge features which sit in the relevant phases and are subject to parametric variation. They are assumed to drive the derivation of the sentence so that it constitutes an intentionally-adequate object (i.e. a categorical or a thetic statement) even in the absence of a particular communicative situation.The paper specifically focuses on one of these features, [DI] (discourse intention), and on how it determines the eventual position of the subject in a discourse-prominent language such as Spanish. A preliminary distinction is made between sentences that inaugurate the discourse (d-sentences) and sentences which are integrated in a particular context (context-dependent sentences). It is argued that the SV/VS order in Spanish follows from the conditions of valuation of [DI] in each case; in particular, valuation of [DI] in d-sentences will be a matter of structural and semantic prominence whereas in context-dependent sentences it will depend on pragmatic conditions. The paper also addresses a number of significant contrasts in the much-debated issue of the placement of the subject in Spanish, which receive a principled explanation under the theory of core intentional features proposed here.