Word order preferences with intransitive verbs in heritage and L2 Spanish

While English only allows preverbal subjects in declarative contexts, it has been claimed that in Spanish unaccusative verbs, but not unergatives, license postverbal subjects. Experimental studies support this syntactico-semantic distinction, albeit not categorically; additional factors play a role in word order preferences, e.g., information structure. I explore the roles of verb type and adjunct placement on word order preferences in a judgment task administered to heritage, L2, and native Spanish speakers. Results suggest all groups are sensitive to these effects: speakers show a preference for preverbal subjects with unergative verbs and a tendency to accept postverbal subjects with preverbal adverbs.