accuspanning

Accuspanning is a term used in linguistics to describe a proposed cross-clausal case-licensing pattern in which a direct object bearing accusative case appears to be licensed by a verb outside its immediate clause, effectively spanning across an embedding boundary. The concept builds on long-distance dependencies and overt case systems, and is used to account for certain cross-clausal object readings observed in typologically diverse languages.

In accuspanning analyses, a chain of functional heads or a feature-sharing mechanism allows the accusative-marked object to participate in interpretations tied to multiple predicates, potentially across matrix and subordinate clauses. The idea is to capture situations where object marking seems to resist neatly local explanations, suggesting a more distributed licensing mechanism than standard in-clause case assignment.

Rationale and variants: There are competing accounts. A movement-based analysis would posit object movement to a higher position; a non-movement or feature-valuation approach posits cross-clausal licensing without importing the object to a higher clause. The choice between these depends on data such as case marking, agreement, and locality constraints.

Evidence and usage: Accuspanning remains a relatively niche concept, cited only in a small number of studies examining languages with rich case marking and cross-clausal dependency phenomena. Some researchers view it as a helpful way to unify disparate patterns of cross-clausal object interpretation; others argue that apparent accuspanning can be explained by more standard mechanisms such as long-distance movement or reanalysis during processing.

Status: The term is not widely adopted and remains subject to debate. It appears mainly in theoretical discussions and cross-linguistic surveys rather than in widely accepted descriptive grammars.

See also: Accusative case, Case marking, Long-distance dependency, Clause embedding, Movement (linguistics).